What 5 OS Strategies have helped you the most?

catznine

A friend asking for advice recently on cutting back her housekeeping bills, made me think which were the 5 most helpful ways to achieve this and I wondered if I posed the question here how many different strategies we could all come up with, limiting us to 5 each

My five would be:-

1. Set a budget and stick to it, be very strict about this once the allowed amount of cash is gone that's it. I find the Grocery challenge helps here, lots of support and a great feeling of achievement each month.
2. Green thinking - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, wash jam jars for hm preserves, cut up old t shirts for cleaning cloths etc.,
3. Freeze or use up leftovers, no matter how small - I have actually made up whole meals from all the ziploc baggies of leftovers in the freezer, saving a day of the budget.
4. Cooking double the quantity and freezing half - hm ready meals for when you are tired and might be tempted to order a takeaway.
5. Avoiding the supermarkets (as much as possible) and so avoiding the temptation to spend too much;).

csarina

I think menu planning and stocktaking are vital.........

Never going shopping without a list and only buy whats on the list.

Never go shopping with children unless you have no alternative ( husbands are included in this)

Never go shopping when you are hungry.

Sorry can only think of those four on the spur of the moment

ClaireLR

1) Use old style cleaning methods
2) Keep receipts for 1 month to see exactly what money is being spent on
3) As others have said, set a budget and stick to it
4) Go to supermarkets near closing time for cut price items which can be frozen/used that day (I buy most of our meat this way)
5) Try "value" items in place of more expensive items (a lot taste more or less the same)

Hope that helps a bit!

newlywed

1. Meal Plan
2. Cook double and freeze extra
3. Work out roughly how much a meal is costing you per person and see if you can do it cheaper
4. Try "value" range to see if there is a difference
5. List your cupboard contents and ask for help stretching to extra meals

angelavdavis

Good thread!

Mine would be:

- note from time to time what you are throwing out and avoid buying it
- Grow your own - it offers you so much more flexibility and its fun!
- Switch to Lidl
- Use storecupboard challenges to clear the cupboards and delay another shop
- Challenge yourself to feed everyone on less money
- Cheaper doesn't have to mean less healthy

Gingham_Ribbon

1 Meal planning
2 Make and stick to a shopping list
3 Use up leftovers
4 Reduce and change cleaning 'essentials'
5 Cook every meal from scratch (but learn how to do this quickly.)

angie_loves_veg

same old same old....

1. weekly meal planning
2. careful list making and stick to it!
3. grow your own
4. use flylady tips to get your house clean and your junk sorted,
5. reduce, reuse, recycle

recovering_spendaholic

1. Not overbuying - I don't need to have 12 tins of tuna in stock at all times..

2. Meal planning, and cupboard inventories

3. OS cleaning methods

4. Cooking from scratch (I have always done this but it really does help)

5. Switching to Lidl/Aldi

Pooky

Meal planning is a must.

Using codes/vouchers/bogofs to stretch the shopping budget further.

Leftovers - everything get's used, even if it means we're all eating different meals.

Being more savvy with the amount of electric and gas I use, turning all sockets off when not in use, cutting down on TD usage etc.

Using my skills to made cards and pressies where possible and making sure that I use codes/vouchers to grab bargins that I can keep for pressies to make a little go a lot further.

fizzel81

again here

meal planning
freezing leftovers
shopping at lidl and buying a veg box
chaning my cleaning methods (ie what i buy)
switching to reusable nappies (this has been my biggest monthly saving)

[Deleted User]

being aware that the objective of the big supermarkets is to quietly suck you in to buying things you `think` you need or you `think` are good value. You end up buying more than you went in for