The Great 'Tricks to stop yourself spending' Hunt Revisited

scattyspice

Wordyme I do that too! I find it works with my kids aswell. It started when DD wanted a kitten and I said she could have one when she was 30 (she seemed quite happy with this) .

Polk

subscribed - god do i need this!

Candy0107

Hi,

There are so many tips I picked up on my debt free journey. Such as:

• Have all meals from home (I worked out that porridge was the cheapest cereal at about 3p per bowl)
• Use only cash - my purse gets emptied and spare change gets put into savings jar once a week
• Have value beauty days at the weekends - value or basic shower gel, shampoo and deodorant
• Avoid town wherever possible at the weekend (I still do this even though I am DF)
• Keep a separate bill account from your day to day spending account (or use envelopes)
• If you fancy a day out, pick the cheapest form of transport and find free things to do - for example, I love going to london. I tend to get a train to waterloo then walk everywhere from there (saves about £8 on underground fares)
• If friends were meeting up for drinks, I would go along and have something really cheap (lime and soda works out about 40p) but avoid going out for dinner with the group
• If you want something sweet, make rather than buy

Candy xx

careerbee

I always pay in cash and think of it in terms of how many hours I had to work to buy it. (Based on the idea in the film: In Time).Unsurprisingly, things seem less appealing when worked out in hours and you can make it accurate based on your own hourly wage.

cheryldavies2200

Shop for groceries online. We have a Tesco clubcard each. We constantly get money off vouchers from Tesco, £5 off a £40.00 shop plus we have traded down to many of their Everyday Value products which are just as good as the more expensive equivalents. I paid for 6 months delivery upfront and it was discounted so I only pay 90p for delivery every week. We live in the countryside so in Winter this is great if it snows, we don't risk our car in the snow. And, because we have a card each, if my partner gets a good offer - like this week, £15 off a £60.00 shop we swop over and pay the £3.00 delivery charge as it is still saving us £12.00 off the shop. Also, if you shop online, you only buy what you need and have run out of, you are not tempted by displays of items you don' really need. We have saved lots of money this way. Our grocery bill used to top £110.00 a week - for 2 people including wine but now it is more like £76.00 including wine (we buy this online using the Morrisons discount codes to get it at £4.06 a bottle). If you could have bought your shopping elsewhere for less money, they also mail you a discount code for your next shop.

Try it as it also saves time. An hour or so to do the list and then book a slot. Let the supermarkets do all the hard work.

BillJones

There's an awful lot of useful stuff here. I'm fortunate that I'm in a well paying job, but even so, I want to start spending less and saving more, and there are tips here that will help with that irrespective of how large or small someone's budget is.

3shirts

cheryldavies2200 wrote: »

Shop for groceries online.

This is an absolute godsend. I recommend online shopping to everyone.

As cheryldavies2200 says, you can pay for deliveries up front which means it works out much cheaper (Equivalent of £2 a week for us). I would happily pay that just to avoid going round Tesco every week but it actually saves us far more because we save on petrol and shop much smarter:

1 - You don't have the impulse buys
2 - They give you your popular and recent items so you can just restock the basics easily.
3 - They put all the deals together so you can browse those first to see if a different version of something you need is on special.
4 - You can see a running total. That helps you stay on track.
5 - If it's getting a bit expensive, you can drop items with a single click. Can't really do that in the actual store.
6 - If you use the up-front payment for deliveries you also get priority choice on Christmas delivery slot. Last Christmas we were able to get all the trimmings delivered just two days before Christmas.
7 - If you pay up front you technically get unlimited deliveries as long as each is over £40. For most people that is one a week but we have had occasion to get a second delivery (for a party) so that's even more value.

We usually convert clubcard points to the 4x multiplied vouchers and treat ourselves to cinema tickets or meals/days out. That way you really feel like you are getting something for nothing. If we are doing a dinner party or money is tight we'll use the points to get money off the shopping but it's nice to have the choice.

Jordo

Things I've found really useful when shopping online:-

Add everything you want to buy in the store's 'basket', and save if possible. If you still want the items in 48 hours, then fair enough. 9 times out of 10 I delete the whole basket and realise I didn't need them.

Works the same on eBay - watch the items for a few days before buying or bidding. Again, you usually don't buy what you thought you needed.

and don't forget another money saving mantra:

"Spend what is left after saving. Don't save what is left after spending".

Prothet_of_Doom

Avoid the CENTRE aisle in Aldi.

hettiecarro

I'm lucky that I have the time to shop around - I know some aren't. I have gone back to the way I used to shop in the 70's before Mr Supermarket tempted me through his doors.
Rather than decide what I want to eat for the week before I go out, I look for the best bargains from the high street butchers and greengrocers - keeping strictly to my budget which is in cash in my purse. I feel I am doing my bit for the local businesses and I only use the supermarket for my monthly staple shop.
I've become quite tight since attacking this horrendous debt, so have to prise money out of my purse before spending it :rotfl:
Any money I have left after my weekly shop goes into my Grandsons 'visiting' fund. He is autistic so sometimes his treats are quite expensive. He loves counting up what he has in his fund and then we budget for what he can spend/do each day of his visit. He's also learning the value of money - something I wish I had done years ago.
If I REALLY can't resist the shops, I usually do a trek around the charity shops and look for a few things that I think I can sell for a profit on ebay - the charity shops are full of things given by people (like I was) that have more money than sense - or as in my case DON'T have the money but have a credit card :eek: