Where best to start?

WantAnOrange

If you do like to grab a coffee when out and about, and you have a Waitrose near you, you can get a free coffee everyday with their loyalty card. Only saves money if you can go in for coffee without being tempted by something else though!

Horace

Tumptyteapot - when you are out and you fancy coffee, nip to an M&S that has a caf! inside it, their coffee is lovely. I love coffee and can be quite sniffy about it but I can no longer afford to spend £4 on a cup of coffee, mum introduced me to the M&S coffee shop and I now know that I can have a great cup of coffee that tastes fresh, that I can have without sugar. I was told by a friend who has a coffee shop that if you have a good bean then you don't need to add sugar because the coffee has its own sweetness.

Meal planning is good and keeping a store cupboard so that when the proverbial really does hit the fan then you can go without shopping for a while.

tumptyteapot

Ok, I have now meal planned. I think we should eat a small bowl of soup at every meal too, get some veg into the 11 year old and save money on the main course
:-)

tumptyteapot

I work from home so no need for a flask :-) I do take a flask if we go out for a walk in the country though. No Waitrose near me but there is an M&S in town with a cafe, it's a bit brightly lit and not as dingy as I like but it will save money. I walk up to get my son from school and we quite often have a coffee (he has hot chocolate) on the way home - that, along with a biscuit or cake for the poor starving child is at least £7 a couple of times a week, it could easily be once a week because it would be a treat to look forward to then. I can also bring the poor starving child something to eat from home instead of buying something on the way back. Loads to think about here, thank you everyone so much!

tumptyteapot

I do have a good store cupboard but I eat loads of veg, just started growing some myself this year but not enough not to shop.

savingqueen

re the coffee and other small spends - check out The Demotivator tool under income and families.


if you do try M&S, they used to have a loyalty card (haven't been there in a while) buy x coffees and then get a free one and some of the chains have similar. However if this encourages you to buy more coffees then don't get one!


Can you have tea instead of coffee sometimes, its generally much cheaper.


You could use your caf! treats as incentives to cut down on other spending eg. save x pounds a week, caf! visit allowed.


It is surprising what you do as a habit and you can get used to so called downgrading of all sorts of things. I used to mainly drink Earl Grey tea at home and have weaned myself off it and on to cheaper "builder's tea" and save the EG for a caf! treat. See it as a challenge and make it fun where possible.


You can equate a cup of posh coffee to part of a savings goal or any ordinary foodstuff eg. one cup of expensive coffee= a whole chicken to feed you and your lad a good couple of meals.

Tommelise

Now that you know how much you spend in each how about setting a goal for each of them for the next month, and see how it goes?

I use the free version of the app Goodbudget on my phone and PC.
It is based the envelope system. It is like dividing you money into envelopes for each categori, but only online. You decide how much you want to spend on each categori like food, clothes, travel, pocket money for you( amazon and coffee) and the app tells you if you are on track.

There are other apps both paid and free: YNAB (You need a budget) - and spending tracker seem to have a lot of fans at the debt free forum.

For support join one of the challenges.

suki1964

tumptyteapot wrote: »

I'm probably spending far too much on Amazon and Ebay though. Might have a month off them!

Find something else to do with your down time instead of logging into ebay and Amazon , you won't be so tempted. Hubby was spending a fortune whilst he was working away, too much time alone in the evenings. Now he's home and he has the garden and his cars to occupy the evenings, spending has stopped

I read, spend time on here, have Netflix, the dog, the garden, baking etc. nothing I do for leisure really costs a lot, I'd say my biggest leisure expense is my BB, but I have no choice of suppliers so that's my luxury spend each month

tumptyteapot

suki1964 wrote: »

I'd say my biggest leisure expense is my BB, but I have no choice of suppliers so that's my luxury spend each month

I have not a clue what BB is :-)
I'm busy knitting socks for xmas at the moment and there is nothing I really need - I've got enough winter clothes and books to read so I can stop ebaying now. It is just boredom that drives me to it. No need.

Coffee is a generic term for a hot drink out, I drink tea more often. Thinking about it it's the change of scene that is the big seller here, not the hot drink. I sit with my laptop most of the day, alone apart from the cats so it's good to get out and look at other things, interact with other humans.

I love the envelope system so I'm looking into that app/site now.

huge thanks again!

newthrift

With regards to coffee, if you have a waistrose near by pick up a card, 1 free coffee a day! I too enjoyed a coffee now and again and my mum suggested I get the card. Got one for my OH too so if we are out together we can both enjoy a coffee. You can always limit yourself to one a month from the nice places as a treat!

If you are not in a major financial issue try to make changes steadily as you will stick to them better too - this is what I always find anyway!