Your top money saving tip

DollyDabbler

Using a spreadsheet has helped me to see where money goes. l seperate food and non food into columns, that helped me cut down on all the fancy kitchen and cleaning sprays etc. And paid for my much used steam mop.
Always run the washing machine with a full load and measure the ml of liquid rather than using the manufacturers cap.
Swap Mr T vouchers rather than use at the checkout, we saved on a foriegn holiday this way.
The not buying it and make and mend threads have been really useful along with thevrecipe collections.

pennypusher

Run your car with an empty boot and make sure the tyre pressures are correct as this saves petrol.
Use half a D/W tablet if you use a D/W.
Borrow a monitor or get one through your utility company to see how much your appliances cost to run and where you can cut down.
Only boil enough water in your kettle for your use.
Check out websites for the best value mortgages, utilities, insurance etc.
Spread the cost of your Council Tax over 12 months instead of 10 (doesn't save money but evens out the payments).
Consider a water meter if there are fewer of you in your house than there are bedrooms.
Use your library instead of buying books.
Go on freecycle when you need things. Often people give away really nice things.
Get things from car boot sales in the summer.
Take packed lunches to work. Take food with you on days out/cinema.

Hope these ideas help.

Hoipolloi

My moneysaving tip is simply this 'don't buy it!'

:beer:

chiefpossession

I second menu planning and then doing a shopping list, checking what you have already.

I also cut down on clothes shopping by making a capsule wardrobe (there are loads of guides for different sorts of wardrobes - work, casual, holiday). I always struggled to put outfits together and then ended up buying more clothes because I didn't have 'anything to wear' when I just hadn't planned properly - or rather, planned as I stood at the wardrobe with 5 minutes to go before leaving for work! I worked out what I needed and then put everything else away as replacements as needed.

Rosetta_2

If you have a flask boil your kettle once at the start of the day and then fill the flask and use to to make fresh tea and coffee through the day.

kboss2010

carriebradshaw wrote: »

I freeze leftovers no matter how small they may be, for instance things you might have otherwise scraped into the bin thinking it wasn't worth keeping really is,like a spoonful of cheese sauce,chilli, bolognese, stew,casserole etc etc can be frozen in ice cube trays then popped into freezer bags to be used on another meal or snack.They can then be thawed,reheated & either poured over a jacket potato or cooked pasta,or used as a pie/pasty filling etc. So for example if we have roast lamb for Sunday dinner (or any other time) we use the leftover meat from that with spuds & onions to make stovies for another meal,which is very easy,filling & tasty and then leftovers from the stovies to make a couple of pasties for another day.With a bit of imagination & experience, a little can be turned into a lot & will save you money.Do label your bags though so you know exactly what those strange looking frozen cubes really are LOL

Yum, stovies! Can I come to your house for leftover day?

My biggest money-saver is to find out where to get regularly bought items the cheapest. Try to also group shops so you're not wasting money driving to lots of places. For example:

Boxes of tissues - 39p, Home Bargains
Bacon - £1.50-£2 for 10-12 rashers (fat cut off and frozen in food bags in "piles" of 4 rashers for weekend breakfasts), Iceland or Farm foods
Ground coffee - £1.79 a bag, Aldi
Shower gel/liquid hand soap - 55p from Asda (cotton scented stuff)

nursemaggie

Martin Lewis's mantra for if you are broke. Do I need it and in your case if I buy it can I afford to pay off the mortgage early.

As for look carefully at anything over £5 is no good you need to apply it to everything. My need is would it be detrimental to life not to have it. i.e. we need food but not chocolate. We need heat when it is cold we don't need to have the house still warm after we have gone to bed.

surfsister

forage for free food on country walks exercise and free food - at the moment wild garlic spinach in woods/ elderflowers and berries soon - nettle tips full of iron whilst young for soup - use vouchers for meals out - free waitrose hot drinks in supermarket - sign up for banks giving you $150 (cyldesdale) - get tesco/sains points etc depends how much you really want to do it!! and buy yellow label stuff and EAT IT!!

katharine117

I think PennyPusher mentioned it above, but my number one tip is never to auto-renew your insurance! Always use comparison sites to ensure you get the cheapest deal. And then to go via cashback sites (I use Quidco) to see whether you can get cashback for the cheapest provider.

I regularly save £100 - £200 on insurance compared to just auto-renewing with an existing provider. So if you do this for car and home insurance each year it can really add up.

And the money in Quidco cashback site can be used to pay directly off your mortgage in your case (or used when money is low that month or be withdrawn to go towards a holiday / spending money etc) I see it as a treat fund as money you've never had.

We succeeded in paying off our first mortgage in 7 years using this (and lots of the other principles mentioned too)

good_advice

My money saving tip today is cook your own.
I am in the kitchen this morning baking a fruit cake and fruit scones.
Fills empty tummies and better than mass produced.
Cream tea in the garden ;0)