Need to cut back

lilly81

I have got a tough month financially coming up (buying our first home and I drove into the back of someone yesterday!)
What are your top tips to save money imediatly?
Thanks
Lilly

krlyr

A good sort through your kitchen cupboards and fridge - write up an inventory if needed. Then sit down and plan meals to use up what you have and minimise your grocery shopping for the next few weeks.

Perfect time of year to cut down on heating bills, if you haven't turned it off already. Jumpers or blankets around the house, if it does get chilly.

Cut down on unnecessary car trips to save on petrol - not having to go out shopping will help, but try to plan other journeys around each other (e.g. stop off your milk on the way home from work - or walk to the nearest shop if possible)

If you've moving house, it may be a good time to sort through your house and declutter (if you're paying a mover, it's less stuff to move - if you're moving it yourself, you may save yourself a trip) and throw things on eBay or do a carboot for some extra pennies. Local Facebook selling groups are another option, no selling fees that way.

[Deleted User]

stop going near food shops and use up what you have in store already if you can .see how long you can last without going near a supermarket They are designed to make you spend

lilly81

I work in a supermarket (doing the travel money), so that one cant be avoided, but I can do my best not to buy anything

krlyr

At least that makes it easy to stop off for milk without much of a detour!

Linda32

Okay, so do you normally buy things from the supermarket when you leave work, and if you do, can this be avoided?

NewShadow

If you're moving, get in touch with your utilities, TV licence, phone, internet.

Give closing balances and ask for refunds if applicable.

TV licence, for example, will refund unused whole months. My ISP will give an excellent 9 - 12 month discount (if asked) if I move house and stay with them as my providers. Or consider doing without phone/internet for a few weeks to delay setup costs (everyone has mobiles these days).

You might not get a huge amount of instant credit, but you should be able to reduce your direct debits for next month to claw some back.