What's your best OS moneysaving tip?

Doom_and_Gloom

Meal planning and sticking to it so you only buy what is needed. Although with a fruit and veg box you may have to wait untill you get your delivery so you know what you can do with it and buy other ingredients accordingly.
Infact I have found that a fruit and veg delievery is saving me money and I am eating even better for it.
I have found that going to college and then straight to work so coming back home rather late helps me spend less. This is because by the time I get home most my local shops are shut. Thankfully I get Fridays off of college (but not work) meaning I get any shopping that needs doing then.
Do not own a tumble dryer or have a tumble dryer setting on washing machine so use a cloths horse to hang cloths to dry on.
When I do buy items in supermarkets I try to only buy ones that are reduce down to a VERY low price. For example I rearly buy bread for more than 40p and that is organic!! I buy 4 or 5 loaves/packs of rolls and freeze what I know I will not eat in the next 2 days. I do make my own bread sometimes but I don't usually have much time to do so.
Batch cooking and putting the extra either in the fridge for the following day or in the freezer for another day.
Freezing any veg that is going to go off before I can get around to cooking it so I don't creat waste of food and money! That or I will make them into a soup and freeze it so I have something in when I feel like a take out. Both work well.
I give my mice veg and fruit cuttings such as apple cores and carrot ends so they have veg and fruit in their diets like they should and not cost me more aswell as even less waste :T .
I use the steam water after steaming veg as a stock for soup to add more taste to the dish.

Do not put heating on at all when cold instead I walk around with a blanket around me at all times or in a dressing gown. When too hot I open all the windows upstairs in the lounge and kitchen and open the big window downstairs in my bedroom keeping the door open so a breeze goes through the flat :cool: .

moanymoany

When the budget has run out - eat what you have in the house!

lil_me

moanymoany wrote: »

When the budget has run out - eat what you have in the house!

Or use what you have in the house and realise you're a very naughty horder because you spend less than half your budget :rotfl:

Clutterfree - Will try the dishwasher tablet in half when we move, pressume I can't do it with powerball ones (got them free) do you use a knife or just by hand?

Have used my tumble drier only a few times, couple of drops of nice essential oil on a flannel make a nice drier sheet, even a smidge of conditioner.

Cleaning products, reduce what I buy, using one product for many jobs, buy where they are cheaper, I love Poundland copies of my fave things like those flash erasers etc.

buxtonrabbitgreen

for me it's cycling round where I live and picking fruit. This year I have picked 5 carrier bags of cherries, loads of apples, backberries and damsons. My freezer has 2 drawers full of fruit. And I have loads of nearly free jam. Also bacause I have cycled to forage I don't feel too bad about eating the "fruits" of my labours.

csarina

Buy a bag of tesco bio powder for £1.89 mix with a bag of soda crystals, (53p) enough wash powder for at least 3 months for average 2 loads a week, approx half a cuo of powder per load. Always wash a full load each time.......use vinegar instead of softner, kills the soap which is trapped in the fabric fibres..........nice clean clothes, no soap residue.

Clutterfree

lil_me wrote: »

Clutterfree - Will try the dishwasher tablet in half when we move, pressume I can't do it with powerball ones (got them free) do you use a knife or just by hand?

I don't use Powerball tablets.
I tend to use the 2 layered sort from Lidl, but at the moment I have some 3 layered all in one tablets from Morrison's as they were on offer.
I snap them in half whilst they are still in their little sealed packets, then open it and put half in my dishwasher and the other half, still in its packet, back in the cupboard for the next wash.
They break in half very easily.
HTH xx

larmy16

Stay out of the shops unless absolutely essential. Before purchasing, think - Do I really really need this? Have I got something at home which would be a substitute? Am I just spending money for the sake of it?

Having said that, buy when things are on sale and not later when you will have to pay the full price.

For example I was tempted to buy some tee shirt type tops from Sainsbury's Tu. Resisted. When I went in yesterday, they were on sale, down to £2.00 and £1.50. I bought five in total at £3.50 as I had two reward vouchers.

They are only for work but now I will not need any until next year!

lil_me

I have some from the £ shop which are like that, 16 for £1 I think it was for 4 in one tablets so will try that with those, thanks Clutterfree. Will keep the expensive ones (I didn't pay for) for when there is really nasty stuff needs doing.

Definately wait for the sales, sometimes they won't have what you like left but I fell in love with some boots in Tesco, waited and waited, gritting my teeth, eventually £15 instead of £45!

Putting all of the clothes in the drawers/wardrobes, then look to see what you have and what you really need, definately stops me buying clothes.

Try keeping a list of what you have in the freezer, I've been slacking with this lately and wish I haddn't. Dry wipe boards are good for this (but put out of reach of kids if they like rubbing things out!) then you can add what you buy and cross off/erase what you use. Knowing what you have in without trawling through it makes it much easier to meal plan. You could do a spread sheet with names of stuff then boxes for quantity, then laminate and use a dry wipe board marker to just change the numbers.

NEVER grocery shop hungry, try to do it from a list and go alone if possible, or buy online. Impulsive spending is where the waste is.

Price books are great for those who like me can never remember the prices of things. With a list of items you regularly buy then prices in each shop next to them, if out and about you see an offer for say - 2 for £3.50 of something, but then realise you only pay £1.50 for each in another shop, it's not a bargain. Remember many shops increase the price when offering BOGOF and half price etc. They use these good marketing techniques all the time.

luxor4t

Making lists in advance - shopping, menu, clothes etc - then looking at what we have already in & thinking 'out of the box' to use up what we already own. Cindy's porch website calls this 'shopping at home'.

eg.
DS1 needed 'work' clothes for a 10 day placement, had a suit and 1 shirt already, so used DS2's blue and white school shirts + OM's ties.
I wanted icing sugar to make buttercream for a cake - ground ordinary sugar in the processor which did the job as a one off.

The birthday and Christmas lists are new each year and mean that I can hunt for bargains or make gifts through the year eg this year I am making 'heirloom' fabric advent calendars with numbered pockets for sweeties.

arlybarly

hi all
one thing i always do is i use the thick bleach not the thin stuff so i buy the really big 2 litre bottles of bleach and transfer it into the normal size bleach bottles and so i usually get 4 normal size bottles out of the one big one for a pound whereas if i buy individually they are usually average 56p each.