Great Tips... one liners

beemuzed

I've just started drawing out a fixed sum of cash to last the week - it really has made me focus on what I'm spending. Far too easy to just spend and pull out a card. I also know that if I want a frugal month I have to meal plan and use up leftovers.

Florenceem

shebrett wrote: »

Supermarket discounts / whoopsies for me. I don't have time to shop during the week as I work long hours so on Friday night I go shopping during the discount hour for all the cheap bargains and see what they have. Then I take it home and work out a weekly menu around what I am able to find and do the rest of the shopping first thing saturday morning. Saves me a bundle - eg : this week I found 700g of lean beef mince for £1, pack of three beef steaks for £0.43, two large chunky crumbed cod steaks for £1, and some fresh tortellini for £0.50 along with two garlic baguettes for £0.15 each. I also managed to find a week's worth of organic wholemeal rolls at £0.19 per 4 rolls so all the main ingredients for evening and lunch meals this week for under £5 and all I needed to do on saturday was buy the pasta sauce ingredients, veg, sandwich fillings etc to match what I found.

Which shop do you use and what is the discount hour please?

Steve-o

I'll second the meal planning suggestion - it cuts down on a lot of waste, and can reduce your shopping bill by a lot. And remember to eat before you go shopping, so you are not tempted by hunger inspired impulse buys.

If you use liquid soap (hand-wash, shower gel, etc), dilute it and put it into a foaming dispenser - the container of soap will last around 10 times longer, and you won't be washing globs of it down the drain each time you use it.

Use Freecycle before buying something (or throwing anything away) - the variety and quality of items can make it worthwhile.

expatasia

shebrett wrote: »

Supermarket discounts / whoopsies for me. I don't have time to shop during the week as I work long hours so on Friday night I go shopping during the discount hour for all the cheap bargains and see what they have.

Are Fridays more of a discount day, do all supermarkets in Britain do 'whoopsies' nowadays? Curious for my next visit home.

ridethelightning

I also bulk buy long lasting, regularly used foods/items when they are on offer. For example, lyod grossman pasta sauces are £1 each every few months in asda so I will buy 10-15 of them which will last untill they are next on offer. Same with tuna, tinned tomatoes, dried pasta, sardines, tinfoil, toothpaste, mouthwash, toilet roll etc when they are on half price or better deals. I have cupboards full of tins (had about 30 tins of tuna at one point, they were £2 for 8 once!) etc but it saves loads on the overall cost of my shopping. Just be sure to put the new tins to the back so they dont go off. It also means I always have something to cook in the house.

Just wish I had a deep freezer so I could stock up on frozen stuff.

GreyQueen

For me, it's what some financial planning guru called "keeping your numbers"; writing down everything you spend so you can see where your money actually goes, instead of guessing.

I don't do anything rocket-sciency to achieve this; household expenditures totalled by the week in a little notebook and then once a month added to the back of the diary where all the other expenditures are itemised. Diaries with a full page for each month to itemise income and expenditures are widely available. At end of month, I total the expenditures and deduct if from my income. I choose to put my figures into categories which make sense to me and enter them on a simple Excel spreadsheet. I like doing it because I can play with the Autosum function and pop in a simple % formula of the total.

At the end of the year I make a pie chart of these % figures but I'm kinda odd.:o

Once you can see in black and white where your money really goes, you can make rational choices about where you can cut back.

Whoopsies

You need to know the opening and closing hours of your target supermarkets, which will typically vary on weekends over weekdays. Various stores have various practices and, unless yo've got a spy inside the outfit, it's a bit trial-and-error. If you don't know, one hour before closing time is typically the whoopsie hour but competition is fierce. Some also discount during the opening hour, and some whoopsies will be cut in price more than once if the day goes on and they haven't shifted.

Whoopsie-hunting can be very lucrative indeed, but you can never count on getting anything, so always have a Plan B for tea.

ceridwen

Agh! Couldnt be doing with the "standing and waiting by the whoopsies" thing that I see some people doing - but I will have a quick looksee as I shuffle past just in case...

I DO do the "keeping a record of spending" thing at intervals. Think 'twas Alvin Hall possibly that talked about keeping the numbers. I know its a tip I've often read. To me - I keep it simple and just use a mini-notebook kept on my person occasionally for a few weeks at a time and note down all spending in that and have a browse back through to see where the money is basically going. That is a useful exercise and soon shows up how much is going on "fripperies".

expatasia

GreyQueen wrote: »

Whoopsies

You need to know the opening and closing hours of your target supermarkets, which will typically vary on weekends over weekdays. Various stores have various practices and, unless yo've got a spy inside the outfit, it's a bit trial-and-error. If you don't know, one hour before closing time is typically the whoopsie hour but competition is fierce. Some also discount during the opening hour, and some whoopsies will be cut in price more than once if the day goes on and they haven't shifted.

Whoopsie-hunting can be very lucrative indeed, but you can never count on getting anything, so always have a Plan B for tea.

Thanks for that explanation, no such concept here and as for non-fresh food items they have at the huge supermarket next door sudden short bouts of individually discounted goods that are advertised in fliers and often online, but one has to be quick! Closing hour is 1am so no rush for bargains near closing time. Very occasionally I can get extortionately priced NZ chops at 40% off as people here don't appreciate lamb, they think it reeks.

I envy you the whoopsie hunting expeditions!

[Deleted User]

Without a doubt a small lined book that you can buy in any stationers for around 40p and WRITE everything down that you NEED not want.I have kept a small shopping book for 50+ years even though I now live alone I still do it and only what I write down that I need gets bought, plus use money not cards, too easy to buy more than you need and stick to your list.I have a budget now of £25 per week for food and cleaning materials and I often come in under budget as I stay away from shops unless I really am desperate for something If you only need milk then only take enough to buy it You won't impulse buy then. Supermarkets do their best to tempt you to spend you dough but by keeping a tight hold of your cash you can beat them at their own game

Think do I need it NO, can I live without it YES, then put you purse away and walk away.You will be suprised how much you can save by that simple action

If you can adapt anything in the cupboards instead of going to buy something then thats another way of saving .Plus of course the wonderful 'whoopsies' that supermarkets come up with, but again only buy if you know you will cook and eat it within the next week,otherwise it gets stuck in the freezer and forgotten about
A cupboard full of food is a cupboard full of cash, so meal plan as much as possible using up the fresh stuff first that can't be frozen
Good Luck
JackieO,
a very older, but wiser shopper in supermarkets :D

david39

We also stock up well on temporary discounted lines. These appear quite often in most big supermarkets - each offer seems to be in one supermarket at a time, moving on next month to another:

Heinz & Branston Baked Beans regularly discounted to around 25-28p per tin if you buy the 4-packs. - usually buy 6 packs to last till next time they come round.

Pukka Pies regularly at £1 instead of £1.45 - again, usually buy in 6's

One or other of the larger size washing liquid gels at £5 or, sometimes, £4. We will buy 3 packs, lasting about 2-3 months while we watch for the next reduction.

There are plenty more if you keep your eyes open.

Best tip on an individual item - use Napisan instead of Vanish stain remover. Same stuff, third of the price.