Great Tips... one liners

McKneff

Up and at'em fairyface, dont feel bad, it's done and over with,

No need to feel down anymore,

Hope things go well for you and yours.

[Deleted User]

Hi thanks for all your support on this thread, I have woke up and starting to feel more positive, I will do whatever I can to make cutbacks and save money to clear the debts, and then maybe I can enjoy life again, I have got my son to make and print me out some monthly meal planner sheets, so today I am going through this site and my cookery books, and planning for October, and I am not worried about having meat every single night, I will make sure theres a good variety.

Please keep the tips coming, I and others too I'm sure will be finding it very useful.
My new motto : Be happy!:j

[Deleted User]

I forgot to mention, in our house there are 2 adults, 1 very hungry teenage lad, and a dog, and I am spending, are 350 a month to feed us all , and I think thats outrageous, so do you think I could do it for about 200, I will try, I will try the reduced and will start couponing also.

sugarwalsh

You could easily do it for £50 a week - we spend about that most weeks and there are 2 adults, 2 almost teen boys and 2 littlies (Plus 4 cats!). It just takes some planning and clever thinking.
So pleased you are feeling more positive - go for it.
Megan

Justamum

fairyface wrote: »

My 2 tips what I did today were decide to stop throwing dishcloths away, wash with the towels.

I wash dishcloths after each use.

fairyface wrote: »

When out in the supermarket,or at someones house, use the loo, and take some loo roll home in your pocket.

As someone else has said, that's stealing. Lots of people are struggling, so how do you know that the people who you are taking loo roll from aren't also strapped for cash?

fairyface wrote: »

I feel a real scrooge, we are poor and my son wants to go to university, so I am going to save , save , save.

So please share:j

Lots of us are poor, but it doesn't justify dishonesty. Anyway, presumably your son will be going to university next year (if he gets his A levels) in which case you won't have to spend anything. He'll get a loan. I'm sure there's somewhere on this site explaining how the system will work. I heard Martin Lewis getting exasperated on the radio a few weeks ago about how people just don't understand how the new system will work. I'm no genius but I understood straight away, and I share his exasperation!

Justamum

crazyguy wrote: »

Cut costs for the little one this year,

I know I shouldn't, but :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Justamum

sproggi wrote: »

If I have to put anything nylon in the tumble dryer, white vinegar does not prevent static,

I've found with things made from nylon or polyester (anything over 50% polyester anyway) if I put it in for only 20 minutes it will be dry, but it doesn't have time to get static. I usually leave things like that out separately when I'm putting things in the dryer, then if anything still needs a few minutes just to finish off I'll put the polyester things in with them then for 20 mins.

Justamum

kittie wrote: »

give up mobile phone
give up sky packages
plan meals ahead
budget for food and toiletries, they should come to way below £450 a month
always think `need not want`
cook large one pot meals and re-use the next day

We are living on a tight budget, and I'm quite pleased with the way I'm getting better and better at managing what we have. But the other day my DH was called a cheapskate at work for not having Sky :mad:. The other men he works with always seem to be buying 'stuff' and eating bought lunches, but we can't afford to. It really annoys me when people think we are being cheap because we don't waste money. My DH would always look at friends who seemed to manage to always be buying new stuff and going on holiday, while we didn't, but I keep telling him that you don't know what their level of debt is. They could be living off the credit card. I think he feels a bit less hard done by now he understands that. Luckily we managed to pay off our overdraft in one lump sum last month because of some money he inherited from his mum, so we have no debts now :T

I do have a mobile phone, but it's cheap to run - I top up £5 and get 150 free texts. If I haven't used them all up after a month then I'll put another £5 on so I keep the unused texts plus get 150 more. I do the same for my two eldest children - it works out cheaper in the long run. I'll only not top-up when the free texts run out. DH has a works phone so it costs us nothing.

On Sunday I made leeks au gratin (sounds posh - just leeks with a lentil sauce over the top:rotfl:) with roasted veg. The leftovers were all whizzed up, then I added some peas and sweetcorn and mixed half of it with some cooked penne pasta for dinner last night. The other half is in the freezer for another day.

Saturnalia

Justamum has reminded me: never buy lunch at work, always take a pack-up. And use either tupperware boxes or re-use your sandwich bags until they wear out!

rising_from_the_ashes

Glad you're feeling more upbeat today Fairyface, honestly, every little bit does add up and make a difference:D.

Another from me (hope you're not sick of met yet;))

If you start to use something that you'd hate to run out of but may last a while (so you don't need to replace straight away) write these on a separate shopping list and pin to your fridge door. (Things for me are things like bags of lentils, cornflour, split peas, sultanas, fabric conditioner etc),

Whenever you go to do your normal shop, take this list (and your "must get now" list) and buy if the item is on offer.

If you don't manage get it before you get to a "need it now" point, transfer the item over to your "must get now" list.

Hope that makes some sort of sense:o