Top tips for saving/ reducing spending /making money

Little*Miss

Hey all, 
I used to be a keen member of MSE and then lost my way a little! I am looking at getting back to it! Could do with a bit of a guild at where best to begin. I have been browsing the threads and I didn't spot a thread of just tips to reduce spending, save money and make money. Thought this could be useful for everyone? 
I'll start;
*Keep switching energy suppliers

tacpot12

• Do your food shopping at Aldi or Lidl
• Repair items rather than replace them - there are lots of videos on YouTube on how to repair many different sorts of appliances
• Self-insure for things like Boiler repairs and appliance breakdown (save an amount per month for use on household emergencies) 
• Shop around for insurance you do need (Car/Home/Car Breakdown/Pet)
• Agree to the largest excess possible on any insurance you must purchase (and save so that you can pay the excess)
• Buy shoes, clothes, furniture and appliances second-hand if you can - furniture loses a lot of value so quite new furniture can be purchased cheaply on eBay. Many newish appliances are replaced by well-off households because they don't fit in with a recent kitchen makeover, so grab these bargains. I bought my last three pairs of Clarks shoes on eBay for a total cost of £35 vs. recommend retail prices of c£170.
• Don't buy assets that depreciate unless you have to, and when you do, spend the least you can. (My car cost £900 two years ago and is now worth £700. So it has cost me £100 per year in depreciation.) 

goldfinches

• take an inventory of all the food currently in your home and make yourself a larder spreadsheet/list that will tell you what needs using by when and what quantity you have in.
• meal plan for the next week at a minimum and budget for y/s purchases which you only purchase if they will fit into the plan or can be frozen.
• meals only go on the plan if you have all bar one or two ingredients and can obtain whatever's missing easily and affordably or you can substitute with something you already have.

• shop with a list and a budget that you must stick to and keep a running total as you shop and otherwise stay out of the supermarket. I budget £4 per person per day for all food and household items (washing up liquid, soap etc.) and could halve that if necessary.
• have a bulk purchases fund in your budget for reduced to clear non-perishables that you use daily so that you can pounce and stock up when you see them at half price.
• batch cook and then eat for the next two or three days then repeat. 
• sort through your kitchen and sell/donate the kit you bought that you'll never use again after that first enthusiasm. We've all fallen for the latest thing sometimes and it's often just what someone else would love and will pay for so get that money and the shelf space back.

• if you decide to purchase an item e.g. an electric blanket shop around and then delay making the actual purchase for at least 24 hours to see if you really need it. 
• Save for big purchases e.g. new mattress.

• never just mooch round the shops online or in person that leads to wants which leads to spending money.

• develop ways of spending your time that are free or utilise kit you already have.
• only pursue one hobby that you spend money on your other pursuits must be low or no spend. No flitting from interest to interest and buying lots of kit and supplies for all.
• sell off the kit you have you're not using and decide to be very skilled in one particular area alone and then roll the money into the area you are pursuing.

Naomim

Use cashback sites for online purchases

Survey sites to earn extra.

tacpot12

Buy all your Christmas cards and wrapping paper in the January sales. 

Apintplease

Meal plan, however adhoc. For me meal planning is going to Lidl, looking whats on offer in the meat/fish/poultry/fruit and veg aisle and then meal planning around that. Look at the cheaper options, Turkey for instance is as versatile as mince and chicken

If you cant cook - learn. So many websites and videos to show you basics. You will make mistakes but Ive never poisoned anyone and in all my years of cooking there has truly only been one meal binned. A few picked around, a lot that won't ever see the light of day, but only one binned as a complete fail

Never buy a fresh ingredient for a meal that the rest cant be used up in another that week.  If it cant, dont buy it, substitute or go without.

When buying veg by the single - buy the biggest. If a cabbage is 50p - buy the biggest and heaviest. Taking the leaves off from the outside in to use prolongs the life of it. Do the same for cauliflowers, turnips lettuce etc. Tonight for example I used the last of the cauliflower and cabbage I bought last Tuesday - still firm and "fresh" - completely edible

Never ever ever throw food away. Bread getting a tad past its best - chuck it in the freezer. Bendy veg in the fridge - turn it into soup - a stock cube and water is all thats required, or turn into a chilli, or curry or stirfry. Also look at portion sizes. Here we are a family of three. I buy good quality sausages - theres 6, we only need 5 so I really do freeze that single sausage. After 5 paid for packs we have a free meal. I do the same with burgers - they come in 4's - we need 3. Back in the day id have cooked the extra and forced someone to eat it or it would sit in the fridge for a few days and dumped. Now its frozen ready for a time when we do need it

If you really need an item for the home - look at your local buy and sell. Since Ive stopped buying new, Ive found there is a whole section of society out there that change furniture yearly cos its "not the latest colour" and sell on so they can buy new. 

Forget about stuffing the cupboard under the sink with cleaning products. You need flash ( or supermarket equivalent ) washing up liquid, and bleach. Forget those stain busters in the pink - soda crystals work just as well - a scoop in the wash with the powder. Use white vinegar to soften your clothes - it works and prolongs the life of your clothes. Indeed do a sniff test on clothes before throwing in the wash. Many of us wear two sets of clothes in a day - work and home - do the work clothes need a wash or just an airing? same as the home clothes, esp now we are in lockdown, do you need clean home clothes every day?

Hobbies, mines crochet , can be expensive, but Ive joined yarn destash and yarn gifting sites where we can swap, sell, buy and gift, saves a fortune esp at the moment when everything is online an P&P adds up when buying from online companies, esp when you need just two balls to finish a product. Every hobby has groups for the same - join them.

Take advantage of free trials, sign up and cancel straight away so you dont forget and your subscriptions carry on. Things like Netflix and acorn, sign up when you know theres a series you want to watch is on or at Christmas or during illness or holidays ( esp now ). Use a couple of different email address to take real advantage

Look at skill swap sites as well. Esp if you have a five minute job needing  - curtain rails being fitted, washer on a tap that you cant manage yourself and paying someone is ridiculous. Your skill be it baking, knitting, sewing, babysitting is just as valuable to someone else. I myself work on a bartering system with some friends and neighbours, one gets my veg peelings and stubby veggies from the garden, they give me eggs, I make blankets for grandchildren, I get home-brew in return, I get given fish, rabbits or pigeons - I swap for cakes and pies - whatever - we just swap instead of buying from each other 

As for making money, well we all know thats difficult now with the way things are but more then ever the survey companies are looking for online participants seeing as they can no longer go out door to door or street. Its worth looking out for them. Some companies are recruiting for phone interviewers, if you do have a way with the public it may be worth looking at. If you only work PT and have use of a decent sized car then look at delivering for amazon or a local restaurant 

RobM99

Turn off mobile data roaming. Saved me (pre-lockdown) about £15 a week!
Don't smoke (never have), cut down/give up alcohol. I used to drink every night but  once a fortnight is a lot for me now - saves me £35 a week, saved over £1500 since August 1st!
I used to have a coffee or breakfast/pastry out regularly - not now, saving £15-ish a week. 
Can't go to football - saving £15 to £30 a week.
No band rehearsals - saves £12 a week.
Overall then, lockdown is saving me £70-£100 a week. Staying at home is a) cheap but b) not entertaining!

Naomim

Agree on the coffee's. I used to get one every day on the commute to work.  Started wfh during lockdown. I already had a tassimo machine. Took out an Amazon subscription on the pods to get 10% off. Works out about 17p for a daily latte.

williewonder

I didn't realise how much money I spent going out for meals and coffees. After lockdown I'm only going to eat out once every two weeks as a treat and only buy my lattes from Gregs. They do just as good coffee as Starbucks but for half the price. I'll continue finding a bench to sit on and drink it.

MrFrugalFever

Hi all,

not sure if entirely the right thread but thought I’d post my two pennies worth.

I am maximising the effects of the current pandemic to my advantage in as far as I have decided to embark on a ‘no-spend’ year. Rather than having to either a) tell all my friends and family I can’t go to restaurants etc with them or b) Come up with some lame excuses as to why I can’t make it out.... we have this god awful thing called COVID that’s providing all the excuses I need (not to mention legitimate reasons why I cannot go out). So playing it to my advantage.

I have done much research in to maximising my monthly salary, interest in savings and earning cashback/loyalty points etc.

i carefully plan my food shopping, writing out a list of what I want first then going back over and crossing out what I don’t NEED. I use the power of google to check where the most expensive items on that list are cheapest (my two main shops are currently Sainsburys and Aldi). Both within just a 2.5 mile drive from me.

i use a low watt slow cooker and if I do turn the oven on it is to cook in batch.

i live out of my freezer, all packs of meat and bread/rolls/veg etc is separated and frozen.

I cut the tubes of certain toilets so I can eek the last bit out of them (usually get another day or two worth of use).

i will monitor my electricity usage and set myself monthly challenges, how little can I get away with using each month! My provider is Igloo and it pays me 3% interest up to £1,000 in credit, I can make one off payments as often as I like. I treat it as a savings account (although bare in mind it is not FSCS protected). 

I use a POCKIT MasterCard prepaid debit card for all my shop and fuel at Sainsburys as it pays 3% cashback. The cash back received is then saved separately.

coupons and vouchers are used and searched for both online and from shops.

i share free codes and vouchers with friends and often ask if they aren’t using them can I have theirs!

i have a ‘Perkbox’ subscription through work, I get a free cafe Nero hot drink once a month and a free rentable movie on Rakuten TV once a month.

i do not have a TV license anymore as I have decided to no longer watch live or relevant tv to require it.

i no longer have broadband as I now use my mobile broadband via hotspot (4g) which is just as sufficient and capable as an 8mb broadband connection. I have 100gb per month data usage for £18pm.

Every time I do spend or when a bill comes out my account I round DOWN. So if my balance is say £150.67, I will transfer the 0.67p to a Savings account, I prefer whole numbers

my challenge to not spend this year is going to be super tough, I’ve always been fortunate and relatively ‘comfortable’ financially so haven’t normally needed to stop myself from ordering that takeaway or buying that bottle of wine, but this year I am absolutely determined! Why? I want to buy a house! 

I have been watching many YouTube videos and documentaries on ‘minimalism’ and ‘super savers/scrimpers’ etc and if the truth be told I feel like psychologically I’ve become obsessed and completely changed the way I think about money management. I just hope it is for the best!!

happy saving everyone!

curlytop12

sounds a great plan, good luck....off to look into that mastercard you mentioned....