Sneaky ways to save the pennies

jembie

p00 wrote: »

You will find the same thing happens at poundland yet three shops along at Homebargains the same item might be 98p ie some hairsparys. A pound shop is not always cheaper even though it sounds like it. So I always go to HB first then to the other shops if I need to.

xxp00

We don't have a HB in town but the same works with Wilkos. In fact most of the things like shampoo and conditioner you can get in the £shop or 99p shop will be 89p in Wilkos. Although for me £shop is often just more convenient

SunnyGirl

Jumping in here if ok? I've noticed that with Poundland, Wilkies & Home Bargains and the like it really does pay to know your prices. I have also noticed that some things are not such a bargain in Poundland it' so tempting to go in 'for a look' and come out having spent £16 LOL. I now only buy things that I know are a bargain - I got 2 lovely leather dog collars last week which were great & they've had Nescafe Brazillia in but have stopped doing it now. Shampoo & similar I tend to buy in Wilkies when it's on a BOGOF. DD uses tons of the stuff typically!!

OrkneyStar

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Good for you and your son. No offence, but I have 3 daughters. I can't afford 21 pots of fromage frais and/or yoghurt a week, plus the ones that go in their packed lunches, plus the OH's large yoghurts. Sometimes they have instant whip made with milk etc as I said. They drink plain milk at other times. This cheap pudding makes a change for them.
Chocolate, sweets and crisps also have little nutritional value, but we all like to peck at them now and again.

I realise the small fancy pots are expensive so don't mean to sound cheeky, its just I think instant whip is basically junk is it not (apart from the milk if you add enough if it) ?
What about buying a huge tub of plain yog or fromage frais and stirring some fruit puree or dried fruit through ?
They don't need to have fromage frais (or instant whip) every day of course.
I am not on a high budget (in fact quite the opposite) so I cut back on some things but others (such as LO's nutrtion) is not worth cutting back on. I just think its a false economy, but, each to their own.

Uniscots97

OrkneyStar wrote: »

I realise the small fancy pots are expensive so don't mean to sound cheeky, its just I think instant whip is basically junk is it not (apart from the milk if you add enough if it) ?
What about buying a huge tub of plain yog or fromage frais and stirring some fruit puree or dried fruit through ?
They don't need to have fromage frais (or instant whip) every day of course.
I am not on a high budget (in fact quite the opposite) so I cut back on some things but others (such as LO's nutrtion) is not worth cutting back on. I just think its a false economy, but, each to their own.

A little of what you fancy does you good. If my youngest takes a notion for yoghurt the budget would be blown completely trying to keep up. I do this too with the instant whip, but making sure we all get our vitamins etc from our main meal. I've found personally if I try and keep youngest (teenager btw) away from all the 'nice' things (instant whip, choc mousse etc) she does rebel and eats lots of junk when out but if I vary it (but sneakily make sure she gets her vitamins in her meal) and alternate between yoghurt and instant whip I have less of a battle on my hands and she'll eat more sensibly.

On the same note though when I do get yoghurts etc I always buy the value ones as they have less colourings and less sugar.

OrkneyStar

unixgirluk wrote: »

A little of what you fancy does you good. If my youngest takes a notion for yoghurt the budget would be blown completely trying to keep up. I do this too with the instant whip, but making sure we all get our vitamins etc from our main meal. I've found personally if I try and keep youngest (teenager btw) away from all the 'nice' things (instant whip, choc mousse etc) she does rebel and eats lots of junk when out but if I vary it (but sneakily make sure she gets her vitamins in her meal) and alternate between yoghurt and instant whip I have less of a battle on my hands and she'll eat more sensibly.

On the same note though when I do get yoghurts etc I always buy the value ones as they have less colourings and less sugar.

I think this depends on the age of the child.......maybe I should have said MY DS IS 19 MONTHS, not a teenager.
I would never buy Tesco value yoghurt/fromage frais for DS as it is made with skimmed milk (or was last time I looked) and as he is only 19 months he needs full fat milk products. I try to buy the decent ones when they are on offer, or as I said in last post, big tubs and portion them out with fruit puree etc.
As I said each to their own but I would not feed DS instant whip as basically I don't see it as a treat but complete rubbish! Perhaps when he is older things will be different, who knows ?
Of course they must get some treats but DS thinks of prunes etc as treats as well as they choccy buttons that he gets on occassion!
I agree a little of what you fancy does you good most of the time but not always!
I got too many treats as a child and as a result have far too sweet a tooth and too many fillings, I would rather not go down this route with DS.
Back on a saving pennies route, for brekkie he gets creamy porridge (milk, value oats, prunes or other dried fruit, pear or apple), which works out about 1/5th th price of buying these baby cereals which are supposed to be oh so wonderful!

Sian_the_Green

I think we might be going slightly off tangent here on this yoghurt/instant whip debate. I am sure you are both wonderful parents who are keen on their children having all the right nutrients in their diet but everyone differs in the details of how they do so.
I wonder if we could move on from it before it gets less amicable

beautiful_ravens

Great idea.

Back on a saving pennies route, for brekkie he gets creamy porridge (milk, value oats, prunes or other dried fruit, pear or apple), which works out about 1/5th th price of buying these baby cereals which are supposed to be oh so wonderful!

I remember doing the same thing, but I used ready brek type oats and stick blended bananas or grapes etc. Much cheaper than those boxes of baby cereals.

OrkneyStar

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

I think we might be going slightly off tangent here on this yoghurt/instant whip debate. I am sure you are both wonderful parents who are keen on their children having all the right nutrients in their diet but everyone differs in the details of how they do so.
I wonder if we could move on from it before it gets less amicable

I think it is perfectly amicable!
It is also important, saving pennies is great, but so is decent nutrition.
From the posts I read (unixgirl and beautiful_ravens) it seems we are all thinking about these things, also it seems that the children may be different in ages (mine being younger) and so maybe the nutrition versus treat ratio, can be slightly different. I certainly meant no offence at all and don't think the others did either.
But I agree, back to other penny saving pointers .
We don't have £ shops up here, reading all your posts, is it worth me trawling them next time we are south, or am I wasting my time ?
Thanks, my DS is taking his clothes off again so time to go!

Claire34

I use 1/2 the washing powder recommended and a couple of teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda (can buy huge container from macro for very little). Plus often use vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer (lovely soft clothes, no smelling like a bag of chips!).

The Hoarde like 'fluffy towels' from the dryer, so I hang them out to dry like everything else and then blitz em in the dryer for literally a few mins when a little damp to 'fluff them up' - noone notices.

I too wander round turning off lights, turning down heating and dispensing jumpers and warm socks - honestly!!

Butter which always had to be something with a 'name' goes straight into the butter dish (from charity shop) and noone has noticed the taste.

I do a twice monthly (soemtimes less) 'cupboard stuff' (loo paper, cleaning bits, tins, etc) from either tesco (deliver in cheapest time slot can be as little as £4 and it saves me at least that in petrol, time, and 'impulse buys') or I go to macro sometimes. Then the rest I do as locally as possible in the market, local butcher, etc buying cheaper cuts and getting the old fashioned recipe books out (charity shop!).

Never post first class unless totally urgent, despite what the Royal Mail says it all turns up about the same time in general.

I water down shampoo too as too much gets used, and if you stick your head briefly under the shower when you have the shampoo on and then lather you get more lather for less shampoo! Vinegar also makes a great hair conditioner (put in bottle, dilute about 50/50), and see above re not smelling like a bag of chips, once hair dry it is just shiny and lovely, no smells.

I also spend about 20 mins each day scanning the tons of emails I have signed up to from my fave sites as they nearly always have an offer on.

You have to be ruthless with your time though as it can end up being a full time job saving money!

x Claire

Claire34

oh and growing own stuff - got the Hoardes involved a bit last year, we experimented and didnt buy potatoes, carrots, salad or herbs for about 6 months - fab stuff! keep it simple in a small veggie patch or just some window boxes / pots. we're going a bit more ambitious this year so hope to grow more. Tomatoes were great too, and we're still eating the green tomato chutney and the tomato sauce we made in a huge pot and froze in portions. x