Great Rural MoneySaving Hunt

MSE_Martin · 26 March 2008 at 12:38PM

What's it about?

While living in the countryside obviously has its benefits when it comes to MoneySaving the downsides can be prohibitive just as much as city living but for a whole new set of reasons.

What to do?

Whether you don't have central heating so have to make alternative arrangements or have to pay more for extra channels because you can't get Freeview, if you live out in the sticks and have some useful MoneySaving hints and tips for others in the same situation or even those contemplating moving to the country then click reply to add yours.

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carebabe · 2 April 2008 at 12:12AM

i purchased a 10 journey bus ticket (cost £10) and have been using this to travel to town (30 mile round trip) for work and shopping. saves on parking costs and is greener. sold my car 6 weeks ago and borrow my partners car once a week. decided we didnt really need 2 cars anymore. although i work full time its 3 journeys per week (12hr shifts).

kingkano · 2 April 2008 at 7:22AM

Find your local farm shop/farmer and get a freezer

You can then order whole lambs, whole pigs and maybe even half a cow. Butchered however you want it, at certain times of the year. The price is excellent, you know where its from and its fresh. You then freeze it and use as you want. (we get a lamb every 6 mths and half a pig about the same).

A farm shop is superb for vegetables (or a farmers market if its a bit less rural than that). Although do check if yours just gets the stuff in from the big markets - which is not quite as good to my mind.

miss_phish · 2 April 2008 at 7:23AM

Using a barter system with neighbours works well and also keeps you in touch with the community.
We grow chickens and our neighbour lambs and we then swop meat. Another friend produces honey and we swop with eggs. Yet another one grows tonnes of fabulous veg and he will swop with just about anything (preferably red wine though!!!)
You end up with the best, freshest, local produce possible even though you only grow/produce one thing.

PS services can be just as important as produce when you live out in the wilds - sewing, typing, bookeeping etc are all on demand and easily bartered.

Jolaaled · 2 April 2008 at 7:42AM

the farm shops round here all seem very expensive, compared to tesco in the nearest town, although the quality looks great.

I have found, though, that i can save a lot on free range eggs by buying from the roadside farm gate..there's usually some sort of hand-painted sign saying that they have eggs for sale. I'm lucky that i can pick them up when travelling to and from work.

Round here, they're about £1.50 per dozen, compared to tesco's £1.35 for half dozen.

And they're lovely quality too.

RDA · 2 April 2008 at 8:16AM

Many rural homeowners will use oil to heat their houses rather than gas due as it's often not available in outlying areas.

I organise a consortium which places a single large order with the most competitive oil supplier and we receive a bulk discount in return.

In our case, a 3% discount allowed us to split a saving of £150 between 5 neighbours.

This may not seem much, but later this year we plan to place a larger order and have been offered an even higher discount for a tanker load.

Heinz · 2 April 2008 at 8:59AM

RDA wrote: »

Many rural homeowners will use oil to heat their houses rather than gas due as it's often not available in outlying areas.

I organise a consortium which places a single large order with the most competitive oil supplier and we receive a bulk discount in return.

In our case, a 3% discount allowed us to split a saving of £150 between 5 neighbours.

This may not seem much, but later this year we plan to place a larger order and have been offered an even higher discount for a tanker load.

And if you're a believer in the 'humans are the cause of global warming' line, think of the environmental savings on one tanker delivery instead of five!

kingkano · 2 April 2008 at 9:35AM

Jolaaled wrote: »

the farm shops round here all seem very expensive, compared to tesco in the nearest town, although the quality looks great.

I have found, though, that i can save a lot on free range eggs by buying from the roadside farm gate..there's usually some sort of hand-painted sign saying that they have eggs for sale. I'm lucky that i can pick them up when travelling to and from work.

Round here, they're about £1.50 per dozen, compared to tesco's £1.35 for half dozen.

And they're lovely quality too.

That can be a problem. Sometimes they can be more shop than farm

. My local one is good for prices, and their own grown stuff is great. But they subsidise it with market bought stuff sadly, which is lesser quality and I don't like the food miles. Happily they will tell me exactly what is local and what isnt without taking offence

bawbeesaver · 2 April 2008 at 10:14AM

RDA wrote: »

Many rural homeowners will use oil to heat their houses rather than gas due as it's often not available in outlying areas.

I organise a consortium which places a single large order with the most competitive oil supplier and we receive a bulk discount in return.

In our case, a 3% discount allowed us to split a saving of £150 between 5 neighbours.

This may not seem much, but later this year we plan to place a larger order and have been offered an even higher discount for a tanker load.

This is a great tip. I too shop around for the best oil price but I have started to burn logs in our fireplaces and a log burner to provide background heat as an alternative to burning oil. I have worked out that burning wood is cheaper than oil - especially now that the oil price has risen so much.

It is also greener as wood is a renewable source. I collect fallen twigs from the garden after every storm and keep all prunings as kindling. Any branches that I remove from the older trees I saw up into the right size - good exercise. For a small fee I can have a day of wood collection on the Forestry Commission land - collecting the side branches that they trim off. (Borrow a trailer and chain saw) It is also easy and comparatively cheap to have logs delivered from some of the local farmers. The wood ash can also be used as a soil improver.

MoJo · 2 April 2008 at 10:38AM

miss_phish wrote: »

Using a barter system with neighbours works well and also keeps you in touch with the community.
We grow chickens and our neighbour lambs and we then swop meat. Another friend produces honey and we swop with eggs. Yet another one grows tonnes of fabulous veg and he will swop with just about anything (preferably red wine though!!!)
You end up with the best, freshest, local produce possible even though you only grow/produce one thing.

PS services can be just as important as produce when you live out in the wilds - sewing, typing, bookeeping etc are all on demand and easily bartered.

PPS and the people can be vital - networking was alive and thriving in rural areas well before the business world & t'internet picked up on it

There's always someone who can either help or who knows a man who can.

MoJo · 2 April 2008 at 10:40AM

bawbeesaver wrote: »

<snip> For a small fee I can have a day of wood collection on the Forestry Commission land - collecting the side branches that they trim off. (Borrow a trailer and chain saw) It is also easy and comparatively cheap to have logs delivered from some of the local farmers. The wood ash can also be used as a soil improver.

I've been wondering how to find out about this with the Forestry Commission - any pointers?

Great Rural MoneySaving Hunt

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