Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 44 total)
  • Need to save money
  • Whathaveisaidnow
    Free Member

    I really need to control my outgoings, selling a few things and moving into a cheaper rent is a start…

    I ride to work as often as I can, I don’t buy cd’s/downloads/clothing,….anything like that…

    My usual spend is on bike stuff, isn’t much, but is going to have to stop.

    I drink very little, one bottle of wine a week, maybe a bottle of beer…

    I don’t have a TV,…just broadband…that’s working out at £23 a month at the moment with a landline.

    I think a lot can be saved on food maybe?

    And I’m planning on not driving anywhere to ride for 12 months, that’s tough!

    Anyone got any good tips?, Apart from don’t get in this situation in the first place, which of course is by-the-by, ….

    geoffj
    Full Member

    Get a second job – bar work etc., gets you out of the house = lower heating costs, meeting people = good for the soul and earning a bit more cash.

    bokonon
    Free Member

    Set out your fixed (bills etc.) outgoings in advance, work out the difference between your income and fixed outgoings, then budget in the things you need to spend this month on top of that (fuel for trip to see your Nan or whatever) that will leave you with your overall budget for everything else for the month, divide it by 4 and then itemise everything you buy in a list, knocking the cost off the weekly total you spend – you can see how much you have have left and plan accordingly. Slightly labour intensive, but less labour intensive than getting a second job to pay back the debt you might rack up without it.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    http://skintdad.co.uk/

    is great.

    Although he just won £10k for being such a canny shopper so he’s a not so skint dad now…

    z1ppy
    Full Member

    Food, it’s amazing how much can be saved using more ‘basic’ unbranded stuff, Aldi or lidl are your first stop, IME no you won’t get everything from them but you can get a hell of a lot. I won’t buy some stuff from them (i like my PG tips) and so am forced back to the main supermarkets occasionally, so you need to shop-smart, plan what you’ll need and when, rather than waste fuel/time traipsing between them constantly.

    Whathaveisaidnow
    Free Member

    good shout, I’ve worked in pubs, service industry before, will look into that.

    Whathaveisaidnow
    Free Member

    I’m thinking of doing a monthly shop and setting a budget.

    banks
    Free Member

    +1 for evening job – 2/3 evenings a week and make sure the money goes into a separate account – don’t carry that card around or have it linked online etc..

    Make batch meals – i tend to make massive chilis and stews – portion out into little freezer bags saves cooking a few nights.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Aldi, lidl are your saviors . We shop there almost exclusively 40 quid for a weeks food

    Big cut back for me was stopping dinners in the canteen – food was crap and quite expensive over time.3 quid a day but convienant. I now not only save money but eat better food

    Possibly to ditch the car ? Just having it on the drive costs alot – if you absolutely need a car to go somewhere occasionally can you hire or get a taxi ?

    Whathaveisaidnow
    Free Member

    Yes thought about ditching the car, due its insurance in April, so then would make sense.

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    packed lunches every day save a fortune.
    List ALL your old tat on ebay, people do buy some junk.
    cancel your overdraft or severely limit it, say £200 for example.

    Whathaveisaidnow
    Free Member

    already doing the packed lunch thing and the overdraft is 200….

    i could ebay a fair bit of tat though to be fair 🙂

    winston_dog
    Free Member

    Packed lunches and no expensive coffee.

    You can still get decent food relatively cheap if your willing to do a bit of cooking.

    Find a local greengrocer, butcher and baker. They are nearly always cheaper than the supermarkets.

    Esme
    Free Member

    Carry a notebook, and write down everything that you spend. You’ll be shocked at how much you “waste”.

    project
    Free Member

    tesco/morrisons have a damaged rooler cage or a few shelves full of damaged stuff, plenty of cleaning ands tinned stuff on there, also they reduce all the bakery and fresh fruit at night,usually on the hour, bargains.

    Loyalty cards also give you free stuff, and a fiver off 40 quid this week for spending 40 quid at tesco,

    Iceland for cheap frozen food,

    Thick curtains to keep the heat in,

    poundland 99p shop for cheap stuff.including tinned food.

    Ecky-Thump
    Free Member

    Moneysaving Expert is worth a look at too:http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help

    soobalias
    Free Member

    sit down and write up every bit of expenditure from the last couple of months. Get this from any reciepts you have, bank statements and credit card statements.

    group your expenditure into obvious categorys:
    rent & bills
    car/travel
    food
    phone
    socialising

    once you have allocated all your spend to these, you can see where your money went and which you feel you can afford to cut back most easily and effectively

    Philby
    Full Member

    This may help with budgeting.

    Conqueror
    Free Member

    Aldi, lidl are your saviors . We shop there almost exclusively 40 quid for a weeks food

    Big cut back for me was stopping dinners in the canteen – food was crap and quite expensive over time.3 quid a day but convienant. I now not only save money but eat better food

    Agree with this, its amazing how much you can save doing this.

    If you buy bread, stick it in the freezer, yeah it doesn’t taste quite as nice, but you won’t end up wasting it.

    Also never fill up the car at motorway service station unless you are desperate.

    Make a spread sheet tracking petrol/diesel usage – might seem sad I know – but you will realise if you car is economical or screwing you over. You will also be able to calculate the real world MPG – which may or may not scare you.

    Use ebay and/or freecylce to buy from and sell/give away anything you don’t use/need. Less clutter and some extra cash from cr@p that is not being used always makes one feel better.

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    Some great advice up there, when MrsCat was doing her degree we had to economise and found that cooking from scratch and keeping it simple saved loads, especially if we loaded the freezer (read somewhere it is more economic to have a full freezer – could be mistaken on this one)

    Also, in the house we heated just one room and all gathered in that one, we scrounged as much waste wood for the fire/log burner as we could and that helped a lot.

    The biggest effect was managing to increase income from a a bit of freelance work over anything we could shave off in savings (once we have curtailed my wine habit) so the additional work is a good plan.

    Good luck.

    orangeboy
    Free Member

    I like big batches of meals like the chilli I’ve just had tonight
    Just used a basics pack on mince and added and extra 2 tins of beans
    You don’t notice the smaller pack of mince and it goes a long way

    joshvegas
    Free Member

    Just cut the meat altogether, this coming from a self proclaimed meat worshipper.

    choppersquad
    Free Member

    No great advice, just wanted to say well done for having the sense to start these cuts now. I’m sure you’ll be OK because you’ve made a good list of cost cuts on your own. It won’t be easy but I’m sure it won’t last forever. Good luck.

    ski
    Free Member

    Have you thought about opting out?

    Round here, getting a disability and not working, well not working for a tax based system anyway, seems to work!!!

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Check every bill, reduce to the cheaper options.
    Check every spend on your statement and account for what it was.
    Cook in bulk is a good one.
    Visit friends more.
    Check if you are eligible for any benefits.
    Rent out a room

    Aidan
    Free Member

    If you’re somewhere with good mobile coverage, you might be able to save by switching from fixed broadband to mobile.

    I use a 3-mobile unlimited internet package as part of my mobile contract and then tether with wifi from my phone. The whole lot is £35/month for a mobile that I would have anyway and all of our home internet usage with no line rental.

    br
    Free Member

    I’m thinking of doing a monthly shop and setting a budget.

    I’d rather shop daily/more-than-weekly and eat fresh food myself.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    b r – Member

    I’m thinking of doing a monthly shop and setting a budget.

    I’d rather shop daily/more-than-weekly and eat fresh food myself.[/quote]
    A monthly shop for the non perishables and freezer stuff works well, then a very limited budget for weekly top ups of fresh. A meal/menu plan means you are only buying what you need.

    kayak23
    Full Member

    Choose perhaps a Bollinger over a Dom Perignon.

    Visit friends more.
    Check if you are eligible for any benefits.

    With the friends? 😯

    Edric64
    Free Member

    Take a flask of coffee/tea and sarnies or pasta salad /soup for lunch again cooked from scratch in a batch can save loads

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Batch cooking is a good idea.

    I don’t have the heating on in the morning, shower at night. If you have TRVs then lower if you can, same for thermostat and add a layer rather than walking around in a t-shirt. If you have a water heater then see if you can change the timing.

    Check for offers in supermarkets. When cooking for one I often find that fresh veg gets wasted so frozen veg can be more cost efficient. You don’t lose out on vitamins either. Rather than throw out food, pop it in the freezer. So what if you have ‘interesting’ combinations!!

    Filter coffee from Aldi is fine, considerably cheaper than own brand stuff.

    Edit: a menu planned for the week is an excellent idea and saves buying any last minute stuff from the corner shop.

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    Aldi, lidl are your saviors

    Check local veg shops as well. Ours is shockingly cheaper than the supermarket.

    Awesome job so far

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Didn’t realise fruit and veg shops still existed!

    Avoid Asda for f & v, doesn’t keep at all.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    filter coffee from aldi is like charcoal . i draw the line at that – id rather not have coffee than drink that – it ranks with nescafe.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Which strength of coffee trail_rat? I use 4 and it’s fine, not bitter.

    freeagent
    Free Member

    Some great advice up there, when MrsCat was doing her degree we had to economise and found that cooking from scratch and keeping it simple saved loads, especially if we loaded the freezer (read somewhere it is more economic to have a full freezer – could be mistaken on this one)

    Yep, ’tis true about the freezer.
    Your freezer works be removing heat from inside, and it has to work harder to remove heat from gas (ie air in an empty freezer) than from frozen solids (ie food)
    We build cold-rooms for ships/submarines at work – on a bigger scale it makes a considerable difference.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    also CG you do realise that all lowering your TRVS does is make it take longer for your room to heat – meaning it takes longer for your room to trip the thermostat – thus the heatings on longer ?

    TRVs are to allow you to control the flow of water through your radiator and thus the ammount of heat it emits.

    sensible to turn them down in the rooms you use but you would be better getting your room hot quickly with the TRV open and then the heating will trip off quicker as the rooms as temperature.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    No, I meant in unused rooms! Even I’m not that silly, maybe. 😉

    kimbers
    Full Member

    aldi/lidl and make your own sarnies for lunch/ meals from scratch

    parkesie
    Free Member

    Plan your meals ahead and only buy the stuff you need for that plan. More veg get chicken legs and thighs instead of breast turn left over veg into soup for following days lunch.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 44 total)

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