I'll go the other direction on the home oil change argument...
I'll assume 90% of car owners aren't competent/capable/willing to do their own servicing... But lots of people simply don't bother getting their car serviced at all, decline the preventative maintenance items OEM service schedules recommend and ignore the MOT advisories. This means that cars are driven until they break or continue to be driven broken/unfit for the road until MOT failure, at which point owners baulk at the repair cost resulting in either bodge fixes (delaying the inevitable/exacerbating other issues), excessive garage fees as fix needed urgently or p/ex the broken car as owner 'loses faith' and thinks new is better (but will treat new car exactly same as old).
Therefore, my top money saving tip is find a trusted independent specialist for your marque, service it to the manufacturers schedule (or more if they spec silly oil change intervals) and get the preventative maintenance done. Overall the cars life will be extended which ultimately will reduce the single biggest car ownership cost which is buying the bloody thing in the first place!
... and ignore the MOT advisories.
To be fair, most are best ignored. I don't need 4 new brake discs, sets of pads and tires at 50% wear regardless of how advisory it might be.
Dude, this is ShoppingTrolleyWorld. A significant percentage of the readership live to shop… what else would they do with their time….
Write snarky comments about people they don't know?
Do you have taps on your sinks/showers/baths?
Do you find the hot water is a little bit too hot, so you add some cold water in? STOP!
Energy compaines hate the one simple trick!!!...
Don't heat it up so much in the first place - turn the HW temp down a few degrees at the boiler.
When you go raving don't drink alcohol and instead just do mdma. £7 a pint of lager in clubs typically but you might only pay £7 for a pill. Lasts 4 hours, much better value. Drink tap water, which is free at the bar.
Some of the ideas on here so reminds me of Ken and Bryan
- Do you have taps on your sinks/baths
- Last time I looked they were there, I'd contact the installer if yours doesn't come supplied
what else would they do with their time….
Not ride their bikes?
You don't need expensive shampoos, conditioners, shower gel and shaving foam/gel...you can wash the entirity of your body and shave with a bar of soap that can be had 2 for a quid in any supermarket.
turn the HW temp down a few degrees at the boiler.
so the hot water runs out more quickly and you get legionellas?
Sorry just read the thread and see Matt recommended soap on page one...so I'll also offer... Breakfast at Premier inn is just £10.99 and includes drinks. Kids eat free, one for every adult and it's buffet so you can stuff your faces enough to cover lunch, 2 adults and 2 kids eat for £22!
so the hot water runs out more quickly and you get legionellas?
*applies to combi boilers with no hot water tank - I should have said, lol
you can wash the entirity of your body and shave with a bar of soap that can be had 2 for a quid in any supermarket
Kinda
Shampoo needs to be a lower pH or it will turn your hair dull and other specific soaps probably have other characteristics.
Also £2/bar? Where are you shopping? It's half that price for 4 in Lidl ?
2 for a quid! 50p a bar. Tinas *tongue out moji*
Taking it to the next level - you don't really need soapy on your skin unless you are trying to remove something oily or greasy. Mother nature made skin oily for a reason. Why are we constantly trying to remove it then re-add it using expensive chemical X creams?
Next next level.
The most amazing hair I've ever come across was on a girl. I told her and she said 'I use urine - first wee of the day. Just combe it through and put it up.'
I'm bald so can't test it out myself nor is my wife will to be a guinea pigs.
And back to topic - it's all free - obviously
Save money, piss on your girlfriend's hair!
This is brilliant, I'll suggest it to the wife and report back! 'Just bend down will ya love, no lower.'
When you go raving don’t drink alcohol and instead just do mdma.
Haha, this was my top tip for a few years in the early 2000s! I was lucky enough to befriend the owner of Sankeys. Free in, £3 on a pill, drink water all night. Top budget entertainment
The most amazing hair I’ve ever come across was on a girl.
Sounds like it wasn't just piss!
Practice Zen shopping,
Do want it.
Do I need it.
Can I live without it ?
This thread starts and ends with a link to
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
It has literally everything you could need or want for saving money!
Can I live without it ?
On that basis you'd end up owning nothing but an impressive collection of baked beans a pair of Ron Hills a sleeping bag and a rudimentary tent
increase the viewing [up a level] of your bank and credit card accounts
from [never to] annually to monthly to weekly to daily
i had a workmate who reviewed his bank account and cancelled 5 or 6 subscriptions he couldnt even remember using let alone signing up for... :0)
But lots of people simply don’t bother getting their car serviced at all, decline the preventative maintenance items OEM service schedules recommend and ignore the MOT advisories. This means that cars are driven until they break or continue to be driven broken/unfit for the road until MOT failure, at which point owners baulk at the repair cost resulting in either bodge fixes (delaying the inevitable/exacerbating other issues), excessive garage fees as fix needed urgently or p/ex the broken car as owner ‘loses faith’ and thinks new is better (but will treat new car exactly same as old).
So you've met my mother in law then 😀
She's a serial car wrecker and that right there is her MO.
And on the subject of doing your own oil changes... It's just not worth my time and effort.
I can do most things on a car other than proper engine work.. I can do brakes, suspension etc.
I just don't have the space or suitable flat ground, and I can't be arsed either.
So I just get it done at MOT time at my local indie. Drop car off early in the morning, pick it up at closing time...no waiting around.
Horses for courses.
Save money on expensive carpets by buying two small sample carpets and gluing them to the soles of your shoes
Save money on expensive carpets by buying two small sample carpets and gluing them to the soles of your shoes
This has the added bonus that you and your other half can enjoy different coloured carpets to suit individual aesthetic tastes (see current "light coloured carpet" thread).
Small indy garage . One oil fits all. They don't have 6 to 8 200l drums lined up.
2 mins to let most of the old oil out .
Engine driven for 15 mins to get oil hot ? I doubt it very much.
Old filter inspected with torch for debris? Well it's possible but I bet it's straight in the bin.
My friend drives the same car but but a few years youner than mine . I strongly recommended a gearbox service as prevention maintenance , manufacturers recommended service 100k Kms . BMW say filled for life .
Indy garage comment was " is it working ok now ? Well its obviously not in need of a service. "
Let's not spend a couple of hundred , when inserting ones head into the sand could cost thousands .
On servicing. Don't rule out main dealers. When my 6 year old Skoda Superb was needing an MOT and service I got quotes from 2 VW indies, Halfords and my local main dealer. Henrys Skoda were cheapest at £180 or thereabouts all in.
MOT pass and no adviseries. Only comment (on service sheet not on MOT) was front brake pads 60% worn. Which I knew as they are original. Nearly one year on I haven't changed them yet. Might actually get them done soon. Change then now and they should last the rest of the time I'll own the car.
And unlike a one man corner garage as per the comments upthread I'm reasonably sure the correct grade of oil will have been used.
Small indy garage . One oil fits all. They don’t have 6 to 8 200l drums lined up.
2 mins to let most of the old oil out .
Engine driven for 15 mins to get oil hot ? I doubt it very much.
Old filter inspected with torch for debris? Well it’s possible but I bet it’s straight in the bin.My friend drives the same car but but a few years youner than mine . I strongly recommended a gearbox service as prevention maintenance , manufacturers recommended service 100k Kms . BMW say filled for life .
Indy garage comment was ” is it working ok now ? Well its obviously not in need of a service. ”
Let’s not spend a couple of hundred , when inserting ones head into the sand could cost thousands .
We clearly live on different planets... I know the owner of my local garage/MOT place.. we see each other in the pub from time to time and have a bit of a chat, he's a good guy and know's what he's doing.
Maybe your probelm is you drive a BMW, so your basicaly just a victim?
A victim of what?
A victim of what?
Reality i think , Singletrackmind describes well what goes on in reality.
Confused.com for insurance quotes. Get a competitive quote and a £20 halfords voucher each time, with a couple of cars and household insurance its a decent saving.
Trouble with oil service is they let the apprentice do it. If he can drag himself away from his pi for more than a 3 minute stretch.
So I personally know people who have had double the oil inserted into the engine, a sump plug finger tight which left the chat , ditto oil filter loose . And my brother, who had his quattro sump plug threads stripped by a gorilla with a rattle gun it sits in a bath of oil , is fitted on a film of oil and lives behind the protection of the undertray .
Also remember that diy servicing does have knock-on costs and they're a bit nonlinear and funky, I got my current car with full history and completely ruined that, realistically for this model it's knocked £500+ off the resale value and also means there's just less buyers out there that'll touch it. And you can do that really fast, ultimately one "missed" service screws a lovely dealer history instantly but it takes years to get equivalent gains.
I've easily saved more than that on the total maintenance costs but on the actual <servicing>, not massively, and if the actual servicing schedule had worked out a little different I think I could have lost money that way (because it's only a couple of higher cost jobs that have really provided a saving). The other non-service-book stuff, I've saved a ton on, thousands- but sometimes there's a tightrope to walk between maintaining your stamps but doing the non stampy stuff yourself.
Course you're not guaranteed to ever sell a car, and it's cost today vs winnings tomorrow.
A good way to save money would be to keep your car to a point where that doesn't matter.
A lower sales price is a low price to pay for ensuring it's done correctly and no corners cut.
I mean on the one hand I agree but on the other hand when I finished swapping the engine in my mx5 I accidentally filled the power steering with brake fluid because they were in a similar shaped bottle. So maybe correctness is not always ensured.
Presumably that really slowed down the steering 😉
On coffee, for those who love to but can't always stretch to buy little bags of beans/grinds, I get Save The Bears coffee off Amazon for £17 for a kg but this is sufficient for my 3 cups a day for the month.
Less than 60p a day and what they do after they've done their posho artisan roasts is dump the residual beans from that roast into these bargain bags and sometimes I get really lucky.
Is this the viz top tips thread.
I ordered something from a retailer rhymes with sun whelm, they sent the wrong colour. Fair enough, click and collect so returned it. Reordered, same thing happened, returned and reordered. Third attempt successful.
Asked to speak with manager, he apologied and offered me 30 quid off 40 quid price and a free coffee in in house cafe. Nice coffee too I may even go back. So be kind and ask nicely, I couldn't believe it.
