[Closed] Any Money saving tips ?

Mate was taking freezer to tip told him to bring to my house to put on freecycle. Cheaper and quicker to bring to me. Gave it to fish !ady for 6 Salmon on Croute.

.peterfile - Member
Hi SD-253

Just been perusing your posts.

With all the money you save by eating pigeons etc, it would amuse me greatly if you then blow it all on crack and hookers.

I actually blow it all on beer and bikes but I am not sure if the latter counts as it saves me money ……… looks like I blow it all on beer but only to help the local communities out by keeping Lincolnshire Wolds village pubs open. I don't actually like beer its my bit for the community..... Honest.

How on earth has this thread not devolved into silliness yet? I'll get thing started... 😀

[list]
[*]DON'T waste money on expensive iPods. Simply think of your favourite tune and I hum it. If you want to "switch tracks", simply think of another song you like and hum that instead.[/*]
[*]SHOES last twice as long if only worn every other day.[/*]
[*]EMPLOYEES: Only use the loo at work. Not only will you save money on toilet paper, but you'll also be getting paid.[/*]
[*]SCROOGES: Save money at Christmas by returning last year's cards to the sender with the simple inscription "Same to you".[/*]
[*]SHOPPERS: Take one grape to the till. It won't register on the low-tech, insensitive scales so you will get it for free. Repeat this procedure 100 times or so and you have yourself a free bunch of grapes.[/*]
[/list]

nothing amazing here:

do the big stuff first; mortgage (buy a house and don't move, ever), car (buy a newish car and drive it until it literally falls apart)

financial stuff, ie insurance, almost always better bought over the internet using compare the mongkat or similar, followed by a cashback place for the actual transaction.

learn how to do stuff (simple car & home maintenance, cooking)

and stop buying crap, everyone knows what really counts as 'essentials' (food, shelter, job/transport) and 'crap' (expensive upgrades to non-essential things, shiny stuff you don't need)

lastly, +lots for having-a-crap-at-work

Top tip for those thinking about shooting your own pigeons, the price is still about 35p each to sell to dealer so find someone who shoots them and offer them 50p each. Much cheaper than buying a rifle and shooting them yourself.

.Drac - Moderator
Top tip for those thinking about shooting your own pigeons, the price is still about 35p each to sell to dealer so find someone who shoots them and offer them 50p each. Much cheaper than buying a rifle and shooting them yourself.

if I cycled to a hooker would she care if I was a little smelly

A cheap one wouldn't be fussy - so its win win.

My current cheap trick just mentioned on another thread - if you make your own bread - get the big bags of chapatti flour in tesco. Its in sacks next to the basmatti rice and makes a nice light, soft loaf. 50p/kilo and sometimes less. About half the price of buying sacks of flour from costco.

Now this is top tip for living in a rural area. Get to know everyone in your village even if they don't want to know you! Same goes for pub. Make sure if they do you a favour you must do one back they will always remember that. It does not have to be equal otherwise there is no point. Although they might be getting rid of something they don't want, a fallen tree for instance which is getting in there way. Or something they have no use for. Like a couple of tree loads of King of the Pippin's a multipurpose apple which will ferment out to 8.4% cider. Good year for apples. For the apples I gave him my special recipe Sloe gin 70c. Got home from pub a little worse for ware didn't notice anything in my drive. Got a text in morning from game keeper's wife "the wood fairy's been" dropped off during the day when out a decent amount of wood. About 5 weeks. May need to give him another bottle of Sloe gin. Especially as mentioned something about 2 Willow trees. Talking about my NFU insurance, which I prefer to bloke in pub turns out he is the manager in local office. Said give us a ring when comes up for renewal. 10% reduction £36 4 beers behind the bar for him. Will try for more next renewal. May come back with some more later.

Argh this maybe a bad thing for some! Every Monday I see what's on bay Crazy this is a site which shows you listing which allowe collection in some cases collection only. Normally cheaper because in collection only as they have reduced there buyers either way no postage costs. My fuel costs are very low about 40 calories a mile. I only put in 10 mile raidius and put nothing in the search box. You will be surprised at how many things you didn't know you needed like a moulinex electric mince and sausage maker excellent condition £1.04p. Collection only reduced buyers to me and she probably got someone to start the bidding.

Next How to bid on Ebay………don't Use a bid snipper site which bids for you 10 seconds before the end. No bidding war and nobody will be able to out bid you at the last moment. Bid out of season I think bikes are out of season in the winter. Also check what the average price an item sells for use advanced settings on search box for items already sold and then bid less sooner or later you will win. Example Schwalbe ice tyres £40 in summer (out of season summer) £100 new better second hand as broken in for you. Bidnip charges $9.99 for 20 snipes but there only used if you win

.maccruiskeen - Member
if I cycled to a hooker would she care if I was a little smelly
A cheap one wouldn't be fussy - so its win win.

My current cheap trick just mentioned on another thread - if you make your own bread - get the big bags of chapatti flour in tesco. Its in sacks next to the basmatti rice and makes a nice light, soft loaf. 50p/kilo and sometimes less. About half the price of buying sacks of flour from costco.

have you looked at approved foods.

I don't really buy much in the way of 'value added' food and I'd rather see fresh food before I buy it. Its a nice idea though.

.maccruiskeen - Member
have you looked at approved foods.
I don't really buy much in the way of 'value added' food and I'd rather see fresh food before I buy it. Its a nice idea though.

2 kettles on wood burner in winter. Wash (including dishes) and make tea and coffee. Will fill flask tomorrow morning obviously have to put in electric kettle to finish off. Electric bill £21 s month all rround . Beating tomorrow £30 and hopefully the tight bastard will gives us 2 pheasants.

Be suspicious of cages full of anything that can be used to reduce carbon emission. If no price on them find out. Bought about 40 florescent bulbs penny each. Swapped some for beer 4 bulbs for a pint. A form of carbon trading practiced by the electric companies. Can only describe that one as Sweeeeeeeeeet

peterfile - Member

£50k in ISAs? Are there not more effective ways of making £50k work for you or do you prefer the easy access to that amount of cash?

There's no easy access - it's all in stocks and shares ISAs. Since taking a massive dive in 2007-9, it's also a bit more than that sum at the moment (compound gains; any valuation rise applies to the whole sum).

Barring disaster, I'm in this for 25+ years - so who knows where it'll end up...

Move in with SD-253.

Marine demand pump from your water butt to refill the cistern in the toilet.
Brew your own beer.
Tablet instead of PC for surfing t'intwerweb
TV switched off , not on standby.
LED / flo bulbs wherever possible.

Make my own cider and perry with apples and pears I collect from within about 4 miles have 26 gallons on the go. Use a garden shreeder to chop the apples up does an excellent job. Have a bucket with a pillow case in to catch shredded apple. Replace immediately with next bucket. Put bag in household spinner which spins at 2700rpm seems to remove more juice than press. creda spiner best as it has pipe which can go straight into barrel or demijohns. Get demijohns on freecycle in winter as "that's out of season and less people asking for them". If you want fizzy cider put fermenting cider in bottles add a level teaspoon of sugar then . Wait 10 days and then put bottles in a large saucepan of 70c water. Put lid on wait 10 mins and take out. Kills the yeast but leaves the fizz.

SD-253, I'm not joking when I say this, but you're definitely my favourite STWer 🙂

I'm assuming you have a beard?

singletrackmind - Member
Brew your own beer.

peterfile - Member
SD-253, I'm not joking when I say this, but you're definitely my favourite STWer

I'm assuming you have a beard?

. peterfile - Member
SD-253, I'm not joking when I say this, but you're definitely my favourite STWer

I'm assuming you have a beard?

PS not everyone would agree with you on this site

4 gallons of elderberry wine on the go. Made 6.5 demijohns of Sloe gin when I remove Sloe gin I put in my cider to make Sloe cider. My favourite cider by far. Also my Rugby club agree. Although I am waiting for a return favour!

toby1 - Member
Don't food shop hungry! Eat beforehand buy half as much.

I use the waste apple pulp mixed with chainsaw chippings (saw dust) to make compost rots really quick and good compost. Rats can sometimes be a problem. Make sure you screw down rat traps as one disappeared. Saw 3 legged rat about 2 weeks later suspect there is a link between the 2 events?

Gave away on freecycle my PC as brother gave me his lap top. Woman appeared desperate as her kids needed it for home work then gave away huge crap but expensive chip board desk replaced with solid oak bureau bought and delivered for £70 will last a life time. Really give antique shops a look. Try and find a big one lots of seller saves time. Bought an ancient frying pan was extremely heavy with brass and wood handle only £8. Lots aren't really antiques. Cooking gear really good place to buy. Quality at a fifth of the price.

Ben_H - Member
peterfile - Member
£50k in ISAs? Are there not more effective ways of making £50k work for you or do you prefer the easy access to that amount of cash?

There's no easy access - it's all in stocks and shares ISAs. Since taking a massive dive in 2007-9, it's also a bit more than that sum at the moment (compound gains; any valuation rise applies to the whole sum).

Barring disaster, I'm in this for 25+ years - so who knows where it'll end up...

Over the long run you are almost certain to be on to a winner with shares as long as fees are low

 

Mate gave me elderberry wine once. Left his house only got a mile before it blew up and redecorated my daughters car Ceiling had a sort of maroon camouflage look. Also redecorated there clothing. I was wearing brown clothing so didn't matter to me. They saw funny side. And we all had a sip of what was left. So nice decided to make it myself. Never give it away as it doesn't travel well

Benh - is that instead of a pension or something. Seems a bit extreme to save up 200+ k while living like a monk for any other reason.

reduce the number of cars in your family, this was the best one for me

although the best advice I got when I was doing my financial planning/selling quals was 'either reduce outgoings or increase income' so have a think about what makes money like getting a weekend or evening job like waiting tables bar job

Bay crazy reduce search distance to 5 miles in city. In Manchester that gave me 5 or 6 times more items than my 10 mile search in Lincolnshire. Money saving expert has a similar site as BayCrazy

If buying loose, peel root vegetables before getting to the checkout.
Likewise removing broccoli stems, trimming celery, removing strawberry & tomato stalks etc.

A small suitcase of car batteries & a battery charger can easily be smuggled into your local library, who even provide free books to cover the plug socket & read, while charging.

If you've paid extra for breakdown recovery, you can save hundreds when driving back from the South of France, & all for a few minutes spent removing fuses & draping bits of cam belt around the engine bay.

dhornby - Member
reduce the number of cars in your family, this was the best one for me

although the best advice I got when I was doing my financial planning/selling quals was 'either reduce outgoings or increase income' so have a think about what makes money like getting a weekend or evening job like waiting tables bar job

oh yeah, go to aldi on a monday, buy bag of apples, bananas, multipack of crisps and stash in desk drawer, damn sight cheaper than works canteen

have a bidon on your desk instead of buying bottled water

ride to work !

Be poor you can be better of! £2700 grant for new central heating. Attic insulation free and cavity wall. Suspect you will be hard put to get any of that in these times of austerity. Mayy be better not to take a pay cut. Ignore what I just said.

Benh - is that instead of a pension or something. Seems a bit extreme to save up 200+ k while living like a monk for any other reason.

Yeah, that's sort of where I was going with my comment. It would take a more intelligent person than me to do the calcs, but is the tax relief/employer contributions on upping pension contributions not better than sticking a load of NET salary into ISAs?

Do you have any other investments? You say you're in thise for 25+ years. I'd have dumped a load on a deposit for a buy to let, rent it out to cover your interest costs, then keep sticking cash into an ISA if you want.

peterfile - Member
Benh - is that instead of a pension or something. Seems a bit extreme to save up 200+ k while living like a monk for any other reason.
Yeah, that's sort of where I was going with my comment. It would take a more intelligent person than me to do the calcs, but is the tax relief/employer contributions on upping pension contributions not better than sticking a load of NET salary into ISAs?

Do you have any other investments? You say you're in thise for 25+ years. I'd have dumped a load on a deposit for a buy to let, rent it out to cover your interest costs, then keep sticking cash into an ISA if you want.

It's where I was going as well. BenH mentions he's already paying a wack into pensions.

[i]- pension payments (although my NHS pension is taking the Michael with 13% contribution, state retirement age and no more final salary link).[/i]

Wow - I thought I was thrifty until I read this.

Re holidays, I've done about 40 house exchanges, mainly through an organisation called Intervac. Costs £49 a year but as we are limited to school holidays for going away saves a considerable amount and last year meant that I got 21 nights of accommodation for three of us for just over £2 per night :-). Also means that you always have decent cooking facilities, which suits us, rather than needing to eat out which we very rarely do.

Blimey [url= http://www.topcashback.co.uk/rapha/ ]Rapha[/url] is on topcashback!

peterfile - Member

Benh - is that instead of a pension or something. Seems a bit extreme to save up 200+ k while living like a monk for any other reason.

Yeah, that's sort of where I was going with my comment. It would take a more intelligent person than me to do the calcs, but is the tax relief/employer contributions on upping pension contributions not better than sticking a load of NET salary into ISAs?

Do you have any other investments? You say you're in thise for 25+ years. I'd have dumped a load on a deposit for a buy to let, rent it out to cover your interest costs, then keep sticking cash into an ISA if you want.

It's where I was going as well. BenH mentions he's already paying a wack into pensions.

- pension payments (although my NHS pension is taking the Michael with 13% contribution, state retirement age and no more final salary link).

Guys - that's right. I'm doing pension, ISAs and hopefully the mortgage will be gone by the time I'm 40. Just gives me more flexibility, that's all. I don't have a very exciting life, but I'm no monk. 😀

I've got to work until I'm 69-70 to get my NHS pension (whatever's left of it by then), so it makes sense to lay some more foundations now.

.jms - Member
Wow - I thought I was thrifty until I read this.

Re holidays, I've done about 40 house exchanges, mainly through an organisation called Intervac. Costs £49 a year but as we are limited to school holidays for going away saves a considerable amount and last year meant that I got 21 nights of accommodation for three of us for just over £2 per night :-). Also means that you always have decent cooking facilities, which suits us, rather than needing to eat out which we very rarely do.

.jms - Member
Wow - I thought I was thrifty until I read this.
Re holidays, I've done about 40 house exchanges, mainly through an organisation called Intervac. Costs £49 a year but as we are limited to school holidays for going away saves a considerable amount and last year meant that I got 21 nights of accommodation for three of us for just over £2 per night :-). Also means that you always have decent cooking facilities, which suits us, rather than needing to eat out which we very rarely do.

Shave your head.

£10 for a set of clippers, never pay for a haircut again.

You'll save on shampoo and other hair products. Also spend less time in the shower, thus saving on water and heating it up, as well as getting some additional free time.

I reckon you'd average £15 per month in savings.

Make your own lunch or use last nights leftovers instead of buying food when at work.
Make large batches of food.

Both of these for me. Buying sandwiches is horribly expensive and saving the previous nights food saves me scoffing it there and then

Plus use some sort of software to record your outgoing for a few months. A bit like recording what you eat it's amazing what you spend without noticing it