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Mary Hinge - Member
Shave your head.
Guessing from your user name, that you are not an advocate for shaving the whole body ?
. Not sure about the £15 a month, sounds a bit high..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.
Have you added this to your money savings routine, never use shower gel, very expensive most of it goes down the plug hole before you can apply it. Also bought a timer normally used for cooking but can be used for timing your shower. Set at 4mins now although I had to work my way down to that. As stated earlier electric bill £21 a month everything cold water fill.
My brother uses hotels a lot, asked him to collect all the shampoo and soap. And towels and bathrobes said the latter was going to far.
Is the following going to far: daughter broke up with boyfriend. He left a few things behind namely razors (loads) underpants (I took the stripey ones left flowery ones?) And loads of socks. Now I did wash them before waring them eventhough they were clean.
My brother uses hotels a lot, asked him to collect all the shampoo and soap. Also towels and bathrobes said that was going to far.
Is the following going to far: daughter broke up with boyfriend. He left a few things behind namely razors (loads) underpants (I took the stripey ones left flowery ones?) And loads of socks. Now I did wash them before waring them eventhough they were clean.
. Weird I am guessing but I reckon about 60% + are teachers the rest are/were in the "arts"...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
Have you swapped with another country? I spotted one I fancy in Norfolk despite not being a fan of the flat country. 99 miles away (road miles not crow miles). A roads in the route which I am not prepared to use so say 120 miles a nice leisurely pub crawl with B&B on the way. Brilliant! Thanks very much for the tip.
Save electricity by charging your solarstorms on your desk at work before your night ride?
Shave your head.
Use clippers but don't shave your head if you don't want to. I injured my neck in my late teens and for a long time couldn't stand having my head moved around by the barber as they worked so have cut my own hair ever since. I use clippers, just don't go particularly short. Anything less than no4 and I look like a bouncer, at no.2 I look like an escaped mental patient, less than no2 and I look like a mental patient who doesn't even want to escape. So I used clippers but cut my hair comparatively long
Is the following going to far: daughter broke up with boyfriend. He left a few things behind namely razors (loads) underpants (I took the stripey ones left flowery ones?) And loads of socks. Now I did wash them before waring them eventhough they were clean.
going too far is encouraging your daughter into a series short-lived unhappy relationships with boys who are clean shaven and well dressed just save a few bob on pants and razors
dibs on the flowery ones btw
Read "The Moneyless Man" by Mark Boyle. A real eye opener. I definitely don't fancy cuttlefish toothpaste, but it just shows how many things we could not spend money on, if we chose to.
I find avoiding supermarkets helpful, as it stops me making so many impulse buys. Using my local markets means cheap fruit and veg (even if you don't get the same wide variety of choice) cheaper meat, especially if you can buy in any quantity, and the butchers will often give me free bones for my dog. Free range Eggs are half the price of the supermarket there too, and I can buy a lot of ethnic foods that I use a lot, like coconut oil and coconut milk. The Asian shops and supermarkets sell cheap large bags of rice.
I use my pressure cooker to cook cheaper cuts of meat like beef shin or lamb neck, always cook whole chickens rather than buying breasts or legs etc, because you get a roast from it plus meals/sandwiches for the next couple of days. I also buy my gluten free flour in bulk which reduces the cost per pack - I got together with other coeliacs locally to do this.
Cleaning - using diluted white vinegar makes a good window and glass/mirror cleaner. Combined with bicarb soda and lemon or orange oil it's a good toilet cleaner as well.
Give up mountain biking....
Could I also add checking your bank and credit card statements. It may be a statement of the obvious but I used to be careless about this.
Last week I rang and challenged a mobile phone bill. It dropped from £39 to £22 in seconds. I have also discovered double charging for online purchases, being charged monthly subscriptions when I was supposedly on a free introductory period (will never be a Sky customer again).
Bought a new bike trailer for wood and apple collection. Ebay. Gave the seeller a right bollocking. Gave me money back. The trailer (supposedly will Cary 90kilos) had some joints which had been crimped instead of welded. The worse was the part that should have fitted my seat post was to small? Seat post is 27.2mm. Standard? Was going to bin or give away on freecycle, all except the plastic box which was very good quality but decided should be able to solve. So say about a tenner welding and making another part for the seat post. Only to bend a bit of metal and drill some holes. Bought some missing washers £3. £13 all in. Although may only be a pint! Moral of the story don't let bad seller get away with it.
Ps money saving expert has a link to free nakd bar offer. Some health bar although make your choice from all there products up to 75p. Used 3 email addresses printed 2 for each address. Will use in the only 2 supermarkets in town. Worth trying. Should be the sort of thing people put in theres and there kids lunch box. Not long left on offer 5 days?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/nakd
.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.
. I like this a lot will definitely give this a look in.
Would you want to stay in SD-253's house? Is it actually a house?
On a more positive and helpful note I've recently discovered Poundland and "family Bargains" or whatever it's called. Now a lot of the things they sell aren't essentials - but they do have some great stuff at really good prices compared to the supermarkets. My big bargains recently have been on bird food, dishwasher tablets and fancy loo roll
.maccruiskeen going too far is encouraging your daughter into a series short-lived unhappy relationships with boys who are clean shaven and well dressed just save a few bob on pants and razors
My daughters raped my wallet at Christmas. Its the least she could do. I also got her a lovely mole trap, a hat I found in the pub (I washed it) And something Else which I can not remember but no doubt it would be just as good. The other one got a Dalek alarm which is sending her boyfriend mad. I think I maybe getting some more undies soon 😀
food shopping is a major outgoing, as well as batch cooking and having a meal planner and sticking to it,
eat before you go food shopping, if you are hungry in a supermarket you'll end up buying crap not proper meals stuff
be careful of the poundstores B&M bargains, a lot of their stuff isn't necessarily cheaper, lots aren't - if you have a smartphone then use a price comparator app, get a barcode scanner also for price cross matching
if your SO likes beauty treatments and fancy hair do's local colleges with qualified beauty / hair stylist students often have vastly discounted treatments on offer.
Anglican Water just reduced my water bill to £4? From £6 a month. Sure I washed last month 
I don't have mains sewage before you get overly surprised.
Ditch your insurance.
Pay off loans / debts sensibly. Look at moving debts around to reduce the interest payed.
For the wife and I, the best thing we did (began a few years ago as newly-weds) was, withdraw your money for the month on pay day and put it in envelopes.
For example,
week 1 fun
week 1 food
week 1 petrol
week 1 taxi money
week 2 fun
week 2 food
........................
month elec.
month water
month car insurance
etc
When you can see it, you appreciate where it's going. You also understand where your spending can be cut back. For example, I bought a can of coke most afternoons after work. That was £120 a year; it all mounts up!
i dont owe anybody a penny and have a simple outlook.. LIVE. your a long dead.. i ve spent time in intensive care and high dependency.. focus on the here and now
now I remember what else I got my daughters for Christmas. The one that got the mole trap also got skiing gloves. For padding I put those Heinz squeeze and stir soups in the parcels. 20 for a £1 from car boot sale. Also from the same car boot bought 3.5 kilo bag of ready made crumble mix for £1.50. As I froze at least 2 dozen cooked apple portions. So a good purchase..My daughters raped my wallet at Christmas. Its the least she could do. I also got her a lovely mole trap, a hat I found in the pub (I washed it) And something Else which I can not remember but no doubt it would be just as good. The other one got a Dalek alarm which is sending her boyfriend mad. I think I maybe getting some more undies soon
.totalshell - Member
i dont owe anybody a penny and have a simple outlook.. LIVE. your a long dead.. i ve spent time in intensive care and high dependency.. focus on the here and now
I would suggest not reading bike magazines. Not only do they cost £4 a go but they convince me that I need a new bike or bike parts 😀
Join a cash and carry like Booker or Costco. Not everything is cheaper but the stuff that is (especially stuff like toiletries and cleaning/laundry powder) will save you a lot of money. Check tarrifs and move things as appropriate cards, utilities, TV, broadband etc every 3 months or so just to be sure you're paying the least you can. Speak to customer retentions as most companies will do a lot to hang on to you, for example I pay around 30 quid for a full HD sky package. Look into grants for insulation and so forth make sure your cash isn't going out of the roof. Don't buy pre prepared food cook from scratch as it's much much cheaper. Finally get the mortgage paid, I don't save, I just pay extra on that on the basis that the mortgage interest is more than the return on investments right now the quicker I clear that the happier I'll be.
quote].totalshell - Member
i dont owe anybody a penny and have a simple outlook.. LIVE. your a long dead.. i ve spent time in intensive care and high dependency.. focus on the here and now
Give over totatshell think forward so you can enjoy the future just as much as the present. Before you mention the intensive care when I was nine my right leg was crushed by a truck (I was eating a wagon wheel at the time never been able to do since). In the end they had to graft another bone to the break to make it knit. A parachute accident put me in hospital for 2 months. 3 compressed and fractured vertabre. I am partially deaf due to being in close proximity to explosions, although the person in front of me lost both legs an arm and the left hand side of his head so can't complain. 4years ago I spent about 10 days in hospital with bad bout of epilepsy. When I got out I had poor balance slurred speech and probably bit of brain damage (my memory is crap) OK now apart from memory problems. 2 years ago I some how managed to get an infection in spine (6 weeks in hospital and 5 weeks of home help washing me in shower (didn't need it but pretend I did)which has left me with septic arthritis in one knee. I can't play rugby any more and I am only 57 (I think I am). You should aim to enjoy the present and the future. PS your debts die with you 😀
. Nice one never read a bike magazine but still nice one.hooli - Member
I would suggest not reading bike magazines. Not only do they cost £4 a go but they convince me that I need a new bike or bike parts
Another moneysaving tip? Don't work! 😆
The money I spend working is crazy. Transport, food, work social events because I don't want to be seen as a miserable bugger. I only really realised how much working costs when I became a self employed contractor and started claiming work related expenses.
I'm kinda being tongue in cheek here, I'm not genuinely advising people not to work, but I wouldn't go back to being permanently employed/owned again now I actually keep account of how much of the cash I earn is being spunked just so I can keep going to work and earning the money. I mentioned this on another thread, but where I work now, they have a lot of facilities, onsite shops, canteen etc and a discount scheme, so the employer pays people their salary, but a large proportion of it goes straight back to the employer via convenient onsite stores selling the employer's products, people buying their breakfast and lunch there, and using the discount scheme for their home shopping, paying for their parking permit for the onsite car parks....
Basically, it's an existential nightmare! 😆
.littlemisspanda - Member
Another moneysaving tip? Don't work!
Exactly what I did lost one house to a blood sucking leach (I have issues). Soon as I paid of the 2nd house, 10 years of none stop work sold up and moved back to the country. Sweeeeeeeet Pension not great but my aim is to make each £1 stretch to £2 or more. You can achieve that if you have the time.
Checked my DD today Anglican Water have reduced my bill to £4 a month from £5.50. Robbers have been overcharging me.
. SD-253 - Member
Ps money saving expert has a link to free nakd bar offer. Some health bar although make your choice from all there products up to 75p. Used 3 email addresses printed 2 for each address. Will use in the only 2 supermarkets in town. Worth trying. Should be the sort of thing people put in theres and there kids lunch box. Not long left on offer 5 days?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/nakd
Feel very depressed as I printed another 6 off but forgot them and my shopping list. Took 6 to CoOp they accepted all 6 coupons for 6 x 75grm bars. Rule was 1 per person and 35grm bar. Maximum price per bar 75p mine were 79p and 89p per bar, robbers charged me the difference. Going to help the community out aka beer drinking.That will make me feel better
Jesus I've just revised my earlier tip of moving in with SD-253, the guy's an accident magnet! 🙂
I have nothing constructive to contribute, but just wanted to express how much the people offering genuine but ridiculous (i.e. not purposely funny) money saving tips sicken me (my fave being filling up a thermos of hot water at work so you don't have to use the kettle at home). You joyless, petty, miserable, boring weirdos. 😀
Those suffering genuine economic hardship (if its that bad, turn the internet off), and mental health issues (which accounts for much of this sort of behavior) are excluded from the above criticism.
Unnecessarily tight penny pinching is one of my pet hates, if it's not obvious. Think I might start a thread about spending money is okay as long as you can afford it and it makes you happy.
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.
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.
EMPLOYEES: Only use the loo at work. Not only will you save money on toilet paper, but you'll also be getting paid.
.angeldust - Member
I have nothing constructive to contribute, but just wanted to express how much the people offering genuine but ridiculous (i.e. not purposely funny) money saving tips sicken me (my fave being filling up a thermos of hot water at work so you don't have to use the kettle at home). You joyless, petty, miserable, boring weirdos.Those suffering genuine economic hardship (if its that bad, turn the internet off), and mental health issues (which accounts for much of this sort of behavior) are excluded from the above criticism.
Unnecessarily tight penny pinching is one of my pet hates, if it's not obvious. Think I might start a thread about spending money is okay as long as you can afford it and it makes you happy
Love to know,and I am not being sarcastic, which one am I in the above?
Was drinking Bateman's breweries Chocolate biscuit all weekend, didn't sell that well. Cheered me up know end when last night he said I could have it half price. Was drinking it anyway. £1.45 a pint. Head hurting today.
TV switched off , not on standby
Don't think I can turn my tv off, but it uses a whopping 0.9w on standby. Go me.
SD-253 - apologies for slow response.
Yes - that was £49 divided by nights - it's £49 per year. I have used a Christian house exchange organisation (where you paid for each exchange) before but mainly use Intervac as there is loads of choice. There are no other costs - someone will be using your electricity, gas but you will be doing the same.
It was set up by teachers! Been exchanging for 30 years (first with my parents when I lived in Thamesmead and then with my own family) and have noticed that more people are doing exchanges; seems to be attracting more affluent people (judging from the size of houses and the pics provided) although we generally prefer less plush places. Sometimes you meet families - sometimes you don't but often meet their friends, which I like - daughter had play date; had drinks / food with various neighbours, etc.
I've been to most countries within Europe - went to Valencia and Belgium last year. It's generally easier to get an exchange abroad than within the UK although done plenty of UK exchanges.
Hope it works out for you
jms - Member
SD-253 - apologies for slow response.
I would be very surprised if it didn't work out. As my house is small I assume most with big house won't be looking to exchange with me? But noticed that most were couples no kids. I wonder if having no facilities in the village other than 1 bus a week would be off putting for some? Also some of the exchange say you need a car. Now I know I can't get anywhere on a bike I wonder if they will accept that. I often have that problem on freecycle. Thanks very much for let me know about Invertac.
Love to know,and I am not being sarcastic, which one am I in the above?
I haven't paid any attention to what you've posted, but I'll stick my neck out and say both 😈
angeldust - Member
Love to know,and I am not being sarcastic, which one am I in the above?
I haven't paid any attention to what you've posted, but I'll stick my neck out and say both
That doesn't say much about about your personality if you can make such generalisation. Bit troll like.
You think?!?
. Your actually the only Troll we have had on this thread. Not controversial enough for your mates? 😀.angeldust - Member
You think?!?
having just fallen off my chair after reading a thread on here where a guy paid 200quid to have his bike serviced.... my tip is learn to do your bike yourself. it ain't rocket science. i had no idea you could pay 200quid for bike work.
.gavtheoldskater - Member
having just fallen off my chair after reading a thread on here where a guy paid 200quid to have his bike serviced.... my tip is learn to do your bike yourself. it ain't rocket science. i had no idea you could pay 200quid for bike work.
I never do any servicing other than clean. Anything else i use to take it to the bike shop. A new chain wheel, cassette and chain fitted is not going to come to? If I can't remember it couldn't have cost a £100.
Have Rohloff now with Disc brakes not much to go wrong/service. Haven't broke anything for ages. Replacing another bike with Alfine 11 again with disc brakes. My bike mechanic said "I won't being seeing much of you in the future". I hope he is right 🙂
gavtheoldskater - Member
having just fallen off my chair after reading a thread on here where a guy paid 200quid to have his bike serviced
200 QUID ..........Don't believe it!