[Closed] Need to save money

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.

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.

[url= http://skintdad.co.uk/ ]http://skintdad.co.uk/[/url]

is great.

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

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.

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

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

+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.

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 ?

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

[url= http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_help_with_debt_e/debt_budgeting_e/debt_budgeting_tool_e/guidancenotes.htm ]This[/url] may help with budgeting.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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!!!

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

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.

[i]I'm thinking of doing a monthly shop and setting a budget. [/i]

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

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.

Choose perhaps a Bollinger over a Dom Perignon.

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

With the friends? 😯

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

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.

Aldi, lidl are your saviors

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

Awesome job so far

Didn't realise fruit and veg shops still existed!

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

if like me you like currys and chillis

buy the individual spices and make your own sauce - the spices go much much further(and not so full of fat and preservatives) than the 1.50 sauce from the shop.

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

Mmm. Friends with benefits... Keeps you warm too! 😀

Make a big pan of soup or stew on a Monday evening, and have that in the evening for the rest of the week. Do this every other week rather than every week, as it can get monotonous and then willpower caves in.

Which brings me to an important point, don't overdo the economising. Keep it steady and sustainable, if you go too far you are more likely to cave in and break with the plan. Keep it realistic and sucsess will be much more likely.

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

Lots of great advice up there. On this one ^^^ TalkTalk do a Simply Broadband package for £2.50 pm + £15.40 pm line rental.

(Disclosure: yes, I work for them, but it is the cheapest around.)