Small things you do to save money

RedAlix

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What small things do you do to save money?

We only boil just enough water in the kettle.
(Usually) turn of lights that don't need to be on.
I don't have the heating on in the day (unless it drops below 17oC (I will put an extra jumper on first or get up and do a bit of cleaning, that usually warms me up!
I'll use green tea bags more than once (often get 3 cups out of 1 bag) I don't do this with normal tea bags, not sure why, just not tried it!
I've started buying whole chickens rather than chicken breast as you get get more meals from the whole chicken (I bought a large one last week for £5 and it did 4 meals for 2 adults and 2 kids - sunday dinner, fajitas, curry and sweet'n'sour!)
I take drinks and small snacks out with us so we don't have to buy them.

If I think of any more I'll add them.
 

The Funky Blue Dog

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Yep - all of the above lol

I've always got at least four layers on indoors, and never have the thermostat set higher than 19 and mainly manage on 17 - and a brisk walkies with the dog soon warms me up. If I'm just slobbing on the sofa with the telly on I turn the heating off altogether and snuggle up under a blanket - with the dog as a hot water bottle!

I've tried really hard to like green tea but always revert to PG Tips or Yorkshire! You must be overflowing with antioxidants!
 

Jon

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energy saving light bulbs

I bulk buy my lunches for work (3 for 2, 2 for 1 etc.)

When I drive long distance I try and keep a steady 60-65 MPH on motorways to make my petrol last longer.

I get quite a lot of 'seconds' fruit. Morrisons stuff seems to be fine, pack of grapes for 69p to eat on the day is cheaper than £2 a pack.

I pounce on deals on HUKD that I see that I want.

Always look for a code before buying ANYTHING online.

Been using this same 2 for 1 nights (or 3 for 2 nights) link for Holiday inn express hotels for the last 3 years. That's saved me a bundle of cash.
 

RedAlix

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My parents have got solar panels and we joke that we go up there to charge our laptop/ds/phones with their 'free' electric lol (we do charge at home too!)

Making sandwiches for work is a good one.. I work from home but my husband really sees a difference to his bank account when he takes packed lunch to work every day. Its surprising how £5 a day can really build up - £35 a week.. £140 for 4 weeks.. over £1800 a year!
 

The Funky Blue Dog

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I darned some socks this weekend - the ultimate in old style money saving! In the past I probably would've chucked them, but times is hard!
 

The Funky Blue Dog

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Old-fashioned term for sewing up a hole! It was right on my big toe so got really uncomfortable as the hole was cutting off the circulation to my toe! They're my favourite dog walking socks so they get a daily battering. I do wear shoes as well lol ;D
 

RedAlix

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A bit of a daft one.. but use a potato peeler when peeling potatoes lol Earlier I couldn't find our potato peeler so I used a knife and I must have cut away at least an extra 2 potatoes!
 

Shelley Jones

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Just thought I would add my familys money saving tips!

Switch to Aldi or Lidl for food shopping, can easily feed family of 5 for 50 to 60 a week.

Meal plan - I do 2 weekly ones, so if we dont feel like something, theres options to choose from

Make your own bread, it really doesnt take that much time or effort and its yummy

Join tesco clubcard xmas savers. We only tend to use tesco for fuel and odd bits, but have £40 in tesco vouchers for xmas last year

Always work in cash, leave that damn card at home! We draw out a set amount each week and that is our lot, really helps

Save anything 10p and under in a tin, we had almost 300 last year by doing this

To get whites back to white again, boil in a pan with bicarb for half an hour, then put in the washing machine on usual wash with a dishwasher tablet added to it.

Hope these help
 

MissionMum

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I love these tips...

We as a family aren't brand loyal. If its good value and on offer we'll have it!

Always on the look out for vouchers. I even go as far as swapping vouchers with my friends. If I have a voucher for things we don't use I will swap it with my friends and usually in return I end up with a voucher we will use.

I always use my nectar card, Tesco Club card, Boots points.

The other thing we have is a cash back card which I use from Utility Warehouse. It gives me cash back on my shopping and this cash back goes towards my utilities bill. I have all my utility services from Utility Warehouse as they are cheaper and with cash back going towards them I have had money put back into my bank account this month as my cash back was larger than my bill. Happy days.

Keep those tips coming please. As a family of 4 we are always looking at ways to help save the pennies.

Have fun

Lynn
 

Jon

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Am interested in this using cash instead of a card idea Shelly

How does that work out better? With card I can pay exact amounts with cash I am always left with change left over which I might be temped to use. Maybe it's just me lol
 

RedAlix

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Shelley Jones said:
To get whites back to white again, boil in a pan with bicarb for half an hour, then put in the washing machine on usual wash with a dishwasher tablet added to it.

Hope these help

I'm going to try this on my daughters school polo shirts, they are never white for long!
 

Shelley Jones

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RedAlix said:
Shelley Jones said:
To get whites back to white again, boil in a pan with bicarb for half an hour, then put in the washing machine on usual wash with a dishwasher tablet added to it.

Hope these help

I'm going to try this on my daughters school polo shirts, they are never white for long!

Thats what I have used it for, and other halfs white work shirts too. Works for us!
 

Shelley Jones

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Jon@TheMoneyShed said:
Am interested in this using cash instead of a card idea Shelly

How does that work out better? With card I can pay exact amounts with cash I am always left with change left over which I might be temped to use. Maybe it's just me lol

I think because we split our monthly budget in to however many weekends are in the month, either 4 or 5, it works for us as we have x amount per week and know we wont run thr risk of chucking odd bits and pieces on thr card, then not having much the week run up to payday. Also working in cash has made us realise how much we used to 'put the odd 3 or 4 quid on the debit card' for things that we didnt really need which over a month was anywhere from 30 to 100 quid!. Any change we have left over a week, I save in a tin or put in an an account that we dont have instant access to. What we manage to save I use for days out and trips in school holidays.

Hope this helps

Shell x
 

RedAlix

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Shelley Jones said:
RedAlix said:
Shelley Jones said:
To get whites back to white again, boil in a pan with bicarb for half an hour, then put in the washing machine on usual wash with a dishwasher tablet added to it.

Hope these help

I'm going to try this on my daughters school polo shirts, they are never white for long!

Thats what I have used it for, and other halfs white work shirts too. Works for us!

Where do you buy your bicarb from? I can only find it in the cake section in Tesco but its expensive lol They have large amounts on Amazon, so might try some from there.
 

Shelley Jones

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RedAlix said:
Shelley Jones said:
RedAlix said:
Shelley Jones said:
To get whites back to white again, boil in a pan with bicarb for half an hour, then put in the washing machine on usual wash with a dishwasher tablet added to it.

Hope these help

I'm going to try this on my daughters school polo shirts, they are never white for long!

Thats what I have used it for, and other halfs white work shirts too. Works for us!

Where do you buy your bicarb from? I can only find it in the cake section in Tesco but its expensive lol They have large amounts on Amazon, so might try some from there.

Wilkinson sell 500g for £1.50, its on offer for £1 at the moment too.

Borax is another good one to try.

The supermarket ones are expensive as they are for baking quality, whereas the cheaper ones I wouldnt use in a cake but are great for cleaning!

Hope this helps!
 

Iamauser

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I always get free vouchers for stuff from my family that they arent likely to use. Things like Chocolate from Tesco to BOGOF on Dominos Pizza. Cant say no to a free pizza.

Using a Tesco clubcard is also another way of getting lots of lovely vouchers.
 

Brad

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Energy saving lightbulbs and making sure we turn off all plugs after use. It has saved us a lot of money in the long term and that money has not gone to waste, like it was doing before when we weren't using energy saving lightbulbs and forgetting to turn plugs off.
 

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