Money saving tips for the house?

[aliceellen1974]

Hi Geeks

Thought I would start a thread and we could share some money saving ideas.

I dunno about anyone else but my shopping bill has increased alot during the last few months - Tesco have just announced record profits - so what do you all do to save money?

here's mine.....

1. Cook bulk lasagnes and freeze for the month
2. Buy value range where possible
3. Get money off vouchers/ codes from discount sites
4. Choose fruit and veggies that are on offer
5. Have all energy saving bulbs throughout the house

Lets share some ideas and save those pennies xxx

 

[Missy G]

Buy the buy one get one frees.
Turn off sockets that arent being used...this is my biggest hate.
turn washing machine down to 30.

 

[Bagpuss]

check policy's for better deals....often we sit on the same insurance policy for years without getting new quotes for better deals.

I am guilty of this...car ins...have been with Direct line for 7 years...just got a quote from a few others and i am paying DOUBLE what i could be.

 

[Missy G]

check policy's for better deals....often we sit on the same insurance policy for years without getting new quotes for better deals.

I am guilty of this...car ins...have been with Direct line for 7 years...just got a quote from a few others and i am paying DOUBLE what i could be.

Watch the excess though hun, sometimes it may be cheaper ,but the excess is steep.

 

[Bagpuss]

yeah thanks .. i did change that and it made a difference...but still 240 a year cheeper.

 

[maguire]

I cleaned my freezer out a few months ago and the amount of food I through
out was disgusting, I now do a menu for the week and only buy what I need for whats on the menu I have found I don't waste food and because I am only buying what I need I have saved, some of my work colleagues have done this and also found a huge saving in bills and food wastage.

 

[Blue Rose]

As a fairly new single mum I've been doing this for a while.
*Check out Cheap loans | mortgages | credit cards | home & car insurance - moneysupermarket.com for all utility bills. I managed to save quite a bit on gas & leccie.

*I go supermarket shopping on a Mon afternoon or Tues morning as this is when you can bag loads of reduced items - Sainsburys is great for this. I always come away with a massive trolleyfull with loads to put in the freezer.

*Don't go supermarket shopping with partner or children if you can. If I have my girls with me I always end up spending more

*Pound stores are great for non-branded cleaning products. Also white envelopes cost 99p as opposed to £3.49 in WHSmith. (Makes a HUGE difference when sending out 200 letters to clients)

*If you have young children & sometimes buy them DVD's or CD's, copy them if you can 1st & play the copy, as they're bound to get scratched (I now do this after learning the expensive way:cry

*Walk if possible to save on petrol/diesel costs

*Oh yes, check your bank statements/paypal accounts to make sure no unauthorised transactions have gone through. Only today I have had 6 transactions for US$10 each gone through my Paypal account :cry:. Am now persuing it through resolution.

*Cancel any subscriptions that aren't being used

*Try & claim back any bank charges if you have any

Can't think of anymore off-hand but there must be lots more I do without thinking.

 

[Blue Rose]

It seems a lot of geeks don't like the most popular of the auction sites, but I saved myself nearly £20 when I bought my daughter's Rainbows outfit off there . So, another money saving venue

 

[Bagpuss]

I think ebay is great for selling stuff you don't want or buying stuff you need for a bargain....just not professional stuff...but lets not go there again..:lol:

 

[sj1973]

All great advice....tesco's price's have gone up .....once a week i go to iceland for a shop....its good food and my freezer is full up to the top !!!!.....

Another way to save is to stop smoking.....me and hubs are doing this next week on champix....gonna have to get out more as i dont want to pile on the pounds !!!!.......going to save £30-50 per week ....

Save when you can....even if its £10 per week....by the time xmas comes you have the money !!!.....

 

[Hope]

When buying things online, whenever possible go through a cash back website so that you get money back on your purchases.

We use a cash back credit card, pay it off in full every month and then using it earns you money.

Always check the 'say no to 0845' website when needing to phone these numbers, more often than not it will give you a normal landline number which is cheeper.

Buy bulk whenever possible.

I have recently switched to Asda online shopping from Tesco's and save about £20 a week!!!! (and if you have the Asda credit card and spend over a certain amount you don't pay delivery, I have an Asda credit card and ONLY use it for my Asda shopping)

If you shop online it tends to cost less as you don't end up buying things that look yummy, that you don't need.

 

[Blue Rose]

All great advice....tesco's price's have gone up .....once a week i go to iceland for a shop....its good food and my freezer is full up to the top !!!!.....

quote]

So's mine :lol:. But I can't resist the bargains in S'bury's.

 

[1999judy]

Just sell all the old cds, dvds, and books you couldn't give a toss about on amazon.
Then sell anything you can on ebay.They don't take kids though:lol::hug:
AS IF!!

 

[aliceellen1974]

GREAT IDEAS -

some more -

put £1 away a week and buy yourself a treat at the end of the year
sell old clothes, toys, books etc on ebay (you can even donate a % to charity)
check your mobile phone bill - it was cheaper for me to go from pay as you go onto a contract
swap clothes with friends (obviously of a similar size) saves you spending any money at all
Shop in charity shops - bought my hubby a fab t-shirt brand new for £2.99!
xxx

 

[blossom]

Leave the kids and hubby at home when you do the food shop. (Always £30 or so more when they all come).

 

[rouge]

At the end of the day take all the 1p, 2p and 5p pieces out of your purse and put them in a tin. You'd be surprised how it mounts up!
Energy saving light bulbs.
We've recently bought a bread maker, it's a lot cheaper to make bread than it is to buy it!

 

[Peter Pan]

Buy the buy one get one frees.
.

dont you just love that word...........



FREE

i shop at asda and also morrisons - boggoff -i look out for those babieas, i end up with a months shopping and cant do owt with it, but its free so who cares:lol:
:hug:

 

[JessieBee]

Leave the kids and hubby at home when you do the food shop. (Always £30 or so more when they all come).

just to add, never do your food shopping on an empty stomach you just end up buying loads of rubbish because you're hungry!

Or become a "freegan" lol (saw this on This Morning yesterday) you could save loads!

 

[PinkPotions]

Bye Bye Standby

Bye Bye Standby

I started using this last August and the push of one button before bed turns off all my electrical items and saves me a fortune on electricity.

You wouldn't believe the savings about £90pm in my case when you take into consideration the PC's, X-Boxes, Wii's, TV's, stereos that are always on standby.

Now i couldn't live without it!

 

[Klassy Klaws]

When buying things online, whenever possible go through a cash back website so that you get money back on your purchases.
quote]
I use Quidco - The web's cashback cooperative just log in to the site you want through quidco and you can get money back or a discount.

I also buy things in bulk from Cosco or Makro this can save you a few pennies.