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Money Saving Tips

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
A place to share all of our ideas and let others know what has worked for us.

I recently had a lightbulb moment that I had to start working at paying off my £3.5k debt. Since then I have become a bit of a frantic member of the MSE website.

Let us all know any advice you have!
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Writing out a budger to start with really helps
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    dont carry your debit card with you; leave it at home, it helps to avoid making impulse purchases. if you know you NEED something, then its no problem to go back and get the card, because you'll still need it when you get back
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Cashback websites (there's a few, I use rpoints.com) so you get a % back when you buy something online/take out a contract mobile phone, etc.

    Student discount if applicable.

    Selling stuff you don't need on eBay

    Pre-drinks at someone's house before going out...

    Making a packed lunch/taking a thermos flask of coffee (have to admit I never do this but I'd save myself a fortune if I did)

    -- doing everything possible to pay off credit card on time and in full to avoid interest, i.e. if you have savings or a (lower, or interest-free) overdraft use it to pay off credit cards
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If I know I need to buy bits and bobs during the week, I'll take out the cash and leave my card on my desk so I can keep an eye on what I'm spending.

    Making my own lunch saves me quite a bit. Some of my friends spend up to £5-6 a day on their lunches.

    Bulk cooking and freezing things - this helped me quite a bit in terms of saving time as well as money. Previously when I was short on food my answer would be to go straight to the shops but now I know it's just a defrost away. It's quite easy for me to do as I've got a greengrocer and butcher close by, but avoiding the supermarkets as much as possible has saved me loads of money.

    Cutting down on alcohol. I don't drink anyway, so ;) but some friends who have done this have noticed it saves them some £££, especially when you've reached that point where you're quite drunk and forget how much you're spending.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Turn lights off when you leave the room. Turn things off standby. Don't leave your mobile charger plugged in if you're not using it. Turn your heating down or off and wear a jumper instead.

    In the car, check your tyre pressures and coast up to lights rather than always accelerating or braking.

    Do your food shopping at the market rather than the supermarket (that's for you Heather!) or shop at lower-priced supermarkets. That knocks a tenner a week off our food bills.

    Change all your insurance providers at renewal and try and shop around for the best energy deals.

    If you have debt, make sure your debts are with the cheapest credit available to you. With credit cards, look at an overall rate rather than a special 0% deal unless you expect to repay the debt in the 0% period- a life-of-balance rate of 5% may be cheaper than the 0% for 12 months followed by the standard 18%.

    Using different bank accounts to budget is a good idea. Our wage goes into the main joint account but from that we have one account for our petrol, one account for our food shopping, and savings accounts for our clothes and college fees. This means we can't get at our money unless its in one of our accounts with a debit card. Having a set amount transferred means it is a lot harder to go over budget.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    :lol:

    my good money saving tip is to feel really guilty everytime you buy something you don't need, as it stops you buying other stuff :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Coupons! I've read many places most people can save on average about 25% on grocery shopping by using coupons. And thats just groceries.

    And use coupons with sales. Most times when I shop I save more than I spend. Coupons and sales... get toothpaste for a buck, get pit stick for 2. Find places where you can get coupons too. My pharmacy (which is also a large store), for example, gives me 10% off purchases for a day when I get to 10 prescriptions.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    packed lunches save a fortune. also cut down on smoking and drinking, go on holiday less, stay in on the weekends, shop at primark and asdas and cut your own hair. lol okay that wasn't very helpful, i was being serious about the packed lunches though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Don't call 0870 numbers - use www.saynoto0870.com for the replacement freephone or local number.

    Use websites like www.hotukdeals.co.uk to get vouchers and discount codes.

    I wouldn't advise 'coasting' up to traffic lights and junctions - use your engine braking - go down through the gears slowly and smoothly and this will reduce your fuel consumption. If you coast your car, you rely solely on your brakes - and having been in a car when the brakes have failed, i can assure you it is a brown trouser moment and not something i'd recommend!

    Don't be afraid to haggle - for example with insurance and mobile phone contracts as hardly anyone does and you are sure to get a discount.

    Shop around for goods - for example, don't buy cds at hmv - check out sales or online stores for the same goods - always ask yourself if you need the item.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aye, by coast I should be more specific- don't go in neutral, but don't accelerate up to traffic lights when holding a constant speed or braking slowly is more fuel-efficient.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lacrymosa wrote: »
    Don't take out loans.

    I've just had my bank throw another £4k at me which means I owe them £7k (before interest).

    Eurgh, I am getting myself into such a mess :banghead: Its just too easy to get money :(


    Do you not have a cooling off period where you can just pay it straight back?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lacrymosa wrote: »
    Eurgh. I don't know :( I'm just an idiot.

    Well why don't you check? Why the fuck did you accept it if you didn't want it?!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lacrymosa wrote: »
    Well, I applied for it but now I realise the circle I'm going around in. I've got it to sort out other debts and put 3/4 away in savings (because I have nothing to fall back on at all and its making me feel like I've got no security at all). I'm just stupid :(

    ............................. if you don't blow it all, that's not too bad. Put it into an ISA (that's if you can't cancel the loan) and at least you will come close to making a chunk of the interest back that it's going to cost you.

    If you got it to fall back on, just don't spend it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    There's no point taking out a sodding loan to save money for security. The savings will get 6.5% if you're lucky, and the lowest loan rates now are about 8%. That's not security.

    Which is what we did say when you said you were thinking about it last month. Still, keeps me in a job...

    You probably won't have a cooling-off period but you can repay the full amount at any time. The sooner you do that the better. Do that and take out a new loan for the amount you owe ONLY if you will save money after interest. Because of how loans are structured you probably won't save by switching.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you shop at asda....

    If you see any money off vouchers in magazines etc, save them and when you come to pay hand them over and they will take the amount off your total bill regardless of whether you have bought the thing the coupon was for or not.

    They don't advertise this one much, but i do it all the time!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dinted wrote: »
    If you shop at asda....

    If you see any money off vouchers in magazines etc, save them and when you come to pay hand them over and they will take the amount off your total bill regardless of whether you have bought the thing the coupon was for or not.

    They don't advertise this one much, but i do it all the time!

    That doesnt doesnt seem right, it seems a little to like steeling to me, because the company that gives the ticket out is still having to pay the super market for it even if u havent paid for there Product.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dinted wrote: »
    If you shop at asda....

    If you see any money off vouchers in magazines etc, save them and when you come to pay hand them over and they will take the amount off your total bill regardless of whether you have bought the thing the coupon was for or not.

    They don't advertise this one much, but i do it all the time!

    Wow how does that work!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    kangoo wrote: »
    Wow how does that work!

    Asda will sell that product, just to someone else. At the end of the day they round up all the tokens and give them to the supplier, who takes money off their bill. It makes no odds to Asda if person A or person Z buys the product as long as someone does, and in a big store they will.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Territt wrote: »
    That doesnt doesnt seem right, it seems a little to like steeling to me, because the company that gives the ticket out is still having to pay the super market for it even if u havent paid for there Product.

    Its absolutely nothing like stealing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Territt wrote: »
    That doesnt doesnt seem right, it seems a little to like steeling to me, because the company that gives the ticket out is still having to pay the super market for it even if u havent paid for there Product.
    i have no idea how it works, but i know it makes my bill cheaper!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dinted wrote: »
    i have no idea how it works, but i know it makes my bill cheaper!

    See my easy to follow description up the page.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I see i see.

    Well we've all learnt something new today haven't we?! :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dinted wrote: »
    I see i see.

    Well we've all learnt something new today haven't we?! :thumb:

    I havent because I already knew it, and you probably could have worked it out with a little thought, its quite simple.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    budda wrote: »
    I havent because I already knew it, and you probably could have worked it out with a little thought, its quite simple.
    I meant from the whole thread
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Do your food shopping online. You do have to pay a little extra for delivery, but if you get a weird time slot (late on a weeknight is a good one) it's only about £3, and you'll save loads more by not walking round the shop and putting all the sneaky 'buy 3 for £6' deals and nice looking things that you don't actually use in your trolley. And before you hit the checkout button, go through the list, and take all the things that you don't really need out.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Olive wrote: »
    Do your food shopping online. You do have to pay a little extra for delivery, but if you get a weird time slot (late on a weeknight is a good one) it's only about £3, and you'll save loads more by not walking round the shop and putting all the sneaky 'buy 3 for £6' deals and nice looking things that you don't actually use in your trolley. And before you hit the checkout button, go through the list, and take all the things that you don't really need out.

    By the time you've had to pay for petrol money to et to the supermakret, getting it delivered is probably cheaper.

    Don't buy branded name stuff. The cheaper stuff tastes just as nice.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Rather than buying whole meals, just buy cheap tins of beans and sausages. Protein, vitamins and carbs all in a 47p can. It's not that bad either.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Melian wrote: »
    Don't buy branded name stuff. The cheaper stuff tastes just as nice.

    Not all the time it doesnt.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Melian wrote: »
    By the time you've had to pay for petrol money to et to the supermakret, getting it delivered is probably cheaper.

    Don't buy branded name stuff. The cheaper stuff tastes just as nice.

    If you shop the sales, brand name stuff is often cheaper than non brand name.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you shop the sales, brand name stuff is often cheaper than non brand name.

    Not the somerfield 47p massive tins of sausages and beans.
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