Credit Crunch Tips

[Donkey]

It seems that it is affecting us all....

I had a brainwave that we have a post with all our money saving tips.

Here is mine....

If you are bulk cooking mix your mince.
also e chuck loads of veg in.

i.e bollagnese (sp?) turkey and beef (turkey mince is half the price of beef and it takes on all the flavours) obv check for religious/cultural beliefs first.
or pork and beef, or if you really want to save there is a weight watchers recipe that uses purely turkey mince that is very tasty, other half prefers this to the beef variety.
delia recipe says use pork and beef (takes 4 hours to cook though and has red wine in, maybe save for dinner party!)

onion, carrots (grated it disolves) celery (grate) makes the sauce really thick. mushrooms, sweetcorn.

cottage pie - beef and turkey again
sweede, sweetcorn, peas, onion carrots.

chilli - beef and turkey
celery, onion, baked beans (value) kidney beans (value) sweetcorn, carrots, pepper. (i love chilli with loads of veg chucked in a jacket pot)


any more money saving tips girls?

[Pudding Girl]

dig out your slowcookers girls and you can get away with cheapy cuts of meat and they'll be nice and tender

Go down a brand level, ie if you buy nescafe - get tesco posh, if you get tesco posh - get tesco normal - if you get tesco normal - get value!
You can save loads on doing this on things like pasta, teabags ( I tried 35p teabags once and they wer ok surprsingly!) instant mash, loo roll

Cleaning stuff is a good one to economise on - bleach is bleach is bleach

Read the news online so you don't have to buy papers

obviosu ones, use bogofs and buy reduced stuff - but only if you will use it, otherwise it's not a bargain is it?

[Cazz]

obviosu ones, use bogofs and buy reduced stuff - but only if you will use it, otherwise it's not a bargain is it?

Have you been talking to my hubby?!!

I have to say I am the supermarket manager's ideal customer - I love bogof's and price reductions but I'm going to shop wiser and only do it on things that I know I will definetly use before they go off!

Because of the way I've shopped in the past I have loads of tins in my cupboard, most of which don't see the light of day until I decide to clean the cupboards out and then some have to be binned Hence I've decided not to do a big shop for a while (just perishables such as milk, bread, fruit and some fresh meat) and use up what is in the cupboard. We're going to have some interesting combinations at mealtimes but it could be fun!

The tip about using a lesser brand I've been trying on some items over the last few weeks and it's quite surprising how there is very little difference in most things.

Carole x

[miffy]

If you're planning trips out check out the venue website and local papers for entrance deals/offers or see if you can use tesco clubcard points - you can get some great deals this way

Check out local country parks/libraries/museums as they often have free events during school holidays

Miffy xx

[chubbymummy]

i have been planning every meal tha we are going to eat in the following week. i have saved this way and also as already mentioned i do buy the value options on cleaners, biscuts, beans etc

[Monkey1]

Give your Hubby your bank card so you can't be tempted. I have done this and i'm actually in credit this month!

[Minstrel]

In regard to BOGOF that you may not use heres a tip that my mum and i do...

She shops in sainburys and i shop in asda or tesco ( can u tell its and income thing)

Then we buy all the BOGOF 's we like and then swop!!

Especially useful on perishables.

We both end up with loads of stuff that will all get used but for a fraction of the cost.
Can work even if you shop in the same supermarket your friend buys one offer you get the next.

Hope this helps.

[wendywu]

Cazz you should be married to my DH. We had a big row once about how many tins of beans i needed in the cupboard.

Its like living in the second world war, perhaps we should all use bisto instead of expensive self tan lotion. If us girls on this forum cut our food intake ( and drink ) by half then we would all loose that weight we always moan about

It sounds so easy when i write it out.

[Monkey1]

Cazz you should be married to my DH. We had a big row once about how many tins of beans i needed in the cupboard.

Its like living in the second world war, perhaps we should all use bisto instead of expensive self tan lotion. If us girls on this forum cut our food intake ( and drink ) by half then we would all loose that weight we always moan about

It sounds so easy when i write it out.

Cut our drink intake?....are you mad?....how do you think we would cope with this job

[Donkey]

lol wendy

bisto as self tanner!!!

i already don't drink and don't smoke, food is my only vice......

but seeing as things are going to get even more tough in the flutterbyes household I think i might get to that size 12 after all....

some under educated, bored and destructive souls thought it would be a laff to take a stanley knife to the side of our car last night. both drivers and back door have been totally destroyed. very deep cuts well into the metal.
whole side of the car will need re-spraying....

[Monkey1]

lol wendy

bisto as self tanner!!!

i already don't drink and don't smoke, food is my only vice......

but seeing as things are going to get even more tough in the flutterbyes household I think i might get to that size 12 after all....

some under educated, bored and destructive souls thought it would be a laff to take a stanley knife to the side of our car last night. both drivers and back door have been totally destroyed. very deep cuts well into the metal.
whole side of the car will need re-spraying....

LITTLE S*ITS!!!!!!!

[wellybelly]

This probably sounds daft but ive gone from shopping myself to shopping on line. I bet you're all laughing! But seriously, when I go shopping I get everything on my list aswell as bogof offers I didnt intend on buying, and treats and more appealing stuff for lunch boxes and tempting cakes and so on and so on. My budget of £60 then hits arounf £100 and I have to think of a way of hiding the receipt before my husband see's it lol.

But now I use online shopping. I buy whats on my list and thats it. Yes its a £5 fee to have it delievered but in the middle of the week later on in the evening its £3.75 i think. I am not tempted but end of aisle offers and I can tweek the list of items if I've over spent.

I am keeping to my £60 (£55 shop and £5 delivery) and my husband is very proud of me!

[Monkey1]

I may have to try that. Don't forget to check out the voucher codes websites to get money off or free delivery x

[Alibali]

I go shopping with my mum or friend, and we buy the BOGOFs and take on each at half price
No need to worry about dh asking if we really need all that!
I am going to try Aldis for my weekly shop, and the farmers market for meat.
Own brands for most things are fine apart from: Toilet roll, coffee, coke and of course shampoo and conditioner
Hope everyone is coping OK, I know it's a struggle.

[wendywu]

If you do your shopping online you can put half the delivery charge through your accounts. This has been OK ed by my accountant.

[flora]

Only boil the exact amount of water you need in the Kettle. Kettles eat lecy

Wash at 30 degrees insted of 40 . Use soap nuts and save on powder and no need for conditioner so double saving

Pm me if you want to try them

Only run stuff when full eg dishwasher and washmachine.

Turn everything off. Don't leave it on standby

Shop online. Write a list of the planned meals and only buy what you need for the week. I know you pay for deivery but once you pay for petrol and wear and tear to the car it works out cheaper at the mo.
I can cut £50 off if I do it like this.

Grow your own. Seed are dead cheap and you can grow lots of stuff in just a window box Bit late for this yr, but theres always next.

Post more on the forum, then you can't be out shopping or buying stuff on ebay

[devoncm]

On our last shop we kept reciept to compare with another supermarket, ive just done a virtual shop and compared prices with tesco asds sainsburys and one ive never heard of ocado i think it was and my shop with tesco was 114 which was cheapest giving petrol too-otherwise asda was £2 cheaper and sainsburys£1 less, ocado came to a whopping£143

so as i shop at tesco not much saving for me but we do shop for bargains loads!!!

[miss mopple]

I was shopping at Tesco, then a few weeks ago I decided to try Lidl

Was pleasantly surprised as I got almost everything I wanted and the quality was ok too

When I got home I compared with tesco online and it came in at £20 cheaper

[Cazz]

In regard to BOGOF that you may not use heres a tip that my mum and i do...

She shops in sainburys and i shop in asda or tesco ( can u tell its and income thing)

Then we buy all the BOGOF 's we like and then swop!!

Especially useful on perishables.

We both end up with loads of stuff that will all get used but for a fraction of the cost.
Can work even if you shop in the same supermarket your friend buys one offer you get the next.

Hope this helps.

I go shopping with my mum sometimes and she'll often say "this is bogof - shall we get them and have one each" and I often reply that I'll have the free one - she even lets me get away with it sometimes! What a nice mum!

I was going to say what Flora has already posted about turning appliances off at the plug. I've just changed utility supplier to Southern Electric (cheaper ) and they have given us a free energy monitor. You clip one part on a wire in the meter cupboard and have a sensor indoors and it shows how much energy you are using at the time and how much it is costing! We've had great fun switching things on and off to see it change and I am really surprised at how much electricity the kettle, toaster etc use just by being switched on at the plug. I only used to turn them off at bedtime until I got this monitor but now even the kids are more aware of needing to turn things off so hopefully I should save some money on my electricity!

I'm also making a conscious effort to walk more places instead of hopping in the car and I'm going to be helping a friend at her new dieting class from next week and that means I won't have to pay!

So in a few months I should be slim, fit and rich!!

Carole x

[jaja]

This probably sounds daft but ive gone from shopping myself to shopping on line. I bet you're all laughing! But seriously, when I go shopping I get everything on my list aswell as bogof offers I didnt intend on buying, and treats and more appealing stuff for lunch boxes and tempting cakes and so on and so on. My budget of £60 then hits arounf £100 and I have to think of a way of hiding the receipt before my husband see's it lol.

But now I use online shopping. I buy whats on my list and thats it. Yes its a £5 fee to have it delievered but in the middle of the week later on in the evening its £3.75 i think. I am not tempted but end of aisle offers and I can tweek the list of items if I've over spent.

I am keeping to my £60 (£55 shop and £5 delivery) and my husband is very proud of me!

I have to agree, when i do a shop on line i can see what rubbish i have put in that i dont need, so at the end i get rid of them and save loads of money and i have to admit when i go shopping and i am hungry then i tend to buy crap!!! full of sugar because am hungry and not because i need them. Plus my hubby hates me going shopping cause me shoppping jumps from £60 to £100++++... need to win the lottery soon xxxxxx