What are your top five ways to save money?

[Rick71]

I can relate to that 100%! I'm in credit most of the time, and if I slip into my overdraft it's by a very minimal amount and only if it's completely unavoidable. But I do like to check my book even if there's nothing to enter in it. I've just done it again - it lives next to my laptop on my desk. Space for three more entries before I start a new page. If you really want to know, it's a red Silvine cash book. I'm on my second one now. 99p from Rymans. 99p for control of my finances and peace of mind. I don't know what I'd do without it. Well, probably go to Rymans and get a new one, no doubt find that the price has gone up to £1.10 or something, log into my account online and make sure my first new entry is correct and start again, I suppose. But you know what I mean.

Another thing I do is put all my change (except £2, £1 and 50p coins) into an old demijohn bottle my dad used to use for making wine. The last time it was full to the top, there was around £250 in there. And I don't usually carry cash unless I have to - that way there's no temptation to spend it on stuff I don't need, like augmenting my packed lunch by nipping to the shop across the road from work for little additions. Paying for everything by card makes it all far easier to keep track of.

[Niobe]

I find it easier to pay in cash - that way I know exactly how much money I have to spend and am not tempted to go over my budget which I possibly would if I used my debit card.

[IVANotOverYet]

Top 5 ways to save money in an IVA? Here are mine:

1) Don't throw anything away. Even if your washing machine is bust, someone will buy it on eBay for a few quid for spares. It's amazing what people will pay for.
2) Trade your skills. I help people with things I'm good at, and they help me with other stuff. So for example I might fix someone's computer for them if they help tile my bathroom.
3) Learn new stuff. The internet is a brilliant place to find out how to do things, whether its how to wallpaper or how to mend your telly.
4) Cook in batches, and properly. It's amazing how much money you can save by buying larger quantities of things like veg when it's reduced, then cooking a large batch of something (like vegetable curry). Tastes great, and the leftover portions you can freeze for when you don't want to be bothered cooking. On a related note, don't buy ready meals.
5) Don't take your car to dealers. Find a good local independent garage and use them. Even if you have a warranty you are not obliged to use the main dealer as long as your car is serviced in accordance with the schedule and using genuine (or exceeding genuine spec) parts. Alternatively if your car is older, learn how to service it yourself. It takes half an hour to change the oil and literally anyone can do it with a basic toolkit.

On the subject of cars, if anyone in the north east wants to learn a bit of DIY maintenance, let me know. I've become something of an expert and there's virtually nothing I won't tackle now.

[Shining]

Lovely positive post there with some good tips.

Your number 3 tip helped my hubby fix my cooker as I thought that had broken totally but he fixed it a few months back phew!

[bilko99]

I do my weekly shopping at Asda. Not due to any economic reason or preference over any others, just because it’s nearest! I generally stick to the in-store brand (although avoid the Smart Price budget range as it’s awful) as it’s good quality stuff and no different to the branded stuff, but it is significantly cheaper. I keep my eye on the offers, although the point made in the above post about a ‘hike and drop’ approach is a very good one – you need to keep your eyes open with those. I generally try and keep my shopping within a set amount, and follow the “Do I need it?” mantra.

I also make use of their Price Guarantee scheme. I keep my receipt and enter the details on their website the day after my visit, and it compares what I spent with what it would have cost at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose. If what I spent comes to less than 10% cheaper (which it frequently does) I get a voucher, which I print off and take with me on my next visit, and it gets knocked off my bill. I’ve had anything from 16p (negligible) to £2.50 (decent), but every little helps. That’s Tesco’s motto, of course, but it applies here. I’ve yet to reach the giddy heights of £7.20, which a colleague showed me a few weeks ago, but that came from a monthly big shop.

To take the full advantage of the asda price guarantee (in store only)do the following

1, keep your asda promotion products (that are cheaper than tesco )seperate from the stuff that is not on promotion.

2,before shopping at asda see the top offers pages on the tesco web site (only buy stuff that you would of from asda ,(not multibuys), but half price or top offers (cheaper in price,not multibuys)

3,compare prices on every product on mysupermarket website (needs to be done on the same day as you shop)

4,when you get to checkout at asda put everything that was the cheaper at asda than tesco through on your 1st transaction.

5, put everything that is cheaper or the same price from tesco through on the 2nd transaction.

i did this yesterday and even though my overall shopping was cheaper at (asda £70.35) (tesco £70.23) i still got a two vouchers for the total of £8.06

6, look out for sneaky savings comfort small £1.00 asda large £3.30 asda,comfort large £1.49 tesco ,after asda price guarantee £1.31

By putting the promo/non promo through on separate transactions you are maximizing your voucher total.

[Foggy]

Don't know what they are like these days -- and the above post remeinded me about them, so will have a gander. But, pre-IVA we used these guys and the products were good, but short dated ( hence cheaper).

You have to pay p&p but could work out cheaper according to what you buy.

http://www.approvedfood.co.uk

[Niobe]

I never used those as I did find the postage prohibitive.

I'm never bothered by 'Use by dates' - my motto is that if it looks, smells and tastes good then it will be fine. My daughter and son in law work at Asda and they frequently bring home things at the end of the day such as a 2 litre container of milk for 10p.

[shaved_ape]

Hi guys. Im a bit new to all this but after 6 years of IVA induced poverty I'm happy to empart some knowledge:

1. We never shop at the big Supermarkets. Normally, we use a combination of Aldi for food and Home Bargains for household items.
2. Take lunch to work with you. I was almost inconsolable when I worked out I spent so much in the works canteen. Plus you control what you eat.
3. People will buy any old junk. Don't throw it out, take it to a car boot sale. Making 50p is better than throwing it in the bin.
4. Don't bother with the lottery. You pay far more in than you get out. If you spent £80 a week on Euro Millions then statistically you would be a guaranteed winner within the next 14,000 years.
5. Convince your kids that a good day out is somewhere you can have fun for free like a local park. They come home exhausted and it hasn't broken the bank.

I have more but they make me look more of a skinflint than I already appear to be[:)]

[Shining]

Thanks for your contribution, some good pointers there to help others. Post as many as you want as they will help someone in their journey.

[plasticdaft]

A well kept spending diary is a very handy tool to make you aware of whats being spent. Not for big things but as mentioned the canteen at work etc, as all the little amounts dont half add up.

Paul

[Shining]

I try not to carry cash in the week as to get £10 out for me is lethal, it just seems to disappear.

[plasticdaft]

Exactly Lesley,I am the same and the wife is worse(but getting better). All the little ten pounds add up over the months and turn into several hundreds of pounds.

Paul

[mothergoose]

Home brewing is making a huge comeback i make my own wine and i have some blackberry wine i made last year which is lovely ..well worth considering if you like a drink and fancy a country walk picking blackberrys or elderberrys..or even go scrumping...

[luluj]

So tempted to start the home brew .....but think we would land up drinking more !

[joanna144]

We have jars. When I do the mid week shop for fresh milk I obviously have to get £10 out. This means that I get £1 and £2 in the change. The target is to put 1 £2 in one jar and 1 £1 in the other jar each week. If you get extras at any time you can put them in if you don't need them for anything. We started off at the beginning never spending 20 pence pieces we got in change so that works too. In Dec you are allowed to open the jars. If you work it out you have saved £3 a week which gives you £150 to spend on food (or lego)in our case for a nice christmas it is the only time we allow ourselves to buy something without thinking Oh no that might be needed. Obviously if things got drastically wrong during the year the jars could be opened but the challenge is not to open them. We have kind friends who arrive and ask has the bottle been fed this week if we say no they feed it for us. We intend to keep this up post IVA and give the money to charity each year. In 6 IVA Decembers the bottles have only been entire twice. But not keeping change in your purse does add if you collect it somewhere.