What are your top five ways to save money?

[kallis3]

We pretty much love Asda. It helps that daughter works there so we get 10% discount.

[Skippy]

I agree about Aldi being a Marmite shop and I have to say I hate it! I do most of my shopping at Tesco which is another shop that I hate but it's cheap and sells everything I want.

[MrsKnight]

We have a savings account but you need your book to get money out - so you have to really need it to go n get it - rather than a card.

My shopping saving tips are:
*Never take the kids with you!
*Refrain from taking the husband with you!
*Look at what you have n budget around it.
*Do your research on internet or looking around.
*When you see offers - think if you need or would benefit from them.
*Use coupons if they are appropriate to you.
*Meal planing n thinking ahead is often the most cost effective way of saving.
*Making things from scratch n making more than you need n freezing it down.
*Some frozen veg is cheaper than buying fresh.
*grow your own veg & freeze yourself for the winter months. (recently found out how & its really easy to do x).
*Buy in season veg, either eat of freeze your self for later. (as above).
*If things are hard n you cant afford a food shop, think positive n say the freezer needs a clearout/thaw n make most of what you have. (something I have done plenty of times).
*Make your children aware when things start to run low - that your not shopping till so n so n if its gone its gone! (might sound harsh but it works! They dont gobble everything in 1 go!)

Hope this helps x

[kallis3]

Hubby and I do food shopping together - always have done.

We make a list and pretty much stick to it unless there are any bogof offers that we would normally use, even if we don't need them right away.

We never meal plan, just always have the ingredients for a meal in the house.

Wish we could manage to grow our own veg.

[Shining]

We always meal plan and buy to menu, Aldi I love for fruit/veg/salad there or Lidl I compare prices between the two, the quality is good and much cheaper than the market x

[kallis3]

I would hate to know what I was having every day - reminds me of when I was a child! As long as we have the ingredients in, then we can pretty much do anything. We replace what we use each week.

I never use the market either.

[Shining]

My budget is very low to enable me to have a few extras therefore everything has to be planned and with us both working full time and weird hours it suits us. Love it or hate I have to live with it. x

[kallis3]

I'm lucky that hubby is at home all the time. I do work shifts so he has to make sure he has something to have for tea when I'm on a late shift.

It is what works for you at the end of the day.

[Pandy]

My top 5 ways are:
1. Buy the cheap basic brands but enhance,
e.g I don't like too hot curry's so these are ideal for me, I buy the 9p curry sauce from Sainsbury's (Yes 9p) and fry some onion add some cooked chicken, (I buy the £2. bag of cooked chicken from Iceland, I use 1/2 a bag for 2 jars of sauce) add 2 jars of the sauce and a handful of sultana's. I freeze portion sizes with cooked rice in old margarine tubs makes enough for 6 lunches, do the same with the basic range sweet and sour sauce. (without adding the sultanas [:D]).
(Each lunch costs approx 45p)
2. Save any change less than 50p piece in a tin / jar, it soon mounts up.
3. Batch bake and freeze, cottage pies, lasagna's etc.
4. Buy special offer veg and freeze e.g Sainsbury's had carrots at 30p a bag a month ago I bought a couple of them and have frozen them in portion sizes.
5. Don't shop when your hungry you are liable to impulse buy more. Always go after you have just eaten.

[Skippy]

We eat quite a lot of chicken and we've found it cheaper to buy from the local butcher rather than the supermarket, and it tastes better too.

I also use our local corner shop quite a lot if we've run out of something as if I go in there I only buy the item I want. If I go to the supermarket I have to drive and I usually end up buying a lot more.

[kallis3]

Unless it's gone up recenty, the curry sauce in Asda is 5p a jar.

[Pandy]

When I bought one from Asda a few weeks ago it was 19p, and I didn't think it tasted as nice as the Sainsbury's one, but I will keep an eye out there as it might go down again. I only go to Asda every couple of weeks as the Sainsbury's is just down the road from me where as Asda is 1/2 hour away.

[kallis3]

It's 9p on the Asda website at the moment.

I love Sainsburys but can't afford to do all my shopping there. We're lucky in that we have most of the major supermarkets within a few miles of where we live.

[Shining]

I find Sainsbury our most competitive, never used to but been shopping there now for about 6 months and I like it x

[kallis3]

I love the choice in Sainsburys, far superior. It is (other than Waitrose) the most expensive place in my locality.