Tips for living frugally - One liner tips

jockeyboard

livinsane wrote: »

I do all the following:

Energy

Wash clothes at a lower temp. 30 degrees is sufficient for most.

Use a clothes horse. I've hardly used the tumble dryer this year. And we have a new baby in the house....so much washing. Takes a bit of time to lay everything out but the energy savings are massive.

Use heavy curtains and draught stoppers at the bottom of doors for better insulation.

Food

Grow your own lettuce. Those bags of mixed leaves cost about €3. Growing lettuce is easy and most varieties are "cut and come again" meaning they will keep growing new leaves after you cut them. You can do it in a window box if you don't have a garden.

Invest in a chest freezer and stock up when there are deals on meat. If you make a sauce and don't use it all - freeze it in ice cube trays. Buy a pack of herbs for a special meal? Freeze what you don't use immediately or you know it will inevitably end up rotting in a corner of the kitchen despite your best intentions - even more frugally, grow herbs because they are low maintenance and extremely expensive in the shop.

Freeze left over wine to use for cooking. Also, a bottle of vermouth can be used for cooking in exactly the same way as white wine - tastes the same and keeps on the shelf for longer.

If you live near the sea, buy a basic fishing rod and a few lines of feathers and live off the bounty of mackerel that graces our shore for the summer months. You don't even need bait to catch them. I have often taken fresh mackerel to give to people at work and have received rabbit, pheasant and home grown produce in return.

Lifestyle

Join the library.

If you use gmail, check out the spreadsheets on Google Drive. There is a great budget excel sheet that automatically totals your figures.

If you want to buy a luxury item, have a 24 hour cooling off period to reconsider the purchase. Chances are you will decide not to buy it.

Make budgeting and living frugally a hobby so it feels rewarding.

Pay more for quality when it makes sense - footwear for example.

If you have nappy wearing children, consider cloth nappies. Forget the old terry cloths, modern re-usable nappies are another level and look wicked. They use quality snaps so you can adjust the fit to suit from newborn to toddler. If you don't think it's icky, you can get great second hand deals. I bought 27 leading brand nappies for €190 through facebook (would have cost up to €500 new). These are all I need for the next three years (and for any future children). I've been using them exclusively for the last month and can praise them enough. The money savings are obvious although the cost of extra washing has to be taken into account. They dry overnight on the clothes horse.

What is this 'left over wine' you speak of?

livinsane

jockeyboard wrote: »

What is this 'left over wine' you speak of?

When you pass out after 4.5 bottles and wake up two days later and that half bottle isn't quite good enough for drinking anymore.

justsomebloke

ALWAYS check the price. Just cause something was cheaper doesn't mean it still is.

Check the price per KG. You'd be surprised at how often Multipacks and bigger boxes are actually dearer per KG than normal packs.

When shopping around make sure you are doing so efficiently. Include the cost of any transportation in your shopping budgets. There is no point going to another supermarket to save on some items, if the saving are less the price it cost you to get there.

If you are on a pay monthly mobile phone contract and are always spending more on your mobile bill then just the standard charge then chances are you are on the wrong bill.

Make sure that the electronics that have to remain 'always on' are on different switches then those that can be turned off. You will end up turning off more stuff at night this way.

There are plenty of cheap ways to stop drafts in your house. This will keep the heating costs down while keeping the house warmer for longer.

Only buy one type of sock. This will save you both time and money.

gazzer

A couple of things I have done over the last year to save a LOT of money

No longer buy Newspapers

Go to Asda every 6 weeks and stock up on Wine, Dog Food, Cat Food, Toiletries, large bags of Rice and Pasta

Shop in Aldi and Lidl

Bulk buy Chicken Breasts in the local Butcher

Got rid of Sky subscription

Always shop around when Car, Home, Life insurance is up for renewal

Make big curries, stews etc that I use for lunch as well as dinner.

Stopped using the tumble dryer and instead use the Clothes Horse

lazeedaisy

just remembered -

My mum lives on the far side of the M1 in North Co Dublin and regularly phones me to tell me she is heading to Newry : I log on to www.mysupermarket.co.uk and see what special offers are - and then compare prices in particular - my tasssimo coffee - i click on it and find the product and a comparison against others comes up

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping/FindProducts.aspx?Query=tassimo[/IMG]

I then make a list and tell her what to buy where -

Just in case anyone else heads north its handy

Grawns

I order a a range of nicotinell gum, cat food, dog treats on a monthly subscription from Amazon ( order 5 subscription items get 15% off ). I save €10 a pack on the gum and a fair amount on the rest.

flutered

RedXIV wrote: »

Perhaps a thread for one liner tips may be useful here?

To get the ball rolling:

• Bring in your lunch. The smarter you are here, the more money you could save. I tend to go to the extreme here, my weekly lunch as a result costs a little over €2. but if you spend €8 a day, or even €5 a day, thats €25 a week, or a €100 month.
• Shop around whenever possible. If you are coming up for renewal on anything, always shop around. The applies to insurance, mobile phone contracts, utilities, everything. I reduced my car insurance by over 60% the first time I got insured by ringing around after my first year was up.
• Consider your social budget. It's amazingly common to hear people splashing out €100+ every weekend on nights out. Thats fine, each to their own, but if you want to start squeezing pennies, you'd be amazed how much you save staying in with friends.
• Think outside the box. We're just about to reach the stage in my house where TV subscription is no longer necessary. My kids love netflix, and its only €7 a month. Pay an extra few euro and you can use a proxy service to get even more content. This could replace a monthly tv bill of 6 or 7 times the cost.

download torch browsser and you are living a bit cheaper.

DMcL1971

flutered wrote: »

download torch browsser and you are living a bit cheaper.

How does a different browser save me money?

Jellybaby1

lazeedaisy wrote: »

just remembered -

My mum lives on the far side of the M1 in North Co Dublin and regularly phones me to tell me she is heading to Newry : I log on to www.mysupermarket.co.uk and see what special offers are - and then compare prices in particular - my tasssimo coffee - i click on it and find the product and a comparison against others comes up

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping/FindProducts.aspx?Query=tassimo[/IMG]

I then make a list and tell her what to buy where -

Just in case anyone else heads north its handy

Do you have to have a UK postcode to register with mysupermarket.co.uk?

mike65

MAKE A LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE!

Plan your food needs for a week - yes that means sitting down and planning your evening meals. Do not deviate from your shopping list unless its to buy a given type of product cheaper than would otherwise be the case.

Learn to cook, chances are you can and if you like a good soup/stew/pasta type dish you can eat very cheaply indeed without it being "boring"

If you have a bin check that you have the most cost effective plan - might pay per lift be more cost effective if you live alone?

sunbeam

Grawns wrote: »

I order a a range of nicotinell gum, cat food, dog treats on a monthly subscription from Amazon ( order 5 subscription items get 15% off ). I save €10 a pack on the gum and a fair amount on the rest.

I get almost all my pet food using the Amazon subscription service.

The prices of individual products can vary from month to month but if you place a new subscription for a product when the price is low Amazon will honour the price for your first delivery even if it increases before the delivery date. Hence I create new subscriptions for the best value food each month and postpone or cancel them when the prices increase.

If you are ordering multiples of the same product it is often useful to create a separate subscription for each in order to qualify for the 15 percent discount. For example it will work if you create five separate subscriptions for an item rather than just creating one and specifying a quantity of five.

lazeedaisy

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Do you have to have a UK postcode to register with mysupermarket.co.uk?

I don't register you should be able to use it without - just close down the pop up that asks and start shopping - keep pressing it - it eventually gives up -

Also - forget that I order my dog treats twice a year on amazon & toothbrush heads - I would buy monthly on amazon and should really consider the monthly shop and save option.

Kenjataimu

Can't you sign up for amazon subscriptions to get the subscription price and then cancel the subscription once the first order has been dispatched?

Never tried it myself though, so can anyone confirm this still works?

gerdoli

One thing that doesn't come up for renewal is life assurance. As it"s required for the term of your mortgage, a small monthly saving will yield a big dividends. Save €10 per month for say, 15 years= €1,800 . Easy to do this, with online quotes available

cruhoortwunk

During the winter, when you're done using the oven, leave the door open. Doesn't make sense to trap all the heat in and then turn the heating on

Get off the expensive monthly mobile bill. The likes of 48 has a plan for tenner a month (unlimited text, 300mins, 1GB data), and you can tell a white lie to pretend you are under 22. Trust me, they couldn't care less.

mike65

I always leave the oven open after cooking

lazeedaisy

mike65 wrote: »

I always leave the oven open after cooking

me too - I bake every week (always make sure the oven is full!) and the heat it amazing - I wash the tins and bung them back in the over to dry properly too! using all that heat!

Thargor

Errrr... where do ye think the heat goes if you leave the oven door closed? Unless its a Stanley with a chimney attached it all ends up in the kitchen anyway, might be better to leave it closed and get a slow release effect.

aligator_am

Get a slow cooker, brilliant for doing stews and the like and very cheap to run.

Also, pick up a large flask / thermos, saves you constantly boiling the kettle although not sure how long it would take to recoup the cost?

mjv2ydratu679c

aligator_am wrote: »

Get a slow cooker, brilliant for doing stews and the like and very cheap to run.

Also, pick up a large flask / thermos, saves you constantly boiling the kettle although not sure how long it would take to recoup the cost?

Why not just boil enough water for a cup of tea/whatever you need the water for - saves on buying a thermos flask.

aligator_am

Bodhi Pitiful Radiology wrote: »

Why not just boil enough water for a cup of tea/whatever you need the water for - saves on buying a thermos flask.

Yeah fair point, was just figuring if you drink a good whack of tea / coffee then it would save time, also I'm a lazy git :P

mjv2ydratu679c

aligator_am wrote: »

Yeah fair point, was just figuring if you drink a good whack of tea / coffee then it would save time, also I'm a lazy git :P

Guilty of being lazy myself too :-). Definitely saves time but actually costs money unless you sue every drop of water in flask before it goes cold.

fillefatale

I stock up on basics, such as tins of beans and tomatoes from Aldi, so I always have the store cupboard basics.

Try to meal plan in advance, bring a SHOPPING LIST to the supermarket so you know what you want to buy and don't a)spend more money b)buy things you don't need c)end up with food waste in the fridge at the end of the week

I'd go food shopping twice a week rather than once, so I'm more likely to find whats on offer in food etc, and don't have to commit to buying loads all at once - which is especially useful if you don't have the use of a car

jc77

This tip won't save you much, however...

Keep an eye on post coming through the door. Envelopes with stamps on them that haven't been marked by the Post Office routing staff, can be removed & reused (with the help of Pritt Stick).

Grawns

jc77 wrote: »

This tip won't save you much, however...

Keep an eye on post coming through the door. Envelopes with stamps on them that haven't been marked by the Post Office routing staff, can be removed & reused (with the help of Pritt Stick).

Has saved me a fiver today! Sprinkle a bit of water and microwave for about 20 secs to peel off stamps.

Jellybaby1

Why use a whole Brillo pad when half a Brillo pad will do the job. Something I read somewhere. I just cut 'em in half as I need them for small jobs.

Michael D Not Higgins

One which my friend told me about, if you're considering quitting smoking. The higher strength patches are just bigger than the lower strength ones. He kept buying the high strength ones and cutting them to size.

I've been quitting by switching to e-cigarettes. I would have spent £125 on cigarettes since I switched but have only spent £15 on e-liquid in that time (which are still going). The cost of the e-cigarette was about £30, so a saving of £80 in 5 weeks. I'm expecting to save over£1000 a year.

irish_goat

jc77 wrote: »

Keep an eye on post coming through the door. Envelopes with stamps on them that haven't been marked by the Post Office routing staff, can be removed & reused (with the help of Pritt Stick).

This is theft.

Donegaljack

Old phone directories make ideal address books... just cross out the names you don't want.

DoozerT6

irish_goat wrote: »

This is theft.

It's MY post - theft from who?? An Post? I think their profit margins might recover.