General Money Saving Tips

dublin112321 · 28-12-2018 6:28pm #1

Thought I'd start a thread on some handy money saving tips so we can learn from each other. I don't earn a huge salary so I try to make an effort to save money. Here's a few things I do:

Always pay in sterling on sites like ASOS- guaranteed to save a few euro
When I'm going away I always look up Groupon to get restaurant deals etc in that area
Get books from the library instead of buying them
Selling unwanted clothes on Depop

Any other ideas?

28-12-2018 6:30pm

dublin112321 wrote: »

Thought I'd start a thread on some handy money saving tips so we can learn from each other. I don't earn a huge salary so I try to make an effort to save money. Here's a few things I do:

Always pay in sterling on sites like ASOS- guaranteed to save a few euro
When I'm going away I always look up Groupon to get restaurant deals etc in that area
Get books from the library instead of buying them
Selling unwanted clothes on Depop

Any other ideas?

avoiding buying clothes online or having meals out so often that they are two of my top tips to save money

geriatric · 29-12-2018 12:15am

Deleted User wrote: »

avoiding buying clothes online or having meals out so often that they are two of my top tips to save money

The OP is genuinely looking for advice and offered some of their own. I think your comments are a bit smart and unhelpful.

nothing · 29-12-2018 3:40am

Shop around for electricity, gas, internet service regularly and when you switch put the date of the end of contract in your phone calendar as a reminder.

Switch banks if there's a better deal out there.

The Undecided One · 29-12-2018 9:54am

Avoid bargain alerts as it often leads to impulse buying.

Get rid of your credit card, use your debit card instead.

Try and pay off your car insurance in one payment rather than paying in instalments to avoid 10% extra charge (could be €50 to over €200 depending on your insurance cost).

Field east · 29-12-2018 10:11am

The Undecided One wrote: »

Avoid bargain alerts as it often leads to impulse buying.

Get rid of your credit card, use your debit card instead.

Try and pay off your car insurance in one payment rather than paying in instalments to avoid 10% extra charge (could be €50 to over €200 depending on your insurance cost).

A lot of people go to resturants|hotels/ McDonalds for a meal during or at the end of a long journey. Bring your favorite sandwich’s/ biscuits and a flask of tea / coffee instead and pick a nice scenic spot to enjoy. You save time and money. Same idea as bringing your lunch to work instead of eating out at lunchtime

Marty101 · 29-12-2018 10:22am

More of spend avoidance, I setup direct debit for about 25% of pay check to go into deposit savings account.

I also started getting my old jeans etc repaired or altered instead of buying new ones.

Creamy Goodness · 29-12-2018 10:36am

The Undecided One wrote: »

Get rid of your credit card, use your debit card instead.

I’d counter this point. Using a credit card for online / foreign purchases is worth the €30 government stamp
duty fee. If your credit card number gets swiped you’re usually protected and the bank won’t hold you accountable. If this happens with a debit card, your money is gone, it’s up to the bank whether it comes back and not to mention it puts you in unnecessary cash flow issues. You do need to be disciplined and pay it every month.

For sterling/foreign currency purchases fleet a Revolut card, they have better foreign exchange fees than traditional banks.

Keep a note of when you signed up for services (gas, electricity, Internet etc.) when your contract is up, ring them and say your cancelling for a better competitor’s offer, usually they’ll match it or give you x months half price which over the course of a year contract works out better.

If you can buy your phone outright there’s really good android phones that pair well with a 30 day contract or pay as you go (depending on your needs) you can get Spotify or sports channels (If you like these) included that gives you one less bill.

NATLOR · 29-12-2018 10:46am

Get a Revolut card for any foreign currency transactions/exchange. It gives you the live exchange rate and no fees charged

Already mentioned above.. apologies missed the post

Uboat · 29-12-2018 10:52am

Last year had stopped buying lotto tickets for every draw. Instead have bought a piggy bank and now almost every 1 and 2 euro coin is in it. The piggy bank saves me 100 euro every month. I used to buy 2 lines with plus for every Lotto and Euromillions.

Cakerbaker · 29-12-2018 11:04am

Do the bulk of grocery shopping in ALDI or Lidl.

Use supermarket spend and save coupons that come in the post. Stock up on dry / tinned / household staples that you will definitely use to bring you up to the spend limit if necessary. However you have to be clever with this and only buy goods that are the same price as or cheaper than the German chains as you aren’t really saving if buying something for a Euro that would cost 50 cent in ALDI.

Living Off The Splash · 29-12-2018 11:13am

Buy a packet of salad leaf seeds. Cultivate a small area of the garden to grow these and you will have free salad leaves from May to September. French beans are another easy crop to grow.

If you drive, there are plenty of free on street parking places where you can park your car. Even at weekends you can get very close to St. Stephen's Green area and free parking. Find out if your local supermarket offers free parking if you shop there. They will stamp your parking ticket.

When going on holidays abroad, many hotels have loyalty discounts such as Melia.com, Accor Hotels, NH Hotels, Barcelo etc Some such as Melia offer you an upfront discount immediately. Others you accumulate points to be used later.

Cakerbaker · 29-12-2018 11:19am

I meal plan. I check the veg / meat on offer in the local supermarkets and plan meals around those for the week. I also try to come up with meals that use up the veg I am buying. Another option is to batch cook and freeze in portions to use up the produce bought. Making soup for lunches can also be a handy way to use up excess veg.

SusanC10 · 29-12-2018 11:37am

Great Thread idea.

Going to follow this as want to reduce our family/household spending. We want to move house within the next 2/3 years so need to increase our Savings.

dublin112321 · 30-12-2018 4:39pm

Another thing- buying all shampoo/ shower gel in Dealz.
Using sites like Quidco to get cashback when buying online.
Buying refurbished phones from Pigsback (working fine)
Buying items on Aliexpress- save a FORTUNE if you don't mind waiting for the item to arrive. Read reviews before you buy the item.
Sites like Studentbeans have good student discounts and don't seem to be overly strict on who joins- don't require a student number. These sites have good discounts like 10% off on Hotels.com
Being organised/ thinking ahead- if passing through the airport The Loop (Dublin) usually have 10 euro off every 100 spent online in advance. Can be good to pick up presents etc.

whampiri · 31-12-2018 10:18am

Don't be fooled by adds that suggest that by buying an item thelat you'll save money. E.g buy this car and save 10,000.

It's a misnomer. You still end up spending money. Only buy items you need rather than want.

Go to the cinema mid week (Tues and Thurs), when the tickets are cheaper.

If you need a work shirt, buy a good quality one from M&S in their sale. It'll cost twice that if a Penny's one but will last 3 times longer.

rpurfield · 02-01-2019 1:59pm

whampiri wrote: »

Don't be fooled by adds that suggest that by buying an item thelat you'll save money. E.g buy this car and save 10,000.

It's a misnomer. You still end up spending money. Only buy items you need rather than want.

Go to the cinema mid week (Tues and Thurs), when the tickets are cheaper.

If you need a work shirt, buy a good quality one from M&S in their sale. It'll cost twice that if a Penny's one but will last 3 times longer.

This is a great one. Sometimes you are better off paying more initially to get longer out of something. I splashed on a pair of Clarks shoes over two years ago for work and they are still holding up. I'd gone thru a phase of buying cheaper ones "sure they're only" for work, and getting six months out of them before the holes came in the soles.

If your house and car insurance is up shop around. Even if your existing provider is the cheapest tell them you've got a price of €50-€80 cheaper elsewhere and they'll go close to matching it to keep you.

whampiri · 02-01-2019 2:06pm

Cancel magazine subscriptions you don't use anymore. If you do read magazines, then take out a subscription. They're far cheaper to pick up direct than through local stores (only if you're going to read them)

Walk rather than take transport to work and you can lose the gym membership.

Sabre0001 · 02-01-2019 2:07pm

Track your spending. Easier to save money if you know where it's going - those coffees, snacks, etc. can end up adding up. I use ClearCheckbook.

Groupon, Pigsback, TheTaste.ie and First Table can be good for breaks / restaurants.

As said, Revolut card can help you get the best exchange rate when shopping on UK sites.

Make a groceries list and compare prices between different stores. Also make note of good sale prices for groceries.

Generic brands can be a fraction of the cost and taste / be the same in many cases.

Green&Red · 02-01-2019 2:12pm

On credit cards, you can avoid all bank transaction charges by using your credit card as a debit card, if you have money on ur credit card there is no charge for using it, including withdrawing cash from an ATM, unlike debit cards.
It takes discipline and time to get used to

steinbock123 · 02-01-2019 2:35pm

On the subject of shoes, buy a really good pair of all leather shoes. Wear them for 3 or 4 weeks, then take them to a cobbler and get him to glue rubber soles and heels over the existing leather. When a hole comes in the rubber, bring them back and get them covered again. If you do this, you never wear out the original sole, so the shoe never loses it's integrity. I still wear shoes that I have for over 20 years. They are Loakes so quite expensive initially ,but actually work out cheaper over time doing this.

Living Off The Splash · 02-01-2019 3:52pm

steinbock123 wrote: »

On the subject of shoes, buy a really good pair of all leather shoes. Wear them for 3 or 4 weeks, then take them to a cobbler and get him to glue rubber soles and heels over the existing leather. When a hole comes in the rubber, bring them back and get them covered again. If you do this, you never wear out the original sole, so the shoe never loses it's integrity. I still wear shoes that I have for over 20 years. They are Loakes so quite expensive initially ,but actually work out cheaper over time doing this.

Do these become platforms then?

AlmightyCushion · 02-01-2019 4:01pm

Green&Red wrote: »

On credit cards, you can avoid all bank transaction charges by using your credit card as a debit card, if you have money on ur credit card there is no charge for using it, including withdrawing cash from an ATM, unlike debit cards.
It takes discipline and time to get used to

What is the point of doing this? It offers none of the protection of a credit card which is the best reason to have one in the first place. If you want to avoid bank fees just open an account that offers free banking.

Green&Red · 02-01-2019 5:50pm

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

What is the point of doing this? It offers none of the protection of a credit card which is the best reason to have one in the first place. If you want to avoid bank fees just open an account that offers free banking.

Which account provides transaction free banking? In particular withdrawing cash from an ATM for free?

Spanish Eyes · 02-01-2019 5:57pm

A mantra our parents drilled into us was.... "buy only what you really need, not what you think you'd like or want" Served us all well.

We are not tightwads either, spend when necessary and generously too, have good holliers and so on, but we have never been taken in by what appears to be a "bargain". It ain't a bargain if you don't really need it.

So the house is free (kind of) of clutter, and the bank balance is healthy and building.

White Clover · 02-01-2019 6:01pm

Would people here be interested in buying beef and lamb butchered and packed direct from farmers.Ie half a carcass of beef (100 - 120kg) or maybe a full lamb (25kg)? It would freeze fine for up to 12 months.

AlmightyCushion · 02-01-2019 7:38pm

Green&Red wrote: »

Which account provides transaction free banking? In particular withdrawing cash from an ATM for free?

Just off the top of my head KBC, EBS and N26. EBS has no strings attached. KBC requires you to have 2500 deposited into the account every month. However, this 2500 a month does not have to be in one lump sum so if your wages are less than 2500 a month just transfer between your current account and another account (you can set up a KBC savings account for this) over and back until you hit 2500.

There are plenty of accounts that offer free banking to students, graduates and the elderly. There are a few other accounts which require things like minimum balances or something like that for no fees but I don't know any of them off the top of my head. Regardless, it's very easy to get free free banking nowadays so no one should be paying banking fees.

Peckham · 02-01-2019 7:59pm

If you're a homeowner make sure that you're on the best mortgage. Firstly, keep an eye on your loan to value ratio (current mortgage balance divided by current property value). Then look around at rates for that loan to value ratio.

You may not even need to switch mortgage lender.

Over past two years we've cut our mortgage payments by 3 grand a year without switching lender. Simply by the price of our house going up as our mortgage balance decreased.

They're are great fixed rate deals out there if you can take advantage of them.

jesso22 · 02-01-2019 8:26pm

When shopping, i go straight to the 'reduced' section and plan my meals from there. Esp the veg, usually last way longer than the date on it. A lot of people plan meals for the week, but it never works for me as some days i'm too tired to cook, don't have time, or just don't feel like eating what i'd planned. So it ends up going off and in the bin. No self-discipline here!
As mentioned, i have a weekly dd straight to the credit union, so I don't even miss it. Also have €5 work takes out of my wages each week before i even get paid, which is a nice bonus come Christmas time.
Great idea for a thread. New years resolution to be more frugal!

Creamy Goodness · 02-01-2019 8:29pm

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Just off the top of my head KBC, EBS and N26. EBS has no strings attached. KBC requires you to have 2500 deposited into the account every month. However, this 2500 a month does not have to be in one lump sum so if your wages are less than 2500 a month just transfer between your current account and another account (you can set up a KBC savings account for this) over and back until you hit 2500.

There are plenty of accounts that offer free banking to students, graduates and the elderly. There are a few other accounts which require things like minimum balances or something like that for no fees but I don't know any of them off the top of my head. Regardless, it's very easy to get free free banking nowadays so no one should be paying banking fees.

AIB is fee free if you keep a balance over €2,500 for a quarter (which is a bit dickish imo), you also qualify if you have a mortgage with them.

Always Tired · 02-01-2019 8:36pm

whampiri wrote: »

If you need a work shirt, buy a good quality one from M&S in their sale. It'll cost twice that if a Penny's one but will last 3 times longer.

Yes! People at my last job looked at me like I had two heads when I said I got my work clothes from somewhere besides Pennys. To me, it makes far more sense to not be wearing ill fitting clothes that will lose their shape and have loose threads and buttons popping off after a few washes, especially when they are worn frequently and for long stretches. Penny's stuff is especially naff for men, but some don't see it. Total false economy.

jesso22 · 02-01-2019 8:56pm

Tv wise, we cancelled sky a couple years ago, as there was something wrong with the satelite and they wouldn't send out a technician.
Needless to say, they rang every month trying to get us back, for over a year.
We bought a uk 'sky viewing card' from eBay for €10 and got all the uk free channels, and realised they were the only channels we used to watch anyways, and they were FREE! Worth looking up the 'free' channels and deciding what you are actually paying for with a subscription service and is it worth it

Cakerbaker · 02-01-2019 9:17pm

I pick up kids clothes that i know will be worn in sales. Things like jeans, hoody’s etc. Some end up in storage for a year but they end up wearing good quality clothes for Penny’s prices. Have to have an idea of what you have already though so you don’t duplicate. I do appreciate this may not work so well as they get older and have a view on what they want to wear.

mickmac76 · 02-01-2019 10:30pm

whampiri wrote: »

Cancel magazine subscriptions you don't use anymore. If you do read magazines, then take out a subscription. They're far cheaper to pick up direct than through local stores (only if you're going to read them)

Walk rather than take transport to work and you can lose the gym membership.

Regarding magazines. My library has a website that I can use for reading many magazines free of charge for library members. Membership of your local library is free and no fines has also been brought in from this year on so it's well worth joining. I canceled my subscription to new scientist magazine last year when I realized that the library has the electronic version online every week free of charge. There's a large selection of magazines covering areas like science and nature, fitness, mens and womens interest and current affairs. You can also get dvds and computer games from some libraries and order ones you'd like from other locations around the country. My library also has a selection of ebooks which isn't huge but I always check it before I buy a book on my kindle.

dhaughton99 · 03-01-2019 1:56pm

Watch out for Credit card late fees. Just noticed a late fee from Avantcard and I made a payment over Christmas. Claimed it was the banks fault over xmas that it took 5 days to transfer from bank account. They reserved the charge.

Also, 'Say No to 1890' Brilliant Money Saver.
http://www.saynoto1890.com/a-z-listing/

niallers1 · 03-01-2019 5:19pm

If you are interested in getting out of debt and never borrowing again for anything except maybe a house then listen to a guy called Dave Ramsey.

Follow his baby step rules and you will be debt free. Needs will power and discipline:)

Listen to a few podcasts before passing judgement on it.

niallers1 · 03-01-2019 5:29pm

If you live in an area with good 4G coverage and have an all you can eat subscription then cancel your broadband subscription and use your phone as a hotspot instead.
I regularly get over 70meg (over 2meg is all you need for Netflix) speeds using my mobile phone. I have it connected to my Humax free to air satelite box and use it for Netlix on the TV too.

Calls and broadband cost me 20 euro per month with three.

Get out Sky / eir e.t.c. and use a Fee to air satelite box. 90% of the channels with sky/others are free anyway and you probably only watch a couple of the channels unique to sky/eir e.t.c. madness paying for Sky when 90% of their channels are free to air.

The J Stands for Jay · 18-01-2019 9:10am

jesso22 wrote: »

Tv wise, we cancelled sky a couple years ago, as there was something wrong with the satelite and they wouldn't send out a technician.
Needless to say, they rang every month trying to get us back, for over a year.
We bought a uk 'sky viewing card' from eBay for €10 and got all the uk free channels, and realised they were the only channels we used to watch anyways, and they were FREE! Worth looking up the 'free' channels and deciding what you are actually paying for with a subscription service and is it worth it

I bought a FreeSat box a few years ago. No recurring fees and the interface is much better than a sky box. It can record, pause rewind live TV, all the usual, had an app that can be used as a remote, or to set up recordings and has Netflix and YouTube apps.

Leinster1980 · 19-01-2019 5:23pm

whampiri wrote: »

Cancel magazine subscriptions you don't use anymore. If you do read magazines, then take out a subscription. They're far cheaper to pick up direct than through local stores (only if you're going to read them)

Walk rather than take transport to work and you can lose the gym membership.

If you join the library you can borrow ebooks to read on tablet or phone. You can also install another app to read magazines online. I saved a fortune on buying the bbcgoodfood magazine as I can read it for free through the app.

Apologies saw someone else already mentioned this earlier. It’s a great money saver.

- bo - · 21-01-2019 10:44am

Phone/Broadband/TV: Definitely look in to Free-to-air/Freesat boxes. If not, if you know anybody working for certain providers, they often offer Friends & Family deals - I'm on one I got a while back on Three, and we used to have them back in the day when I worked for O2. I know Sky had them at one stage too.

Clothes: I don't buy new clothes all that regularly, but tend to use sites like mandmdirect for discounted. You can get some absolutely gems there - grabbed a nice pair of Adidas runners for €40-odd which were retailing elsewhere at €80-90 and a nice hoodie on offer for less than €10 that would easily be €50-60 normally.

If we shop and plan meals cleverly enough on Sundays then our weekly shopping rarely goes near €50 in Lidl. And a good shout on the SayNoTo1890 site, I have a habit of always checking it now before calling certain providers such as Aviva for my car insurance. Speaking of which, I get 15% off both my car and house insurance for having both products with Aviva now.

Living Off The Splash · 21-01-2019 9:42pm

- bo - wrote: »

Speaking of which, I get 15% off both my car and house insurance for having both products with Aviva now.

.....And you get free travel insurance......

- bo - · 22-01-2019 8:37am

True! I normally fly a few times a year but not doing so anytime soon (house buying, wedding...) - so holding off before I avail of that :cool:

Phil1969 · 27-01-2019 4:45pm

To really save on monthly living costs you need to break down your monthly spending and see what you are currently spending your money on. Once you break down your monthly spending you can then work on each area and see where you can save money.

For example, here is how I break down my monthly expenses. We spend less than 2000 euros for a family of 5 per month and can go to as little as 1500 if need be.

Rent - fixed
Electricity - we moved to Just energy, save around 500 per year than we were paying with electric Ireland
Food - we shop for reductions, bulk buy good promotions, make use of Dunnes spend and save vouchers
Transport - walk when can or use bus instead of car
Clothes - buy at better brands at charity shops, save lots
School costs - pretty much fixed
Internet - Use 3.ie for 30 euros per month, not great but does us.
Phone - Use 3.ie 20 euros per month unlimited, did use 48.ie for 10 euros per month but moved to 3.ie as better of internet
Leisure - limit leisure during winter, rarely eat out, prefer to save money towards holidays,

Some of my other tips would be do use cash more than a debit card to avoid quarterly charges (if you do not enough in your account to avoid charges). Make a shopping list before going shopping and stick too it, do not shop when your hungry!, use shop and spend vouchers wisely.

anitaca · 01-02-2019 4:09pm

Phil1969 wrote: »

Internet - Use 3.ie for 30 euros per month, not great but does us.

A 3 phone sim will work in a mobile broadband modem or you can use your phones as hotspots

Phil1969 · 01-02-2019 4:15pm

anitaca wrote: »

A 3 phone sim will work in a mobile broadband modem or you can use your phones as hotspots

I was using the sim card at first for hotspot but a few users slowed it down so decided to go for the new offer. In the beginning, the modem was working well but I have now found it to be slowing down and of course I am tied in for a year

. I will be going back hotspots later or going for something better with another company.

niallers1 · 06-02-2019 5:12pm

Phil1969 wrote: »

I was using the sim card at first for hotspot but a few users slowed it down so decided to go for the new offer. In the beginning, the modem was working well but I have now found it to be slowing down and of course I am tied in for a year . I will be going back hotspots later or going for something better with another company.

Just use your phone as a wifi hotspot . No need to take sim out and no need to have mobile broadband dongle.

AhhHere · 06-02-2019 5:32pm

niallers1 wrote: »

Just use your phone as a wifi hotspot . No need to take sim out and no need to have mobile broadband dongle.

How many devices have you connected at once do you know?

niallers1 · 06-02-2019 5:41pm

AhhHere wrote: »

How many devices have you connected at once do you know?

Depends on your phone but my last phone Samsung A16 could handle a few devices. The spec if I recall correctly says up to 10. Not sure about my Huawei P20 lite but I usually have two or three devices on the go without problem.

I use it for work with lots of company apps with more than enough upload/download speed . Netflix for kids also on the go at the same time.

The good thing about it is that you can control turning off the internet when you want it off. ( Handy if you have kids)
I'm in a 4G area so might not work if you are not.

My mobile phone and internet bill per month is €20.

Creamy Goodness · 06-02-2019 5:43pm

I'd say about 4-5. Using your phone as a hotspot is a last resort to me. the problem with a connection that goes away means your other devices in the house lose connection whenever you leave the house. that's grand if you live alone, but if you've teenagers/kids in the house they won't be too happy.

definitely have a MiFi but don't use your phone as a hotspot. Internet is almost on par with electricity can you imagine if your electricity switched off if you walked 20m outside your house?

some people can take money saving too far sometimes.

niallers1 · 06-02-2019 5:48pm

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

but if you've teenagers/kids in the house they won't be too happy.
some people can take money saving too far sometimes.

The kids in my case are under 7 so would not be alone. If i was out the missus hotspot will kick in. ( Children don't use the internet much under 10 anyway or shouldn't use it much and never unaccompanied)

Teenagers will probably have their own phone with unlimited internet so no need for fixed broadband it if they have their own.

Now if your home security and other things need the internet then you will have no choice but if you don't then your phone is grand.

This is a money saving forum so no such thing as taking money saving too far, Most people are broke so could do with taking money saving to the extreme to get out of being broke

AhhHere · 06-02-2019 5:56pm

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

I'd say about 4-5. Using your phone as a hotspot is a last resort to me. the problem with a connection that goes away means your other devices in the house lose connection whenever you leave the house. that's grand if you live alone, but if you've teenagers/kids in the house they won't be too happy.

definitely have a MiFi but don't use your phone as a hotspot. Internet is almost on par with electricity can you imagine if your electricity switched off if you walked 20m outside your house?

some people can take money saving too far sometimes.

Interesting, thanks!

General Money Saving Tips

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