Money saving tips

Skipped

I got a smart meter from my energy supplier.
I think I have saved lots of money but I am probably obsessed now (with energy saving) so think carefully about any advice that I am about to give.

But.....You know when you wonder if you should leave the hot water on all day....or have it come on twice a day?
Well....... you can see which is cheaper just by glancing at the display sat in your kitchen. With my boiler I don't put the water on for 90 minutes. I put the water on for 20p.
I am eating more fish...and vegetables. Steamed in a Microwave steamer for 3 minutes.
I don't put the oven on for 2 baked potatoes. I put the oven on for 50 or 80 Baked Potatoes. I put the whole freaking sack in the oven. Then store them in the freezer.


Jesus.....I am halfway to Mumsnet.

Skipped

Do you have a Coop Late Supermarket somewhere near?

Find out when they reduce items. Then plan your daily walk/jog/run to take you past the shop at the right moment. Buy the reduced items - all of them. Salmon, those posh gourmet pies reduced from £4 to £1.25. Nearly everything is suitable for freezing (check on box).

EricTheWeary

^^^ the Tesco by my office marks down fruit and veg at about 11:30. In date fruit is invariably not ripe enough to eat so if I buy fruit at 11:45 it's half price and just right to eat. Beyond that I'm shit at saving money... :o3

monquixote

I had a situation a few years ago where my outgoings were considerably higher than my income and I was building debts.

Some of the things I did to get it back under control were:

Make sure you are getting the best deal on your Gas, Electric and other utilities. 

Phone up your mobile, landline and broadband and tell them you are going to cancel and they will usually give you a better deal. 

Cancel all your services you don't really need like Sky TV, etc.

Make sure any debts you have are paid down in order of interest rate or flip them to things with lower interest rates.

Try and use a cashback credit card to buy stuff.

Stop buying food and drink out (especially lunch at work it's a killer).

Shop at Aldi or Lidl (seriously the food is great).

Wear supermarket clothes rather than designer brands

Make food rather than buy in ready meals and plan stuff properly so you don't throw stuff away.

Shop around for fuel and drive at 60mph on the motorway.

Work out things you can do that bring in extra revenue (I did coding for hire, writing, and depping for cover bands)

Turn your heating down and check what times it comes on. Get used to wearing a jumper indoors.

Grow vegetables (spuds are piss easy)

Stop going on holiday abroad.

Agree with family and friends to stop buying christmas presents. (this has been a brilliant decision)

Specifically with mortgages

Don't pay someone to arrange your mortgage (you can find people to do it for free)

Don't buy the insurance that the bank offer, get it elsewhere.

If the repayments on your mortgage are hard for you to repay then try and find a 5 year fixed so you are less susceptible to interest rate shocks.

Some of this might sound really shit, but you don't really miss it once you get into it and it's better than waking up every morning with ice in your stomach because you are about to hit your overdraft limit!

johnnyurq

^^^^^^

Slash your wrists now on having to do the above. 

Seriously though and sadly it is all good advice and the only options to make your dosh go further.

Also no GAS and learn to be a shoplifting ninja, joking of course.

I have a mortgage and I am not sure if I would get one if starting out nowadays.

Good luck.

Danny1969

I went for an interest only mortgage simply because it's a lot more affordable. Once the fixed period ran out it fell to 420 a month and has been that all the time the interest rate is half s percent. You don't want to do that forever but starting out on an interest only is an option

richardhomer

^
I think you'll find that after the Mortgage Market Review, interest only mortgages are effectively banned, unless some kind of reliable repayment vehicle is in place. Whoever is advising on the sale (bank or intermediary) has to ensure the borrower is fully able to repay the debt over the term of the mortgage.

chillidoggy

One piece of advice I would offer is that if the building society or mortgage company suggests that you have reducing-term life insurance that pays for the mortgage if either you or Mrs Drew kicks the bucket, then refuse it. It's better value to get pure life insurance, but just make sure the amount covers what's left on the mortgage.

frankus

Stop paying people to scratch your balls, cut your nails and do it yourself..

chillidoggy

I'd have given you a wisdom, of you hadn't included the bit about cutting your nails.

frankus

you seen the length of his nails? noone needs a stab in the nuts - especially when he sold the nail brush to raise funds.

dchwhite

monquixote said:

...Stop buying food and drink out (especially lunch at work it's a killer)...

Lots of good advice above, especially monquixote's list. I remember ten years ago, I was working in London and commuting in from here, and one of my colleagues complained about being perpetually skint, so we had a look at a few things. She had a baked potato for lunch every day, from some place on the Aldwych - £3.50 a day IIRC, so £17.50 pw or £70 every four weeks (as I'm not clever enough to do it monthly).

I think it stuck in the mind because at the time you could buy twenty-five kilos of King Teddies up here for a fiver I'm only boring you with it as I suppose it struck me then that you didn't have to make huge changes in order to make a fair bit of difference to your outgoings.

thomasross20

Thing is you DO need to shake it up at lunch sometimes or you get very bored....

capo4th

Just end it all what's the point.....

underdog

Honestly, if you are that close to not being able to afford it, just don't do it. No four walls and a roof are worth spending every day making sacrifices just to end up unhappy. Interest rates will rise in the next couple of years and it will mean paying a lot more.

WezV

holnrew said:

Get shopping delivered so you're not tempted by offers. 

This worked great for me.  We went with Ocado. Quality was great and I got to add  nice treats each week, but it still came out a lot less than a trip to Morrisons whilst hungry!

Sadly it didn't make much sense to keep doing it when my wife was off on maternity leave, and we have got sucked back into the weekly shopping trip.... but I make sure to go after dinner these days.

I would say just be realistic about what you can afford to pay.  I moved earlier this year and we set our budget based on what we wanted to pay each month.  But we also considered how much that amount would increase if interest rates do go up to make sure we didn't end up in shit.     

Handsome_Chris

A tip I got when I joined the the rail industry is that if you have to travel anywhere by rail, book as early as possible.

With a Network Rail card (£30 a year, and mine's paid for itself already because I hate driving) I can get from Salisbury to Margate and back for less than £50.

Handsome_Chris

Thank you for the LOL, but I can't imagine what's funny about train travel!

holnrew

Handsome_Chris said:

Thank you for the LOL, but I can't imagine what's funny about train travel!

I was laughing at the going to Margate.

Panama_Jack666

Take up a heavy drug habit.