Credit Crunch - how are you saving money?

[carlseawolf]

birdie wife i can see where your coming from on telling your mother to save electricity because you pay the bill, but did your take any notice of your mother when you lived at home and she was paying the bill ? i know i didn't.

[Novice Gardener]

The other thing I did that has saved us a little bit was by accident really. We have the Cable TV/Broadband/Phone package from Virgin, but the other day a man came knocking on the door from sky, saying he could save us about £30 a month if we changed over to Sky and we'd get a Sky + box thrown in too. I signed up but he needed to come back to sort out an installation date, so in the meantime I got onto Virgin to give them notice that we wanted to terminate our contract, and they brought the price we're paying down from nearly £90 a month to £59, and on top of that they gave us a Virgin V+ box (same as Sky +) as well as installing two additional boxes upstairs so the kids can have sky in their rooms too!!! I was well chuffed, plus the kids think I'm the bees knees now

[Birdie Wife]

True enough! But she should know better... I think it's really down to the fact that we've been living apart for some years and both have our own 'ways'... I'm trying to be tolerant!

[kentvegplot]

I'm trying to persuade OH that we can have chooks, with the 'look at the price of eggs' argument......

Other than that, as much as possible GYO and a note to myself to not buy any more clothes, but learn to re-model/re-style things I already have

[Birdie Wife]

Sadly, keeping chooks does not usually work out cheaper than just buying eggs, even free range ones! They are good value in other ways though

I hate throwing things away, and my OH is even worse than me!

[kirsty b]

I make a Sunday Roastie Chuck last for several meals:
Sunday Roastie
Curry
Sarnies
Soup (usually x 4 dishes)

I have stopped buying magazines like my life depended on it - just gotta work on not buying books now.....

Piskie, as an avid reader, I get my books from the local charity shop. Never pay more than50p for one.

[Alison C]

I've stopped eating my lunch out, instead I eat pack lunches. I've not bought a single piece of clothing since last September. I've told my sister Im not giving her another penny (this has saved me a fortune but she hasnt really spoken to me since). I've not bought any new books for months and prettie much all round I only buy what I need and not what I want. Gosh its misrable being poor!

[Paul Wagland]

We have the most enormous car boot sales over this way every Saturday and Sunday. They're brilliant for clothes, tools, food, plants, furniture, books, cds, building materials... You could very easily not shop anywhere else.

Jeannine's wardrobe is packed with designer labels, worth £££s new, worn once or twice and then snapped up for a few pence on a Sunday morning. She gets right sniffy if they try and charge her more than a quid

[gemlady]

Trying to buy only what I know we will eat, making home made soups, and still trying unsuccessfully to make own bread. Have reduced the amount of fruit and veg bought from supermarket, and using local greengrocers which is generally cheaper.

[pipscariad]

One thing which we did, which might seem like a right pain (and sometimes it is!) is to start writing down everything we spend in a book - this includes papers, sweets, odd pints of milk. It does make you realise where you need to make cuts (it's sometimes surprising how much you can spend on bits here and there!), and you only need to do it for a little while, although we've carried it on for ages as we really find it really helps us budget. My sister and her family did it though and it made them go round the bend (eldest son said that having to write down the price of a deodorant was crazy, and I can see where he was coming from!), so it might not work for all.

We've cut back on just about everything - never go out for meals (food at home is better anyway on the whole, being veggies!), only buy the paper once a week, no holidays, but then hey, we live by the sea in Pembrokeshire (and we do stay with my sister in Harrogate a couple of times a year, where we get spoilt rotten!).

We enjoy life though! Smile often!

[BarleySugar]

We are down to 1 car instead of 2, it means I have to be dropped off first in the morning, and picked up last. Come Sept, when my son goes to uni, my daughter is starting at my school. Then we'll really save cos OH will have to be at home without car (he's retired) and I'll drive us both in and home, only 2X4 mile journeys. 8 miles a day instead of about 50 at the moment (2 trips each way)
I've sussed out how to cook a roast dinner for 4 (5 when oldest is home from uni) without using the main oven too. We do have a combination oven, so I use that and the steamer. I cook the meat in the oven first, then use the top shelf for roast veg (swede, carrots, parsnips, pots) and on the bottom fits a 6 pan yorkshire tray, with stuffing wrapped in baking parchment. I use the steamer for other veg (including new potatoes or old ones for mash), all put in the 3 different baskets. The only thing I use the main cooker for is doing the gravy! It has saved a good bit on the electric bill, because I think the main oven door fits poorly, and wastes a lot of heat. It is built in, so would cost a lot to get replaced.

[Two_Sheds]

I was browsing (just browsing!) on eBay this morning and managed to save:

• £100 on a Berghaus hiking jacket (slightly worn)
• £10 on some trousers (brand new)
• £2 on lipstick (new)
• £50+ on summer shoes (worn once)

OK, I spent £60, but I saved more than that so it doesn't count as spending, right?

[Two_Sheds]

I'll drive us both in and home, only ... 8 miles a day

in the summer you could cycle? 4 miles takes about 20 minutes. And you get a free suntan

[BarleySugar]

Since I broke my ankle 3 years ago (compound fracture, major op, and residual scarring)I've been left a bit disabled, and can't cycle any more. even walking is a bit much sometimes. I can just about manage a day in the classroom, but I'm always pleased to get home
Also, on a practical note, there's often too much to carry, with laptop and folders for marking.

[Catrina]

We started shopping at Aldi. Save loads of money. But we always buy good quality mince from the local butcher because made the mistake of buying some mince from Tesco which had been reduced. I always dryfry and this was really awful with loads of fat coming from the mince which is a waste of money. Hopefully this year we will have a good year with the lottie. I am also buying a new big freezer as our two small freezers are on their last legs and are running constantly. We could do with finding out where we could get a good supply of logs for our wood burning stove because we have just had to buy a load of coal as we have run out of logs and we only have a few more weeks and we will not run it anymore. Any ideas anyone.