General Saving Money thread

F

FairyLights

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 August 2010
Messages
4,070
Location
UK
Visit site
Could we have a thread about how to save money? not just on horsey stuff but everyday? If we make changes to our lifestyles it could make the difference between being able to keep a horse or not,especially for people with job loss or reduction in salary.
I'll start off with Food --I bake bread and cakes and make Home made soup and always take sandwiches or soup for lunches out,eg for DH at work.
Loo roll,use it instead of tissues for blowing your nose,its cheaper.
 
Go to the supermarket at night and pick up as much reduced food as possible and fill up your freezer. Take sandwiches and a flask to shows, saves spending a fortune on burgers and junk food and probably healthier, depending on your choice of filling and what else you have sneaked into your cool bag of course.

I also take shredded paper back for the stables. Invested in rubber matting so the paper should make the mats pay for themselves in no time at all. Have also bought Elim-in-net haynets to try to make hay go further.

Grow your own fruit and veg.

The cost of living has risen so much lately and my wages have not had an inflationery uplift. I think it's the fuel costs that are crippling me at the moment.
 
Having just handed my notice in at work, I need all the help I can get! Here's what I/we as a family do already:
*Grow own fruit and veg
*Take packed lunches and flasks everywhere
*multi-buy things like fizzy drinks/loo roll/tea/coffee etc etc
*Use own brand sanitary towels/nappies etc as poultices and wound dressings
*Buying good quality clothes is actually a saving, as they last longer than cheap, inferior quality goods.
*weigh your haynets, often horses dont need as much as you think, but dont skimp, thats false economy
*Vaseline, baby oil, veg oil and liquid parafin are all winter essentials to help prevent mud related problems, and therrefore vet bills
*Empty your car! I have all manner of crap in my car, a weekly/fortnightly clearout will save fuel, as you wont be trecking stuff you dont need around.
*dont make un-nessesary or unimportant journeys, and try to amalgamate errands to cut down on fuel.

Cant think of anything else at the moment!
 
I am good at this, we have had to tighten our belts as we have a baby on the way!

Make your own jam. I bought a bag of jam sugar for £1 and picked a load of wild damsons, and made a years supply of jam. It also makes good Christmas presents.
Making chutney is really easy too, much cheaper than buying it.
DO lots of homebaking.
Make your own beer - my OH got a brewing kit 3 xmases ago and has kept himself is constant supply ever since. An £8 kit makes 40 pints, he says.
Making wine is pretty easy too.
Grow your veg and herbs. Herbs look after themselves, really.
Ditto buying good quality clothes, but never pay full price.
Catch your own fish if you can.
Only buy what you need at the supermarket, not loads of rubbish you just fancy at the time. And shop at LIDL.
Sell things on ebay.
Drink water.
Have a toaster at work - then you can eat toast for lunch if you don't have time to make sandwiches.
Buy big bottles of good toiletries - they last forever.
 
Yes! Shop at LIDL.
Don't shop when you are hungry.
Plan your menu for the week so you buy what you need.
Make bigger batches of stew,then either freeze or add a few mushrooms and wrap in pastry(home-made) for the next day.
Cook big minced beef sauce with added grated carrot to get lasagne-chilli con carne-cottage pie out of one pack of minced beef.
Use economy bulbs.
Switch lights off.
Unplug all but essenial appliances when you are not using them.
Drive slower:(
Wear more layers of clothes.
Share bath water(or bath if its big enough and you know each other well;))
If you are able to be restrained buy wine by the box,its cheaper and you don't get that.......'Oh,I might as well finish the bottle cos its not going to keep.':)
 
I avoid supermarkets big ones as I end up spending more(indeed dont go near any shops)

So once a month on pay day I fill my freezer up with Meat from my butcher (I even got a cheap chest freezer to fill it up)
I make double amounts ie chilli/lasagne/steak and kidney pies. Freeze what we dont eat.
Make cakes(I have chickens and it saves on chocolate)
Buy veg and always have a huge sack potatoes in garage in winter(I just bought my first bag as the weather is cold keep them in the dark and they will last up to christmas..we are family of 4).
Frozen veg.
Big bag basmati rice/value natural yoghurt for curries etc etc
Vegetable lasagne(thats cheap) Value cheap chop tomatoes./value lasagne
I do like nice food and will buy nice things than lots of rubbish where we had waste.

Loo rolls buy bulk offers. When kids were small i did have a breadmaker with timer for saturday morning fresh loaf ready

I have a nice dishwasher££ and use cheapo dishwasher tablets value ones and they are fine no problem....

Some friends of mine were once so stone broke they lived on jacket potatoes and a filling for months to save mortgage money.....in our younger days when we had silly mortgages.
 
Do lots of cooking at home and freeze it!
Make your own bread, it's easy and you can make lots and freeze that too
Buy good quality clothes and stuff for your horses as it will last longer
Go to tack sales for horsey stuff as you can get good bargains
Try to walk more to save petrol
Buy things on ebay as you can get most things quite cheap

Will try and think of some more :)
 
*Cheap supermarket duvets works nicely as stable rugs under other rugs -secure with a surcingle.
* I feed some vegetable oil to my older horses to help keep condition on.
* Reproofed my rugs with tent reproofer (so far so good) purchased from big camping store. Cheaper than having it done, but do take care as it is harsh when you breath it in!:eek:
* Ditto on paper from the office thing: shredded paper cannot be recycled anyway, so this way it goes onto the muckheap and then back on veg plot.
* If a rug is really ruined, cut off fastenings, leg straps and keep some of the fabric as you can use these to fix another rug.
* Shop online. Saves petrol and you tend to stick to your list.
* Soda crystals added to wash softens water.
* no-name brand cleaning products or food basics (like chopped toms/kidney beans) does the same job as more expensive products.
* Cut up old t-shirts/socks and use as rags for cleaning/dusting. They last much longer than the ones from the supermarket.
* Big plastic water/soda bottles cut in half make cheap cloches to protect tender plants from frost.
* Enter give-away competitions online. Its free, takes 5 min to do and you never know what you might get!
* Say NO every so often!
* Buckets from DIY shops are cheaper than buckets from and equestrian shop.
* The horse's carrots are cheaper than the supermarkets and is just as good.

That's all I can think of right now!:)
 
Hmm, well I have recently (as in on Thurs) decided to try Asda's own energy drink as opposed to buying red bull. I am no convinced though but I'll try!

I but 3 for £10 wines from asda (ok, that's not the type of savings you mean is it! Lol)

I don't smoke, never have (don't understand how people afford it), I am also vegetarian which to be honest I bet saves a fair bit of money on food bills. I don't buy food I don't need either really (am trying to diet so try and avoid treats).

I don't actually do a lot to save money other than putting some of my salary away in an ISA and a savings account each month. I dont buy daft things for me or my horses that I don't need. The best way I found to get a better income though was to move jobs! I was in the same job for 7 years, it was a professional job but my pay and pay increases each eyar were *****e basically, I got a new job last year and within 18 mths have progressed to management level which has meant a substantial pay increase. I am actually still quite stunned at how my income has changed within 18mths.

I am still careful (or try to be) with my money as I am aware also that being in this position also means I am at more chace of being made redudant as well should things change.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top