Cost cutting tips?

[mouse4702]

Mine are:  buy a slow cooker; use a hot water bottle instead of the radiators; lug heavy shopping home in a trolley rather than getting a taxi.

Oh, and all 3 are redundant if you can achieve No 4: find a not-too-choosy millionaire.

[bitsnknots]

I like number 4 best Mouse especially with a millionaire with one foot in the grave.

Don't always buy things from £ shops are they are not always the cheapest.

[cookiecookuk]

quite agree books.people think just because they are in £1 shop they are cheap but in normal shops they maybe 85p 90p etc i have fell for this myself in the past..

[bitsnknots]

Quite agree Cookie.  The odd coppers soon mount up.  Off to watch the midwives now.

[ed_blackadder_1]

Great tips mouse. Wouldnt be without my slow cooker. Agree about the pound shops.

[stroppy*cow]

Find out what time your supermarket reduces food and time your shop to coincide with this.

Try cheaper alternatives to branded goods, you may be agreeable surprised.

Learn to make your own bread - much cheaper than buying it and no additives. Slice it and freeze it, then you just thaw the number of slices you need and you don't waste.

Never throw a chicken carcase out - use to make stock in the slow cooker, makes wonderful soup and can be frozen.

[mouse4702]

I've started making my own pies and quiches, and wouldn't buy a ready meal unless it was seriously cheap and something I can't do myself

[bitsnknots]

Our local M**rison's have some fruit and veg reduced for a quick sale.  They are still fresh and they are a lot cheaper.  When we went last week, we bought a bag of parsnips for 25p.  Own brands are cheaper.

[mouse4702]

Even our corner shops have promotions that are often cheaper than the supermarkets.

[captainbovine]

yes agree with slow cooker and the cheapest isn't always the best. Also I would say keep scarves for around your neck, if your neck is warm you are warm, and you can still walk around and do chores.

plan your meals too then you don't buy things you don't need.

[millielilac]

I love my slow cooker ...use it all the time .

I akso have a soup maker and make a lot of healthly soups ...they are cheap and delicious . A great way of using up veg too at the end of the week .

[2017clearout]

I keep my gas bill really low by very, very rarely turning the heating on (unless my parents are around, because they're elderly and poorly!) - when it's cold, I might be sitting on the sofa in a fleece, scarf and wooly hat, under a blanket: but I feel really self-indlugent to put the heating on for just me when I can wrap up instead.  I have a fleecy blanket on top of the duvet, wear a jumper over my pj s when it's cold, and use hot water bottles.  I also have my water heater on quite a low setting, as my tank's not big enough to have a bath anyway, and when it's chilly, you don't need the water too hot - it just means I don't need to add cold to make it cool enough to get under.

I'm not "tight" about anything else, and sometimes, I can see my own breath in the house - but I find it almost impossible to justify putting the heating on for myself: but then too, I'm not stuck in a chair, so I can move about, which helps, and I'm quite healthy and hearty.  Plus, I live in a mid-terrace, in a tiny house, and have triple glazing, which all helps.  And there is only me.  It means my gas and electric comes to about £15-25 per month (depending on where we are in the year) - which is about the lowest it's ever been.

That way, too, I feel less bad about thinkgs like having a coffee from the coffee shop, instead of going home for a drink (something my mum tells me off for) - plus, it's warm in the coffee shop 😉

Also - a very small tip: adding in a splsh of water to the washing up liquid - makes it last longer, and as I tend to use too much anyway, every little helps!

[ed_blackadder_1]

We pay 22 pounds a month for our gas and that is for heating, shower and hob. We have the heating on thermostat so if it goes below 15 degrees it comes in. The house is alwats warm. We had new double glazing 2 years ago and our bills are half what they were. Obviously an expensive way to save money but worth every pennie.

[bitsnknots]

We tend to have the heating on and off all day.  My mum's 82 with a heart condition and she feels the cold a lot.

[1311rose]

If you have space for a few garden pots - grow some veggies.  You don't need much room for things like runner beans, tomato plants etc

Slow cookers are great, especially if you are out all day.

If your supermarket has a loyalty card, sign up for it and use it.  I've got a Nectar card and at the weekend was given a Sains's price match voucher for over £3.

[merc1_clocks]

 Loving these tips 

[cookiecookuk]

i do use either mr.ts own brand stuff and a lot of there every day value items especially there fruit and veg very good value for money.also there points card soon adds up and there price promise vouchers every week.

[ilove2patch]

Shop in Aldi or Lidl.

[2017clearout]

Thought of something else - if I'm putting the oven on to bake/cook something, I try to make enough for more than one meal, or cook more than one portion, so I can just nuke the rest for another meal: I'm sure a couple of minutes in the oven is cheaper than 40 minutes in my **bleep** oven!  I have a teeny, tiny freezer, so not much option for cooking in bulk - but again, I try to do this where possible.

Also - frozen veg is often cheaper overall than fresh, and is frequently much fresher when it's frozen, so has more goodness/nutrients in: if you can get hold of frozen, especially cheaply, you can bulk out the goodness of the veggies you are eating without your shopping prices going through the roof.

[bitsnknots]

---

@ilove2patch wrote:

Shop in Aldi or Lidl.

---

Couldn't agree more Maggie.  We never shop at Mr T's as I think that even their own brands are dearer than Aldi and Lidl.  Don't like the staff in our Mr T's especially on customer service.