Changes you've made during these tight financial times

[*EB*]

I love a frugal thread!!!

Things i do now - i drive at about 60mph on the motorway - i used to get about 290 miles out of a tank cos i would be speeding along, now i get about 360! so an extra couple of days motoring to and from work.

Where i can, i shop online and keep to a 'loose' budget. We also have cut down on takeouts from Pizza hut/dominos and have the local pizza people instead!

I have my hair coloured and then get it dried, but not cut and blow dry finished - saves me £30 when i do this. I call it my wash and go!

I also sign up to Groupon!

I make my own lunch everyday, and also as much as possible, make my fiances too.

We did try non brand diet coke, but had to swap back! lol!

I am ebay addcit. Got a dress today £2.88 - Vera Moda. Lovely! I am selling on there too. Fabulous site!

x

 

[jaylou]

Ah EB, I've slowed down too! Except I drive at 70 and not 78!!!
I don't go over the limit anywhere else but I used to on the motorway, it was always a case of go with the flow. Not now, they go past me!!

 

[*Emsie*]

Does it really make that much difference driving slower then? I might have to make hubby drive slowly to the peak district tomorrow for our groupon bargain overnight hotel stay with evening meal, bubbly and brekkie and use of facilities all included!

 

[*EB*]

Does it really make that much difference driving slower then? I might have to make hubby drive slowly to the peak district tomorrow for our groupon bargain overnight hotel stay with evening meal, bubbly and brekkie and use of facilities all included!

Yeah - my miles to the gallon increases loads if i drive slower.......also having the climate control on all the time (i now have the window open if i can, or have it on econ mode)

Try it and see.....! it doesnt make a huge difference, but with the price of fuel its something i am actually more aware of now.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

My heating goes off on April 1st and goes back on November 1st. No exceptions. If it is cold, too bad. That's what jumpers and fleeces are for. I do have an electric blanket, but the running costs for that are very low.

I don't use my immersion heater at all. I have an electric shower and limit showers to 3 minutes at most. If I want hot water for anything else, like washing up, I boil a kettle.

Apart from food and essentials, I don't go shopping. No "popping" into Boots or M&S to see what they have. If I do have to go into town for anything, I go straight to the shop I need and come straight home. And I never eat or have coffee when I am out shopping, I wait till I get home.

Books come from the library, and I read the Times and Country Life and the local papers there too. The only newspapers I buy are the ones which have the prize crosswords in at the weekend (so far I have won twice). DVDs and CDs are also available from the library.

Clothes from ebay and charity shops. Good quality clothes only - nothing that was cheap to start with. That way they last longer.

If I have a recipe which requires a carrot then I buy just one carrot. A bag of carrots might look cheaper but not if I end up throwing the rest away. If I fancy a jacket potato, then I buy one large potato.

I live on my own, so I can just please myself, so I know most of you won't find these things relevant to you.

 

[kingleds]

My heating goes off on April 1st and goes back on November 1st. No exceptions. If it is cold, too bad. That's what jumpers and fleeces are for. I do have an electric blanket, but the running costs for that are very low.

I don't use my immersion heater at all. I have an electric shower and limit showers to 3 minutes at most. If I want hot water for anything else, like washing up, I boil a kettle.

Apart from food and essentials, I don't go shopping. No "popping" into Boots or M&S to see what they have. If I do have to go into town for anything, I go straight to the shop I need and come straight home. And I never eat or have coffee when I am out shopping, I wait till I get home.

Books come from the library, and I read the Times and Country Life and the local papers there too. The only newspapers I buy are the ones which have the prize crosswords in at the weekend (so far I have won twice). DVDs and CDs are also available from the library.

Clothes from ebay and charity shops. Good quality clothes only - nothing that was cheap to start with. That way they last longer.

If I have a recipe which requires a carrot then I buy just one carrot. A bag of carrots might look cheaper but not if I end up throwing the rest away. If I fancy a jacket potato, then I buy one large potato.

I live on my own, so I can just please myself, so I know most of you won't find these things relevant to you.

I actually think a few thngs you've said are v relevant! Especially about only buying what you need - i actually think a large part if my difficulties over the years is the availability of BOGOF offers, and thr fsct that a large box/bag/jar of something seems to be better value - in fact its not unless you are a family of 4 - which i am not.

 

[Shrimpy]

My heating goes off on April 1st and goes back on November 1st. No exceptions. If it is cold, too bad. That's what jumpers and fleeces are for. I do have an electric blanket, but the running costs for that are very low.

I don't use my immersion heater at all. I have an electric shower and limit showers to 3 minutes at most. If I want hot water for anything else, like washing up, I boil a kettle.

I agree with the heating off, mine is off and has been since it was warm enough for my toms to go outside. I am also growing some of my own veggies and fruit - so far this year have had 800g of raspberries (there's more on the canes and some green tomatoes slowly ripening).

Though, THREE MINUTES? How can you shower in that time? Even if I do a super fast shower- just the basics (hair washed, face washed, body scrubbed)- it takes me 5-6mins. Most of my showers are 20mins or so (gotta shave) though. I feel bad! Though kettle boiling isn't that cheap.

I do however, boil ONLY the water I need - measure out my water first.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

I can shower and wash my hair in three minutes - no problem. (My hair is very short, though.)

And boiling a kettle once a day for the washing up is a lot cheaper than heating a whole immersion heater.

 

[Shrimpy]

I'm impressed Anna. I am going to try it tomorrow, see if I can get showered in 3mins!

 

[*EB*]

We bought a tefal one cup that only boils enough water for ----one cup!! And at the touch of a button! It is awesome! Save the planet x

 

[Lexie_dog]

I usually buy/have always bought my clothes second hand anyway so no real change there then.

I've started using a website called "resourceful cook" for cheap meals and I can usually get a whole weeks dinners for us both for about £25.

We like to eat out but I try to make sure this is a £10 meal deal or similar via websites BEFORE we arrive.

I only get my hair coloured/cut and blow dry if it's a special offer OR via Groupon or similar. I like to go to the local beauty college - cut and colour for £10!

I make sure to shop around for my insurance case in point our contents insurance was over £200 with More Than last year, Marks and Spencer did us a whole year cover with contents of £75K plus freezer insurance etc for £57 for the YEAR.

I switched electric/gas from Scot power who were wanting about £100 a month despite us being in credit and refusing to refund, to EDF energy and I now pay £42 a month for leccy and £10 a month for gas. I'm in a combined total of £15 credit now after 45 months but that suits me fine.

We do have 2 cars, but we take my Aygo which does much better MPG and only costs £20 a year to tax.

I rarely throw any food away, I usually have leftovers for lunch the next day.

I always try the own brands first/smart price brands where it's possible eg beans, chopped tomatoes but I ALWAYS work out anything I'm buying price per 100g! Some sneaky surprised in there like usually it's cheaper to buy loose fruit and veg? Looking at offers in Asda etc it's cheaper to buy say the 2 for £4 punnets of packaged grapes than the loose ones!

I have no compunction about buying yellow sticker stuff and sticking it in the freezer.

But out of them all the Resourceful cook website is great and easily adaptable for SW! You can toggle the meal plans by price, and for 1-4 people. Meal plans for two - The Resourceful Cook, and it draws up an EXACT shopping list for what you need and interacts with Asda/Tesco so you can print it off.

Roast chicken, it it's just me and hubs, I split the chicken in half down the middle and lay it out flat so it looks like a face hugger from Alien and then roast it. Full roast chicken in about 20 - 25 minutes. much quicker than doing it the 'whole' way if you're not bothered about the fact its been 'run over'

Keep an eye out for any vouchers or offers. I have my mobile phone from Tesco, and get more clubcard points that way than anything else really.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

I'm impressed Anna. I am going to try it tomorrow, see if I can get showered in 3mins!

I mentioned this yesterday to a friend and she refused to believe me, so I took the kitchen timer into the bathroom with me this morning!

From the time I turned the water on, to the time I turned it off, 2 minutes 54 seconds. I had a shower and washed my hair (with a combined shampoo/conditioner - it would take a bit longer with the separate conditioner I use once a week).

And I didn't rush just to prove a point!!

My friend takes 20 minutes just to have a shower - I can be showered, hair washed and dried, dressed, mascara on, and out of the house in that time.

 

[*EB*]

I mentioned this yesterday to a friend and she refused to believe me, so I took the kitchen timer into the bathroom with me this morning!

From the time I turned the water on, to the time I turned it off, 2 minutes 54 seconds. I had a shower and washed my hair (with a combined shampoo/conditioner - it would take a bit longer with the separate conditioner I use once a week).

And I didn't rush just to prove a point!!

My friend takes 20 minutes just to have a shower - I can be showered, hair washed and dried, dressed, mascara on, and out of the house in that time.

I dont take long showers, but not from a frugal point of view, just how it goes.

If i am washing my hair, i do take longer....! but yesterday i had 3 showers!!!!! so perhaps its a good job i am not in there for ages!!

Do you think the way you are charged for water would affect your shower time?

I mean - i am billed for my water, so if i use one gallon or on thousand gallons, i pay the same fixed price. If you are on a meter does this make a difference to shower times?

x

 

[kingleds]

It definitely makes a difference if you are metered. Though to be fair we aren't frugal with water and our water bill is about £200 a year for a 1 bed flat with 2 grown ups. I can cope with that to be honest, and would rather cut other areas first, like the electricity bill before not having a shower each day, or not doing washing etc. I am a bit of clean freak when it comes to clothes and won't wear them twice before washing them (even if I've only had them on an hour), including jeans, which the other half thinks is very weird.

Another change I have made is going back to my old student budgeting days. So I have a spreadsheet that lists all my outgoings and incomings. It totals up the difference and then split that amount out by the number of weeks before the next pay day. I then know how much money I have each week. I put that amount in my purse and when its gone, its gone.

 

[Circes]

Ahhh but remember youre going to save a fortune in books now youve got a Kindle

I'm not convinced this is true. From what I've seen most books (other than out of copyright classics) cost more for the kindle, they are subject to VAT which paperbacks are not, and you have no resale value either.

Now I really like my Kindle but it's not going to save me money on the books that I read.

 

[jaylou]

On the subject of water - I am on a meter and I don't "ration" my shower time. For me, a shower is a way to unwind at the end of the day so I am usually in 15 mins. It's not a power shower though, I'd never have one of those, we also never have a bath in our house. I also am very strict in turning the tap off whilst cleaning teeth and we have water butts and rarely use the hose.
However, the washer and dishwasher are on every day - we pay approx £300 a year for water/sewage charges, we'd pay far far more if we were billed.

It's worth investigating a meter for those who aren't on one, you normally get a period whereby you can switch back to billed if it's not saving you money. My thoughts on it were I didn't want to make too many changes by going onto a meter and I didn't want it to affect my quality of life (I've heard of people not flushing the loo...) and we are most definitely in credit with metering vs billing.

One more - have any of you registered with quidco? Worth a look, you can get a lot of cashback, especially with insurance/utilities.

 

[*Emsie*]

We went out for a meal tonight to local Harvester and the main meals and drinks came to about £40...not bad for 5 of us all eating big meals. The kids wanted puds but then we realised that that would cost another 12 pound so we decided to go to supermarket on the way back and get puds. We got 3 different cakes that did 4 puds tonight and will do tomorrows puds as well, 2 boxes of herbal teas, milk, 4 beers for hubby and a dvd for about £17! Worth having puds in for when get back from meals out depending on the occasion/situation of course!
Suited me as well as I didn't want to sit there salivating and feeling sorry for myself while they ate the puds!