Cutting costs - where do you even start?

[charlesr]

The same works for dieting by the way (so I've read) - if you have to write down everything you put into your mouth in a little diary before you actually eat it, you become very aware.

[SuperDanX]

Very true, you can edit the hell out of your basket before paying so you tend to buy a lot fewerer uneeded items. If I'm in a supermarket I end up grabbing all kinds of crap I had no intention of buying before I went in.

=figflair;1905906]One thing I've discovered recently, which I never would have thought would be a money saver is having groceries delivered.
You pay the same as you would in the shops
You can browse through all the deals which you might forget to do in store or don't have time for or the kids are distracting you.
There are loads of deals for first time online customers at all the supermarkets (plus more savings if you go through Qudco etc.) plus you can reuse them by simply changing your email address. I bought ?50 worth of food recently at Tesco for only ?25 using a combination of codes and did it twice in a week with a different email address.
Most delivery charges are just a couple of quid if you pick the cheapest delivery times eg. 10-11pm on a Friday and that can offset the cost of petrol or public transport for a big weekly shop.
Plus it get's delivered to your door! The guy from Tesco last week even brought it into my kitchen and helped me put it all away. Now that's customer service! (or maybe he was just a weirdo? )

[djjimbob]

The luxuries are easy to cut out, just go through your bank statements and eliminate the obvious.

Doing regular readings of gas and leccy and toning down usage of both. Turn plugs OFF - never mind leaving Sky box and routers on all day long!!!

Cycle the short trips.

Sell all your old crap. Buy games a few months after release and 'invest' in a decent MAME / emu collection.

Re: Food - JazzFunk has the right idea. Use the cheap shops, especially PoundLand - it's awesome. I was in there the other day and they had Chopped Tomatoes - 4 cans for a quid. Compare that to the ludicrous fake offers in Tesco et al ... ?5 for 4 cans BOGOF. That's still nowhere near as cheap.

Good luck.

[Dogg Thang]

Thanks again, guys. Yeah the food thing really is something we need to go through in detail. I remember what it was like to be poor from some parts of my childhood and I know that our stuffed full fridge doesn't match that picture!

[koopatroopa90]

I bought ?50 worth of food recently at Tesco for only ?25 using a combination of codes and did it twice in a week with a different email address.

We did this, although couldn't get a delivery in time for the ?5 of fruit and veg for free, so just used the ?15 code and hopefully will get the ?5 cashback from TCB. Actually thats quite a good tip if it hasn't already been mentioned - buy everything you can through a cashback site, I've earned ?700 or so over a couple of years that way. Anyway, Tesco man just arrived and I'm mega impressed. We don't drive and could never have carried all this stuff home yet here it is, delivered at a nominal charge by a very chirpy/friendly old geezer and I now have full cupboards without ever having left my flat.

[Plough Boy]

Doing regular readings of gas and leccy and toning down usage of both. Turn plugs OFF - never mind leaving Sky box and routers on all day long!!!

I really need to do this. I honestly think it would have quite a bit impact on my bills. I'm an absolute sod for leaving computers, laptops and TVs on standby. The wife is terrible for leaving lights on all over the house too. Sometimes it's like Blackpool illuminations at our house. Since this thread started I've been making a concerted effort to go round checking things are turned off. If I can keep it up I'd be interested to see what impact it has.
I know Prinny does this out of sheer habit - and that's how I need to become. Too bloody lazy to just make the extra effort to get and do it which is just plain stupid. Must. Try. Harder.

[charlesr]

The amount of energy all your stuff uses on standby is tiny. If you turned it all off for a year, it would be the equivalent of one shower with one of those heat it real time power showers. Having one less shower a week would be far more beneficial.

Get an energy monitor (I have that one) to see how much difference all this stuff really makes. For example turning on and off energy efficient bulbs makes no difference, but turning on a kitchen full of downlights is an extra 2p an hour. Same with turning on the TV/amp/xbox. etc. Quite facinating. Sometimes I've noticed I've left the kitchen electric hob on by the fact that the energy monitor said the usage was high.

[DeathAdder]

I charge the mobile phone, PSP and 3DS up at my desk at work. Not sure how much difference it makes, as I pay a lump sum for all bills and food, but it may help.

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[DeathAdder]

No idea what has been deleted.

Does anyone have any suggestions for downloadable personal finance / budget tracking applications? Something like Microsoft Money, but preferably free to download?

[Escape-To-88]

I'm pretty sure GnuCash will do that for you :-)

[BeyondJumpFish]

Making your own meals cuts down cost. Make a big pasta dish and freeze half of it, or make soups.
I've got an excel spreadsheet with my income and out goings on it and it really helps to visualise whats going on. I find if its writen down, you can take it out of your mind. Plus you can experiment on what would save you cash, like taking away the Sky payments and seeing what it would save you ect...

[DeathAdder]

I'm pretty sure GnuCash will do that for you :-)

Thanks. Actually I got off my own lazy bum and found a good page with thumbnail reviews of quite a few apps.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-personal-finance-software.htm#Metalogic-Finance-Explorer

[elaniel]

Lately I've been noticing my Asda have some quite good stuff on the reduced section. Just last week I got 2 sundried tomato chicken breasts in a pack for ?1.50, also a pack of 4 lamb burgers for ?1. Just dumped them in the freezer until I want them.

Shopping online is also very good, you can keep a better tally on what you're spending rather than getting to the till and seeing the register go higher and higher. Plus, you can find prices easier for different types of the same item. IE: Asda were doing a small bottle of Heinz ketchup for ?1, but I almost walked by a small stand about 6 aisles down that was a bottle double the size for the same price.

I can easily get by on ?60ish a month for groceries. I do a proper shop every two weeks for about ?25-?30. Each week in-between I top up with vegetables, fruit, and milk for ?5 a week. I even still manage to get myself some nice luxuries.

If you know anyone with a Costco membership as well, they're brilliant for certain things. Two 4 pints of milk for only ?1.60, or two massive lettuces for ?1. If I go out for the day with friends or family, I usually time lunchtime with the trip to Costco as you can pay around ?5 for 4 peoples lunch.
Or if you want to have a treat and feel like a takeaway you can get an 18" takeaway pizza for ?7.

Granted, I live pretty comfortably, but I'd rather spend my money on other things than a huge shopping basket. My lodger never pays attention to what he puts in his cart and is all about the brand name products. He uses one of the smaller carts while I use a larger one and his will be well over double the cost of mine. I've found a lot of Asda brand products that are just as nice (if not better than the branded products).