Help need your money saving tips to help survive - you guessed it - the credit crunch (and can anyone think of another name for the credit crunch while we're at it?)

[JustineMumsnet]

All tips/ ideas very welcome folks - the Sunday Times interested...

[forevercleaning]

cut down on the sunday papers, read them on line instead?

[Gobbledigook]

Menu planning!
Walking rather than using the car wherever possible.
Setting a budget for extras and sticking to it.

And my favourite for this week in the gobbledi household - re-sole last winter's boots instead of buying a new pair My mother will Diiie when she hears I've done that!

[palaver]

FC

[Gobbledigook]

FC - hilarious! I get the Times online already!

[Gobbledigook]

Sell unwanted clothes, shoes, CDs on ebay

[forevercleaning]

yeah me too!

[JustineMumsnet]

I so knew that would be the first tip FC !

[Gobbledigook]

Switch energy providers
Shop on-line through cashback sites to raise extra cash

[DarrellRivers]

Basic food shop at Aldi/budget supermarkets
Take packed lunch/drinks on days out (food nicer anyway)
Don't have coffee out in Starbucks etc
Play at the park/go to the library rather than the soft play
Do your own beauty treatments, eyebrows, wax, hair colouring etc

[Boco]

Could we rename it Geoff?

I am obsessing about door curtains to save on gas bills - but that is because none of my doors fit properly so it's very cold in winter. New doors would be better, but not possible. You can get cheap rolls of fabric, I bought 2 rolls for £5 each, one to use as a thick lining.

[Gobbledigook]

'Don't have coffee out at Starbucks' - er, no, sorry, no can do (actually, I have cut this down a lot recently - I had a bit of a habit going for a while!)

[georgimama]

Another name for the credit crunch? How about calling a spade a spade - a recession?

If your DH (Like mine) dumps coins below 50ps in a pot on his bedside table, never to be picked up or used, take them to that coinstar machine in tesco once a month, and do a couple of day's shopping with them - £8 I took today!

[Gobbledigook]

We had been filling up a huge Bells whiskey jar a while ago - when we counted the money in it we had over £200!!!

[mrspink27]

Turn off lights when not in the room, turn off equipment on standby i.e. video/dvd players, mobile chargers, printer etc, turn heating down by 1 or notches, ditto hot water tank, dont use tumble drier, cook in batches to take advantage of offers in supermarket and making best use of oven heat.

[Twiglett]

ROFL at forevercleaning .. ver' good

[milge]

Use Tesco vouchers for days out, so you get something to look forward to, that is vaguely free. Take your own picnic to avoid rip off costs once there.

Also good for magazine subscriptions to use as gifts...

[Nagapie]

Utility companies - Sky, broadband, telephone - keep an eye open for deals and see if your current suppliers can match or beat the offers .... if you don't ask, you don't get...

[SaintGeorge]

Grocery shop online, stops temptation in the aisles.

Compare the prices first via mysupermarket, check for voucher codes for extra money off, then use a cashback site click through for the actual purchase. 3 lots of saving in one go.

Use click through sites for as many purchases as possible - they might pay pennies each but it all adds up.

If saving change, count it and bag it yourself. Why pay a machine 7% to do it for you?

[Twiglett]

Get intelliplugs for TV and Computer Systems: they automatically turn everything off rather than leaving them on standby.

Supermarket meats are often reduced when nearing sell-by dates. Stock up on slow-cook meats like braising and stewing steaks and mince and freeze them.

All the middle-classes are moving to Lidl ... you can't move your trolley for hitting a yummy at the moment. Parmigianno and Cornichons dahlinks (and their Prossecco is OK too).

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Belgian Dark Chocolate beats Green & Blacks, particularly for mousses and brownies. And it's 99p a bar.

(you did say The Sunday Times didn't you Justine)

Invest in some fleecey blankets and snuggle down in front of the TV, you don't need the heating on ... quite yet.

[Cappuccino]

Gobbledi you need a milk frother

and Starbucks coffee is bitter anyway

did you see that article about buying yourself a £200 Gaggia coffee machine to beat the credit crunch, there was a thread about it

and I can't believe that you have never resoled your boots! my god! I spend more at Timpsons than I spend in shoe shops!

[Cappuccino]

yes Twig fleece

from Ikea tho not White Company

and big fluffy socks from Matalan, who cares if your dh can't stand them

[Cappuccino]

I'm buying a roll of stuff to shove down the gaps in my floorboards

[nomoremagnolia]

By Gobbledigook on Wed 17-Sep-08 18:07:05
And my favourite for this week in the gobbledi household - re-sole last winter's boots instead of buying a new pair My mother will Diiie when she hears I've done that!

I heard on the radio that a busy cobbler is a sign of an imminent recession.

[DarrellRivers]

And remember don't get too obsessed re saving money
Sometimes it is easier to try and bring extra money into the monthly kitty rather than decreasing outgoings
Look at second jobs, selling old stuff you don't need, offering services to others.

[DarrellRivers]

No heating until Christmas Day (will be a nice treat then)
As children we never had heating, we all wore lots of jumpers