I say deliver me from Swedish furniture [purplerabbits]

Money saving tips by popular demand (well, two people asked)

Give up smoking. If you can't do that start rolling your own.
Find out what demographic you're in and look for ways that people are trying to sell you things. Then resist them. For instance, I could be said to be an Urban Sophisticate (pdf, sorry) but having read the marketeers description, I feel less than ever inclined to spend much on lattes, and I am seriously rethinking how my self-image fits in with how much I'm spending on my phone.
Bring lunch to work. Seriously. If you can't stand sandwiches, make soup or bring leftover cooking to heat up or even buy a tub of hummous and a pepper to dip in it at the supermarket. Seriously I reckon this is saving me £50 a month
Cut right back on fizzy drinks, sweets, chocolates and crisps - they all work out incredibly expensive
Look out for items that cost about £3-5 (ymmv according to income, work out where your danger area is) Things like lattes and taxis, magazines and lipsticks. Do you actually want them, and why does the price seem reasonable?
Try going a day or two without any cash - then try a day or two a week (this works best if you have a travel card, otherwise allow yourself the bus fare)
Do something active to make cheap social events happen - like inviting people to your house to watch DVDs.
Sort out clothes that you like that need mending, dying etc and do them before buying more
Use loyalty cards, and when the points add up treat them as real money, not as a gift
Look at what you buy and don't use - gym fees, food that's wasted, higher phone charges than you need - especially if it also feeds into your self image (healthy food doesn't work unless you eat it)

Does anyone have any more?

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Those are really good tips, thanks! Not buying lunch every day does make a huge difference.

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Really good tips!
I find writing down what I spend means I'm less likely to buy stuff.

Work out when your local shops take money off things. For instance the Safeway half way up Gilmerton Road used to reduce meat and fish to ridiculously low prices (e.g. 80p for 6 salmon fillets) at about 9 on Friday. Go then. This only works if you have a freezer.

Also, if you haven't discovered Lidl for cheap stuff, go and do so (with the caveat that it's obviously not happy meat :) )

I'd add cook up larger batches of food, say curry (can anyone tell that's 70% of our diet?) especially when ingredients are cheap in bulk or on offer, freeze portions in metal foil boxes, or whatever with name/date/type on it. We reckon we get 5 portions out of a 4-fillet packet of chicken and one jar of curry sauce.

If you do like fizzy drinks or stuff, try buying in bulk from somewhere like Netto/Aldi etc. I don't normally drink them, but have some for emergency caffeine at college. Our netto sells pepsi cans 330ml at 25p/can or 5 cans for £1. I buy in batches of 10 or so.

I inherit a large number of my clothes, useful for me cos I'm short and often get people's shrunken stuff which fits me perfectly. I also try and pass on clothes that I don't wear to other people who might like them, charity shops or textile recycling.

Libraries, I've gotten out of the habit of going to a library instead of a book shop but it can save you so much money especially if you're a "read it once never again" type person.

I've recently discovered

bentolunch, and I'm finding that I'm far more motivated to make myself that style of packed lunch than the conventional sandwich-and-an-apple type. Anything to make it seem fun rather than a chore!

Oooh, looks interesting. I'm going to have to work out lunches when I start work in 6 weeks, it's the only way I can afford to eat at all as I suspect the in-house restaurant is less than cheap!

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give yourself an allowance. I've found myself being really conscious of money when I'm only "allowed" to spend a certain amount a week, and if I go over, i'm outta luck for the next week. I've been trying to do it as cash-only, which also helps.

purplerabbits

I say deliver me from Swedish furniture

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August