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Money Saving 2014 Part 1 – The stock take

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It’s not a resolution as such but every year I make the effort to save money. This year I need to be even thriftier than usual as for a good chunk of it I will be on maternity leave and earning a lot less.

As always I will be sharing my tips with you.

The first thing I recommend that you all do is take stock. Literally. I did this last year and it really worked so well for us. I emptied my food cupboards, gave them a good clean and repacked them but whilst doing so I kept a tally in my notebook of exactly what was in there. You could keep your results in your notebook or stick in sheets inside your cupboard doors. This year I have my new pantry so I MUST be more organised. I have no more excuses,

For example:

3 X cartons of passata
2 X tins of chickpeas
3 X pasta twists

Etc etc

You can them amend whenever you use something so you know when to replenish.

I then did the same with both my fridge and freezer. When I had finished I sat down and meal planned for the following month. I was pretty amazed at the time to realise I had enough food in my house to feed us for 20 days with just a minimal fresh food spend of £20 per week for the remainder of the month. Crazy huh?

From then I did a big shop (approx £90-100) at the beginning of each month followed by weekly fresh food only shops of £20. I saved lots of money and I found that by meal planning we were all eating better meals and wasting less. I hate waste. When I got pregnant and had really bad morning sickness it all went a bit wrong and I stopped most of my frugal ways but I am determined to do better this year.

I am going to use my slow cooker more to free up my afternoons and evenings but also so I can use cheaper cuts of meat along with the mountains of chickpeas and butter beans I seem to have accumulated.

Tomorrow I will write up the results of this years stock take and the meals I plan from it as well as my new weekly shopping budget.

I will continue to share my money saving ideas and any tips you have are gratefully received.

Join me. Save some pennies.

30 Ways to save £1 ..or more.

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For the 30th anniversary of the £1 coin MoneySupermarket have asked bloggers to come up with 30 ways to save a pound (or more). One lucky blogger will win £1000. Below is my entry. For more details visit MoneySupermarket

1. Meal Plan : I cannot tell you enough how much this has saved me over the past year. Plan your shopping exactly around your meals. It halved my shopping bills.

2. Buy own brands – for example the Sainsburys basic range is just as good as any of the more well known. I use chopped tomatoes and Passata at least twice a week – using the basics range for just these items saves me approx £2.00 per week.

3.Use chicken thighs instead of breasts in curries/casseroles. Not only are they tastier but they are approximately half the price. A saving of £2/3 on each meal.

4. Don’t forget to take your own bags! Plastic shopping bags in Wales cost 6p per bag. If you use 6 per week that’s a minimum of £18 per year.

5. Use comparison sites – we saved £120 on our car insurance and £50 on our home insurance by using various sites.

6. Look for voucher codes before going on holidays/ for family days out or for meals – I estimate this saves us about £250 a year.

7.Bulk buy at baby events – nappies and wet wipes in particular are far cheaper when bought in large boxes.

8.Use sites such as eBay,gumtree and similar when making a purchase. We bought a Mamas & Papas changing unit for £70 on Gumtree in impeccable condition. In store we would have paid £600.

9. Cook in bulk and freeze : not only do you save on energy costs but you have a handy meal for those nights when you just can’t be bothered.

10. Make your own – be it takeaway style food, birthday cakes or just plain old bread. It can save you lots and taste far better.

11. Change or at least threaten to cancel Internet/TV providers at the end of your contract. You will normally get a far better deal as a new customer elsewhere and if not your current provider will usually slash your current rate by £10 or more.

12. Go veggie occasionally – we have vegetarian weeks every now and again and it saves us quite a lot as good meat is expensive.

13. Buy lentils, rice and pasta in large bags a saves a lot and they are always handy for cheap, filling meals.

14. Grow your own – herbs especially basil can be expensive when bought fresh from your local supermarket but most grow very well on your kitchen windowsill and the seeds are normally far less than the price of one packet of fresh herbs.

15. Use free trials for film rentals, if you work your way around them all you could get approx 6 months free use. Don’t forget to cancel before the 30 days are up.

16. Use your local library. Free books!

17. Loyalty cards – nectar cards and Tesco clubcards in particular can make you money and cost you nothing at all.

18. Share bath water- Izzy always bathes with either her dad or me.

19. Companies often give you money off for paperless billing and its far less clutter!

20. Turn it off – before you go to bed make sure you turn off all your appliances.

21. Walk instead of using public transport or car whenever possible. Keeps you fit too 🙂

22. Take a packed lunch – to work or on trips with family.

23. Watch exercise programmes such as 30 day shred on YouTube instead of buying. After all it may not be for you.

24. Save money on gym membership by cycling, walking and enjoying the countryside.

25. Know where the reduced to clear sections are. We regularly buy close to end of date items and freeze them for later use.

26. Look for free eye tests – at present Tesco offer free tests,

27. Shop around for bank accounts. Some accounts pay you a monthly amount if you put in a minimum of say £1500 each month.

28.Try to use cash instead of your card, it’s far too easy to overspend when using plastic.

29. Take turns with friends coming over for dinner and you going to theirs.. Or each make different courses.

30. Use the money supermarket website and read the forum posts for news of flash sales or supermarket price glitches.

How to spend less – part 4. Cheat.

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By cheat I don’t mean steal. I mean there are many easy ways you can legitimately spend less on items you want/need. I’ll explain about a few of the ways we save money everyday:

1. Supermarket reward points – take advantage of these. There is no point in shopping in Tescos or Sainburys without signing up for a clubcard/nectar card. You get points without doing anything other than swiping your card at the till. With a nectar card you can even collect points via eBay, homebase and about a hundred other online stores. You can spend Nectar points in a lot of places such as Argos, Vue, Bella Italia or even easyjet so your points could be paying towards your next holiday. I’m not as clued up on clubcard points as some people but we do collect them and use them normally when we need to make a big purchase.

2. Price guarantee – both Asda and Sainsburys do a price guarantee. Asda give you a code on your receipt for you to check online, if there is a price difference you get a voucher off your next shop. Sainsburys simple give you a coupon at the till if you could have saved elsewhere. Bargain.

3. Find the secret spots. All stores have them and if you are thorough in your first few shops at your local supermarket you will find them. Always remember to check. I’m not talking about the short date reduced to clear sections although these are also great. Let me explain in our local Asda ( I’m not telling you which one) there is a section where there are always reduced goods normally with between 6months to a year left on the use by date. I was told that these products are usually end of line goods or simply a change of packaging by the manufacturer means they will no longer be able to sell it. I cannot tell you how many bargains I have found in this section. I have had boxes of Hershey’s cocoa powder ( amazing in cupcakes/ chocolate icing or just hot cocoa) for around 50p (rrp £3) jars of Gefen BBQ sauce for the same price (rrp £2.50) stir fry sauces for 10p etc. There are often ciders/wines etc too. These sections are never displayed prominently not do they have big yellow stickers but they are always there. Look.

4. Use your apps.

Voucher cloud – if you are out shopping or looking for somewhere to have lunch you will more than likely find a suitable voucher on this app. Just recently we had £10 off a meal for two in Chiquitos. You simply click on the voucher and show the code. It uses your location details to find the best local deals so make sure you have location services turned on.

Groupon – ok this is maybe not one for every day use but definitely worth checking out. We have purchased driving lessons, solar lights and meals using this app and all have saved us at least 50% off the actual price.

Priority moments – this is specific to O2 but its a huge selling point if you are looking to change networks. There are discounts and freebies listed every day on this app, ranging from a free coffee or chocolate orange to free cinema tickets as well as hugely discounted public transport ( £1 for an all day ticket in my area as opposed to £4.20) The freebies can be slightly random – a large bag of free Halloween Haribo sweets from Accesorize?! But heck it’s free. In December alone I used my app to get reduced entrance (45% off) at Odeon, at least 3 all day tickets with Firstbus, a free Chocolate Orange, 20% off at Debenhams and probably more. There was an advent calendar leading up to Christmas with something different every day. I really hope this is here to stay.

If you know of any more money saving apps please let me know.

5. If you aren’t fussy about having something second hand ( depending on what the item is of course and sometimes they are in fact new) it’s always worth checking eBay or your local Gumtree. We bought a gorgeous mamas & papas changing unit before Izzy was born which would have cost over £600 brand new for just £70 and it was in impeccable condition. We would have never have paid £600 for one. Ebay can be fun too just make sure you don’t get too carried away with the bargains you can find on there. We recently bought a Tommee Tippee sensor monitor which if new would have cost around £90 and we had it for just £20 in great condition. If using eBay always make sure you use PayPal for added protection, we found the customer service to be great when having a dispute over another monitor we purchased which was quickly resolved.

6.Money Saving Expert- If you aren’t already signed up to the mailing list of this pretty marvellous website then do it. You only get one email per week and its normally full of great bargains. There are a lot of great sections on the MSE website but my favourite part is the Forum. I don’t tend to post on it ( rather unfair of me) but I check the Grabbit forum most days and there are superb bargains to be had. Again the key is to not buy things you don’t actually need as this defeats the object. About 6/7 months ago there was a thread/discussion on the forum about a major clear out one big supermarket was having, it seemed they were clearing a lot of their lines of stock but not showing the reductions very clearly. Some of the regular posters had meticulously listed every reduced item in store which helped the rest of us thrifty ones massively. I went shopping with my sister and between us we found most of the items and they were huge bargains such as bottles of olive oil for 40p or bags of dried garlic & basil linguine for 20p etc. I have only just run out of oil and pasta after all this time and probably only about £10 spent. It’s worth checking the forum when you get a spare few minutes.

7. Discount/Promo codes – everytime you go to purchase something online firstly run a google search to see if there is a code. Simply type in Topshop (for example) discount code and more often than not you will get something, be it free delivery or 10% off. Be wary of the ones that are £5 off if you spend £50 etc.. If you were only planning to spend £20 this is not really money saving.

8. Avoid travel agents – sorry if you are a travel agent but it is so overpriced. I am at my worst for bargain hunting when it comes to holidays. My holidays are precious to me as I’m sure they are to everyone so I want them to be the absolute best I can get for the money I spend. I have used various websites over the years but most recently I have found that LowCost holidays tend to come out on top – plus there is always a discount code to be found meaning bigger savings. Always trip advisor your hotel before you book as the most expensive ones are not always the best rated.
I also use Homelidays for searching for house/villa rentals.Airport car parking can be super expensive but a quick search online will find you some great alternatives normally within a few minute drive and they will drop you off and pick up at the airport. If going from Bristol airport I recommend Goblin Combe Farm.

A gorgeous house we stayed at in France 2012:

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9. Change your tv/broadband provider every time the contract expires. I always do this and it means I get the newest, up to date equipment and normally a voucher for M&S or similar for signing up. Also if your provider increases their charges mid contract you are normally able to cancel without any termination fee. Check your terms and conditions for more details.

10. BzzAgent – there are probably more than a few different types of review services out there but I am a bzzagent. You don’t have to write about it on your blog or write sponsored posts, it’s a simple procedure where you complete surveys occasionally ( very short and not very often) to determine what kind of consumer you are and then you will be invited to join campaigns. So far I have had free products from Tesco bakery, Toni & Guy and Dove colour radiance and all they ask if you for to create Bzz by talking to friends/family about the products, normally you have money off vouchers to share with them too. I have enjoyed being a part of it this year and it costs nothing to sign up so worth considering.

You probably think I’m a lot more frugal than I actuallynam but I really do like to get something for less. Don’t we all?

I would really love to hear about your money saving tips? Perhaps comment and I will share them in a future post.

Eating On A Smaller Budget

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Now that I am into my last 5 months of my year long maternity leave my pay has drastically reduced (aaargghhh) which means no (well less) luxuries and trying to keep to a shopping budget. I really love cooking so having less or cheaper ingredients to work with is not going to stop me. Here are a few tips on what to buy and eat on a smaller budget:

1. Firstly I changed the way I shop. Rather than buying everything at my local Asda or Sainsburys store I looked around and found the best places to buy certain products. I now try to buy all my fruit and vegetables in Lidl – there is a lot of snobbery about places like Lidl but I have found their produce to be better than any of the three major supermarkets. I buy most of my tinned/packaged goods at Asda and I try to buy my meat in Sainsburys as the quality there is the best and they do the same 3for £10 deal as their competitors. Sainsburys is no longer the expensive supermarket in my opinion,in fact they have fantastic offers and I get nectar points so it’s all good!
I also buy frozen vegetables from my local farmfoods store as well as my milk as they are the only shop in my area which sells 1%milk which is so much tastier than skimmed but healthier than semi. Finally I buy my herbs, peppercorns etc from a fruit&veg shop in my local market as she has the greatest variety for a very good price.

2. I buy a LOT more beans ( not baked) Mainly butter beans and chick peas which are so versatile and tasty. I will share some of these recipes further along.

3. I buy a lot of items on offer and freeze them.

4. I try to meal plan as much as possible. When I started doing this I didn’t like the idea of having to eat a certain meal on certain days so now I choose 7 or 8 meals and write them on my white board on my fridge then just pick which one I feel like.

5. I bake less. I love it so much 🙁 but I still do it around once a week so it’s not so bad.
Also helping my waistline I think.

6. I buy large packs of pasta, rice and lentils. They seem to last forever and the cost per meal is very low.

7. I make my own dips and sauces. I make my own hummus, sweet chilli sauce and various others. Buying a big pot of hellmans light mayo and making my own thousand island, curried mayo etc saves me a fortune and is extremely simple- also mayo lasts around a month refrigerated whereas the shelf life of a shop bought dip is 3-5 days.

8. I buy good quality ingredients to accompany cheaper ingredients. So buying cheap pasta is fine but some products well you need to spend a little more. I buy extra special Chorizo which costs more than others but it’s fantastic and I use it down to the last tiny piece as it is so versatile. This month I have used it in paella,frittata,carbonara and @mycuntrymanor special eggs to name just a few. I also buy a decent olive oil as it makes a big difference.

9. I replace chicken breasts with thighs for as many dishes as possible. I buy the skinless, boneless ones and they still work out cheaper. Thighs are tastier and freeze well.

10. Try not to shop when hungry. I am automatically driven to the confectionary/bakery aisles if I’m hungry so I avoid if possible.

11. I don’t waste as much. Love your leftovers is the slogan for one of Sainsburys campaigns. Leftover cooked potatoes go in my frittata as do peppers, any veggies or meats. Bolognese sauce goes in the freezer to make up lasagnes or a pasta bake. Chicken left from a roast can make a curry or a simple sandwich. Stale bread gets thrown in the food processor and mixed with garlic powder to freeze ready for homemade coated chicken or for recipe below.

Butter bean recipes:

Creamy butter beans with a crispy topping

You will need:

1 small saucepan & 1 baking dish or a cazuela to use both on hob and in grill.
2 x 400g cans butter beans , drained and rinsed
100g light soft cheese (garlic and herb one if possible, if not add garlic&herbs of choice)
2 tbsp snipped chives
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp olive oil

Heat the butter beans in a small pan for 3-4 mins. Remove a quarter of them to a bowl and mash with a fork until smooth and creamy. Stir back into the rest of the beans in the pan with the soft cheese and chives, then heat for a few mins more until warmed through.
Transfer to a small baking dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Drizzle over oil and flash under a hot grill for 1-2 mins until the crumbs are crunchy and golden.

Griddled butter beans (side dish)

You will need:

1 griddle pan or cazuela
1 tin of butter beans (usually 400g) drained
1 tbls Olive oil
2 Garlic cloves or equivalent purée/paste

Bring pan with olive oil slowly up to a medium heat and add garlic stirring ensuring it does not burn, add butter beans and cook until lightly bronzed.

* This is a simple dish but you can add many things to make it a bit more special. I’ve added asparagus, bacon and peppers previously and all worked well.

Jamie Olivers butter beans with Bacon ( from 30 minute meals)

You will need:

1 griddle pan or cazuela
50g Bacon ( sometimes I use chorizo)
2 tomatoes
1 x 400g tin of butter beans and liquid
olive oil
Splash of red wine vinegar
2 or 3 sprigs of fresh basil, leaves picked

Heat your pan over a medium to high heat and fry the bacon in olive oil.
Chop your tomatoes roughly into cubes.
Once the bacon has started to brown you can add the tomatoes to the pan, followed by the butter beans including the liquid from the tin.
Let the mixture simmer on the same medium to high heat until all the liquid has dissolved and the tomatoes have broken down, stirring it from time to time so it doesn’t stick to your pan.
Chop up your basil and add to the butter beans once the liquid has dissolved. Add a bit of olive oil, about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and season.

*This is so good. So so good.

Hope you enjoy, please share your tips/recipes.

Griddled butter beans with asparagus, served with sweet potato mash and fish cakes.

eating on a smaller budget