Saving money on a day to day basis

[MrsFabuloso]

Great thread! I will be watching with interest how to save a few $$ here too! Here are some things I am trying to do...

Remember to turn appliances and things off at the wall or even better, unplug it when not in use.
Don't leave things on like fans/tv/radio ect if you're not in the room
Eat less meat (if you eat meat, it's less expensive and good for the environment!)
Meal plan and write shopping lists and stick to them (we soooo need to do this!)
Don't shop mid week unless you HAVE to, you will usually end up with stuff you don't need, I always do!
Walk where ever you can or use public transport if possible

I will keep on thinking....

[MummaSue]

Thanks Lilias!

I'm pretty good with the meal planning thing - mainly because I love going through my cookbooks to see what delights I can cook for us this week

xxx

[Mum2SweetCs]

This year we need to save as much as possible too:

* well firstly, im going to use up everything in my pantry and fridge and not stock up on "just incase stuff"
I waste so much food it is shameful =(

* unsubscribe to all my online shopping newsletters - I am an online shopping addict

* buy only good quality clothing and not because clothing is cheap and i wont wear

* try to clean out my cupboard and sell whatever i dont need or give to st vinnies

* bake my own bread

[Mum2SweetCs]

oh one tip, my friend always cuts out vouchers and coupons and leaves it in her bag.

[Gigi]

oh one tip, my friend always cuts out vouchers and coupons and leaves it in her bag.

what vouchers and coupons? every time i read about shopping coupons, it's usually a US frugal tips site. So are you talking about shopping coupons in AUST?

[emc2]

what vouchers and coupons? every time i read about shopping coupons, it's usually a US frugal tips site. So are you talking about shopping coupons in AUST?

There are websites like Hot Dockets (Shop a Docket) so you can print off the voucher. Then there's the Entertainment book. Then there's the odd voucher that might come with your junk mail.

[~Trish~]

My DH and I have lived frugally for years so we can save for things and we have decided to save up for something quite big over the next 18 months and are trying to find more ways to cut down. It's hard because we've covered most things already LOL!

Things that save us money:

* We have a VOIP home phone instead of a normal landline. Last month's phone bill was $8
* We have solar panels on our roof (we were lucky and got them during the government rebate scheme). Our last power bill was $40 .
* We have a rainwater tank and DH plumbed it to our toilets so when we flush we are using rainwater, not freshwater. It's amazing how much water you use when flushing. It's great when we get our water bill .
* We have the cheapest mobile phone plans going around. Unfortunately you can't get that deal anymore (we've had our plans for 10 years and my last mobile bill was $6).
* We meal plan each week and shop at Aldi where we save heaps.
* I usually make double quantities of dinner so we can either eat it two nights in a row or freeze one so that when I can't be bothered cooking I can pull a frozen meal out rather than buying take away.
* We very rarely get take away.
* We have a veggie patch.
* I buy a lot of our kids clothing from Baby & Kids markets. I only choose things that are still in excellent/close to new condition and our kids end up wearing gorgeous designer clothing for a couple of dollars a piece . I also happily accept hand me downs!
* Most of our furniture is second-hand. We were finally going to upgrade to new this year until our new savings idea came up LOL! I don't mind living with what we have for a bit longer.

There's heaps more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. I'll have to check out those money saving forums!

[MummaSue]

* well firstly, im going to use up everything in my pantry and fridge and not stock up on "just incase stuff"
I waste so much food it is shameful =(

This is something else I'd thought of too. We have so many tins and stuff in the pantry, I've made my meal plans with this in mind - and that should save a few nights meals in our grocery shopping too for a month or so!

Awesome people, keep them coming!

[Laranna]

Turn off appliances at the wall. Turn off TV when not in the room, I don't have it on for background noise.
Have shorter showers (4 minutes).
Do my clothes washing in cold water. I do a hot wash with some towels once a week just to flush hot water through the machine.
Reduce my car trips. If I need to go to the shop to get more milk or to the library or playgroup, I will walk.
Make phone calls on my mobile because they are all covered under my cap plan.
Do my grocery shopping online because I can see the totals and I can take things off if I need to. It also prevents me from impulse buying and from buying junk food.
Meal plan, eat less red meat and use common ingredients in the weeks meals.

[~clover~]

Op shop is my biggest money saver.
Clothes, toys, furniture. I love op shopping
Something I do, that really adds up is put all spare change in a jar & all extra $$ in the bank into savings. You know how there'll be $36 or something? Well I'll put the $6 out of each account onto savings every week/pay. It adds up to $20 - $30 a week sometimes

[emc2]

I am a fan of op shops too, but it is something you need to set aside time to do..sometimes some items are becoming more expensive at the oppy. But at Xmas I found a large framed map of "the British Isles", for $10, and I gave that to my parents for Xmas. Also the Salvos have regular discounts, like half price on their clothing, but items tagged with a certain colour price tag.

[Kazbah]

Use your leftovers!!!! Or cook just a little extra to have for lunches the next day. And put the leftovers away as you serve up, this will stop your DH or kids going back for seconds (which is what my DH does).

Look at the daily recommended serving sizes and follow them - 90g of meat is more than enough for most people a day.

Start a veggie patch - even if you're just using styrofoam boxes, you can plant lettuce, capsicum, eggplant, tomatoes etc. Plus getting kids involved in veggie plants gets them eating veggies

Buy only what's in season in the fruit/veg shop. This will get you fresher produce and saves money.

Put your credit card in a block of ice.