Living a joyful & happy life on a LOT less!
New people have been finding this blog (hello new people!) and have begun asking questions about how I live frugally! I thought the easiest way to do this was to put everything in one place! This will be a series of posts all designed to help you, my dear readers save money by sharing how I’ve saved money!
General Tips
- I have an allocated jar for Groceries, Car Costs, Giving (this does not include charity), Clothing (although haven’t used this in almost a year!!) & Entertainment – the allocated amount goes in the jar each week and that is the ONLY money I have to spend on those items!
- Left over money at the end of the week is re-allocated, if I have £4 left in the grocery jar I may put it into hospitality if I know I have a dinner party coming up or I may keep it in the Grocery fund knowing I will need to stock up on some bigger items
- The best way to not spend is get rid of temptation - don’t go to the shops. Period.
Groceries/The Weekly Shop
- First I shop in my cupboards, building a list of what I have and what can be made with it!
- Next I build a flexible list – salad, 4 veg, 4 fruits – I buy what is on sale/reasonable and plan my meals around it. For example this week I purchased spinach & radishes for my salad (both on sale), my 4 veg were carrots (a great staple item and cheap!), avocado, courgettes/zucchini and broccoli, my fruit was apples, kiwi, strawberries & grapes – all on sale.
- I menu plan for the week, based on what was on sale & my cupboard stock.
- I only take my weekly allocated money with me, there is no option of going over!
- I save what I underspend by (for example if my budget is £20.00 and I spend £18.75, the £1.25 goes into a new jar ready for when I’m entertaining or want to stock up on sale items).
- I do not stick with the same brands.
- I watch my portion sizes
- I make soups each and every week, making enough to freeze for quick meals as needed (so I don’t eat out) and give to those in need.
- I have 3-4 vegetarian days a week
- I learned how to use lentils, chickpeas & beans!
- I try to shop at farmers markets, fruit & veg stalls and co-ops as much as possible.
For more tips, or to virtually come shopping with me and see how I slashed my grocery bill by 75% please see here
Entertainment
- I allot a certain amount to entertainment a week and do NOT allow myself to go over unless I have leftover spends. For example if my allocation is £15 a week and I only spend £10, I may save the additional £5 for weeks I know I have other commitments
- I ask for vouchers to my favourite restaurants or coffee shops for Christmas & Birthdays.
- I encourage friends to do things like go for walks when we get together. This can be hard – many in my generation don’t like walking, but with some gentle encouragement I often accomplish it!
- I check books out of the library about my local city & county, this means I get to know what is happening around my area free or cheap!
- I carefully consider what local attractions may be wise to join or become a member of. Here in the UK the National Trust is an option or your local Zoo. Again, carefully consider whether this is the right choice for yourself or your family I found when I lived in Surrey that a membership to Wisley Gardens saved me a lot of money as it was often an attraction friends & visitors wanted to frequent!
- I work hard to build up left over money in my entertainment budget – I then buy vouchers with the leftover money, these can be used as gifts for people and/or used when I have company! This was very handy when I had a friend stay for 2 weeks in the Autumn.
- I subscribe to my favourite coffee shop or restaurant newsletters, they often send printable vouchers out several times a year which I can use, often saving me as much as 50% off my meal.
- I look for deals in my local paper, in the summer for instance the local paper, which costs 30 pence has 2 for 1 meal deals at Wagamama. A meal that would normally cost me £7.00 now costs £3.50, well worth the 30 pence paper!
- I invite friends over for dinner and will suggest coffee/tea at each others houses rather than paying £2 or £3 for cofffee out. This doesn’t mean I don’t go out for coffee but I try to mix it up to save money.
- I have made my life more home centered, this means I’m not out with friends all weekend, I try to make sure I have an evening at home each weekend and at least 1/2 – a full day. Being more home centred is a great way to save money!
- I ensure I don’t plan more than 1 activity per weekend which costs money – if I’m meeting a friend for dinner one night and another friend wants to get together then we need to find something free or very low cost (for example I can use a coffee voucher etc).
Hospitality and Gift Giving – It can be exceptionally expensive trying to be hospitable towards others and provide meals, dinner invitations etc, this is how I’ve slashed the cost:
- When I make soup, I always think of someone or a family that might be in need or might need to feel like someone is special, I then try to deliver 2-4 portions with some bread or scones and perhaps a little note of encouragement. This is such a frugal way to let someone know you care!
- When someone has had a baby or is ill I will look at my menu plan for the week and look at what I can make that would give me two portions and then provide a meal for their family – soups, sheppards pie, lasagna are all great options. This is a really quick way of providing while still meeting my needs for a meal and living within my budget.
- I currently don’t have the funds to buy a breadmaker, a friend who I’ve been helping out loans me hers. I make several types of breads which I can bring for those in need, or use when I have people pop in for coffee/tea.
- I buy gifts ahead of time – making a list of those I need to buy for in the year and purchasing items in the after Christmas sales. For example in early Spring Accessorise often has lovely hats and scarves that were £16-£20 marked down to £4 or £5. I will then think about who those gifts would be appropriate for and buy 3 or 4!
- I stick to a budget of no more than £7 per gift for friends, cousins etc. Most gifts I buy are usually worth much more!
- I learned how to make really really good truffles – these make wonderful gifts in little bags for people!
- I offer a skill or talent as a gift – for example for a close friend I gave her coupons for 1 free days baby-sitting 1 day each weekend for a year! That was far more appreciated then a CD or book!
- I make presents – I’m not the craftiest person but I’m learning and will show some examples in an upcoming post!
- I purchase light presents like necklaces etc for things that need to be sent overseas – this saves me a fortune on postage!
- I try to find unique, handmade items where possible, which are often very reasonable!
Next time I’ll share my tips for Utilities, Vacations/Holidays and Car costs!
Updates on food for today will be done in tomorrows post!
How about you, what do you do to save money on food, entertainment & hospitality?
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Wonderful tips! Thanks for sharing!
Some really good ideas.
Have you considered joining freecycle? Someone may be getting rid of one that may just be right for.
Lisa
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Lots of great ideas FT!
The forums on Moneysavingexpert.com have lots of great ideas, including a section with lots of vouchers/offers for 2 for 1 deals.
Lots of great ideas FT!
The forums on Moneysavingexpert.com have lots of great ideas, including a section with lots of vouchers/offers for 2 for 1 deals.
BTW I love your blog!
Hi hun, you made some awesome suggestions here! What great resources you are creating. I save money on food (and time) by cooking ahead and making a heap of serves and freezing them to take for my work lunches and dinners later in the week – freezing them in meal sized portions, which also helps me work out the calories for each meal! I make alot of things I can freeze so there is little waste. With entertainment I try to look for 2 for one deals like you, and often check out websites for where I want to go and see if they have online specials or coupons or discounts. I also join mailing lists for things I’m interested in and often get vouchers via e-mail
How’s the itching going? x
Hello hon, great post.
On gift giving, don’t forget one of my all-time favourite cheap gift sources: the charity shop/flea market. I can’t recommend it enough – especially all my friends (thankfully) seem to love the shabby chic thing. I got my friend a full set of art deco crockery for about £10 the other day. Wrapped up nicely it looks beautiful (and expensive!). Individually plates/bowls etc are about 50p, so you could make up a very cute mis-matched set for nearly nothing.
On the grocery shopping, I always remember to use my loyalty cards (especially for the supermarket or somewhere like Boots). If I’m doing online shopping I go through sites like RPoints which actually give you cashback for your every day shopping. Well worth investigating.
Finally, what I’ve started doing on the entertainment side is going for the Orange 241 deal at the cinema (admittedly you need to be an Orange customer to do that, or at least know someone who’s an Orange customer and you can use their money off code). Instead of £7 to see a film, it’s £3.50. I’ll also make my own popcorn beforehand and take it in a tupperware so that instead of paying about £4 for a bucket of popcorn (which isn’t that healthy anyway) I’ll have only spent pence on a decent portion…!
Hope the allergy is getting better! xx
Hi, I too am a huge fan of MONEYSAVINGEXPERT. I love the challenge of living frugally and saving money. A couple of years ago, we looked at our finances and decided that we needed to slash spending. I agree that the best way to save is not to go anywhere near a shop. We slashed our “entertainment” budget to zero- and we have 2 teenage kids. Using the freebie forum on moneysavingexpert, we are able to get cinema tickets each week (sometimes twice a week) for all of us – and we get to see the films before they are out in the cinema. We get free meals (when new restaurants have training days etc) or we convert Tesco vouchers. We have been to Alton Towers, Legoland, Thorpe Park Spa, Car racing weekends at Donnington Park and Silverstone and Goodwood all for free. Ive also had lots of free haircuts and beauty treatments. Theres lots and lots more – its totally unbelievable what you can get when you start looking. I do all my pressie shopping in the sales. Boots 75% sale after Christmas is a biggy for me. I buy nearly all my Christmas presents for the following year, as many birthday, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Easter gifts etc as I can here. This means that if I normally spend £10 on someone, it will only cost me £2.50. I also make as many as I can too. My best friend and I decided a few years ago that we would have a £5 rule for Christmas. Using the freebie forums, I managed to get her a beautiful weekend suitcase, bathrobe, slippers and towel (all Nescafe pickme ups – I dont drink that much coffee, I nabbed the tokens from the jars at work) A huge bagful of cometics and beauty treatments – mostly samples, but once you get on some of the mailing lists, they start sending you normal sized products. For example Pantene sent me 5 differnt haircare products to trial and feedback on. One of the best freebies I had was a blind testing of face cream for “Phsycologies” magazine. The cream they sent me to test was called “Korner” and at that time only available in New York – at £175 per pot!!!! I have loads of top tips which I will pass on, but for me, I get the same “buzz” from spending little or nothing on something as my shopaholic friend gets from blowing a fortune, so I think its all about the attitude. Becoming frugal has broadend our horizons and enabled us to do do far more than we used to do when we just threw money away. I’m a big fan of frugal living.
Aha! Now I understand the JAR METHOD. Thanks for sharing. its a great idea. I think I might try it. I will let you know how it goes!
I love the idea of making soup or scones as gifts to show you care. SO lovely. I get a kick out of wrapping things really well. Makes gifts pretty too.
Hi, I came over from Chiot’s Run and I’m glad I did! Great tips – I do most of what you suggest. I’m very home centered and have always been.
Manuela
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When I was a kid it was possible to buy small metal savings boxes with compartments for various expenses like rent, electricity, food etc. You can probably still find them on eBay!
Believe it or not, your jar system is something that has been done for hundreds of years, if not longer, by people who always had to be careful about money. Jugs on the dresser were used in Wales!
It is difficult for young people these days to imaging times before cheque books, credit cards and easy money. Many of us over 50′s are well used to the type of budgeting young people are now having to establish.
If you really want to know about budgeting, there is a superb book called ROUND ABOUT A POUND A WEEK – between 1909-13, the Fabian Womens Group carried out a survey of the spending/survival of 30 families from Lambeth, London. This book has been reprinted by Virago, so there are usually cheqp copies via Amazon or Abebooks. I promise that anyone who reads it will never feel short of money again!
“The best way to not spend is get rid of temptation – don’t go to the shops. Period.”
This is so true! You save so much if you never place yourself in money splurging situations. I shop “off-season” as well and will often buy gifts months in advance when the perfect gift/price collide.
I have a credit card that gives 5% back at grocery stores in the form of gift cards. I cash out my rewards in November to use a holiday gifts.
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