money saving ideas!

Hi all! I thought seeing as most of us are in the same position ie broke! I was wondering if anyone has any great tips for cutting living costs? A lot of people have lost a significant amount of income and it can be quite tough to make ends meet! So how about sharing some of those great ideas that i'm sure everyone has?

Hi Kelba,
If you can, try to do your shopping fortnightly and buy in bulk. It is cheaper this way. I used to spend about $150 - $200 per week on groceries, meat and fresh fruit and vegies. By buying non perishables in bulk, and just getting my fruit and vegies each week, I now spend around $200-$250 per fortnight. A saving of $100 - $150 per fortnight.
Also, try to put at least $5.00 a week, into a container to save for xmas. $5.00 a week for 52 weeks, will give you an extra $260 for xmas. You can also buy Chrisco or Castle hampers throughout the year, then at xmas time, you don't have to worry about buying food, and you will have more for presents.
Instead of buying those expensive cleaners for you floors, try using 10 litres of plain hot tap water, and 1/2 cup of bleach. This will clean any stains, while also killing any germs. You can even add 1/4 cup of disinfectant if you like. The cheaper homebrands are just as good as the more dearer ones, when it comes to your floors.
If you go out to a theme park or zoo etc, and you have more than 1 paying child, look at the family passes first. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a family pass, rather then 2 adults and a child.
Hope these help you all save some money. We could all use a few extra dollars!!
Tracey

Money-- Dont you just love it! unfotunetly I dont have enough either.

When I was pregnant I would buy something extra every week and buy up on specials. My daughter is now 14mths and I have only just started to buy washing detergent and Nappy san.

I bought everything that can be stored like toilet paper,soaps,shampoo-conditioner and all that sort of thing. I didn't miss the money at the time as I was still working but its been great on keeping the shopping bill down now.

Never spend your coins. That's the only way I save. I put all my coins in a tin. Also, take all your cash out at the atm at once so you can see how much you have and don't whittle it all away in eftpos.

When I'm shopping I read labels and see how much I'm getting for my money and make sure I get quality as well as quantity, and I also make most of my own baby food.

It's hard. I'm a single working mother and I hit the wire every week and I waste nothing! I'm sure money just doesn't go as far as it used to!

hi the moderators might not like this tip! cut your baby wipes in half the are still big anough to do the job esp on tiny bottoms

hi vwk,
having twins i've heard that one before & think it's a great idea i just keep forgeting to do it.

here are some of my tips:

we buy cold power in bulk from kmart $40 for 15kg works out at about $2.70 per kg & cuddly concentrate is about $3 cheaper than the bottle.

i've just started buying ground rice instead of rice cereal it's $1 with alot more in the box but it needs to be cooked for about 5 mins but i steam, process & freeze the veges once a week anyway so now i will be mixing it with the veges before they get frozen.

in the shower instead of using an expensive spray to keep it clean i use a mix of water & metho to spray on & dry it as it is just a drying agent in the expensive ones.

& everything in our house gets sprayed with pineOclean antibacterial orange spray every morning when i change the sheets i spray the babies matresses & the change table after every change, the toilets, bathroom basin, kitchen sink, benches & table. this might sound more like an expense but nobody has been even slighty sick since we started doing this so we save on medicine & doctors fees.

& for everything else i use hurricane bathroom gel, it cleans the spots on the carpet even tomato sauce & i use it on the walls & cupboard doors.

well this is just a few of my saving places if only i could get one for my banking fees i seem to be paying $25 - $30 every month in fees, so annoying.

good luck saving

Tracey - I like your idea about shopping every fortnight but how do you start? I mean it would be a huuuuuge shopping bill the first shop wouldn't it? Should you work up to it? Like start buying 1 or 2 things bulk for a while then work up...or just out and do that first big shop and it will all work out?

Hi everyone

I have an ebook (you need adobe acrobat to open it) but its really great and has tons of idea you can print out and read whenever.

Post your email address for me if you are interested and I'll forward you on a copy.

Love Steph

Hi All, I also shop fortnightly. I write a fortnight menu so I know exactly what we're going to eat for the fortnight and only buy the ingredients for that. It saves alot of money because we only buy what we need. Also, when someone finishes something in our house we write it on a list on the fridge for the next shop. So when we're doing our fortnightly shop we know exactly what we've run out of and buy it - instead of wondering whether we need something and buy it anyway and then getting home and finding we've already got some.

Hi Steph, would love to have a look at your ebook. Could you email me a copy to kim.uka@bigpond.com

thanks heaps

Kim

love to see the ebook

kodeybear@hotmail.com

I would like that ebook too thanks mate!!!

email address is - desiree@kooee.com.au