Eileen's Frugal February

[grandmaeileen]

We started a frugal type of quest a few months ago by doing what Martin Lewis suggested on his money saver site.

We sat down and listed all of the direct debits and looked at what income is coming in and how we could change things.

We switched bank accounts - found one that offers £100 to change to them, they also do a credit card that pays £5 a month for spending so much and we use this for our "main shop". It stops us from going into the overdraft and paying bank charges as we clear card amount every month.

We changed companies as when house and car insurance came up for renewal, yet again we found one that offered cash back.

We always make a shopping list, it's on fridge door and as we use something and it needs replacing, it goes on list and we're pretty good at keeping to it.

We opened the fire in the back room which is next to the kitchen, and we have an open fire now which is lovely and our gas bill has more than halved! The oven is on a lot as we like to cook and Keith makes our bread, the rads in the other rooms are turned off or way down.

Get used to clearing the freezer occasionally, and using up left overs.

We're saving quite a bit per month now and as I don't work and Keith is on a pension, every penny counts, the other thing we use is cash back sites such as Quidco and Top Cash back, which are a good source of extra cash.

We have sold on Ebay but not very often, good luck peeps with your frugal ideas x

[LittleBrownFrog]

good luck Eileen

[morbidia]

Your plan sounds good, Good luck

[Americanlady]

Hi Eileen. I have "filched" one of your ideas to use myself. I too will put a shopping list on the front of the fridge to jot down what I really need. Good idea!!

[Linda Pattison]

I find shopping lists are vital, esp when various places are offering good deals- we keep track, but avoid travelling to eveery place, we choose the one that suits our needs that week. And not going so often forces us to use up food to avois waste.

[morbidia]

My daughter had stuck a peice of paper to the fridge when I got home the other day so we can note down things as they run out,I always make a shopping list but I quite often forget what has actually run out simply because its not there for me to see, so this should make me more organised

[manda]

I have a "master shopping list" I made up on excel (Yes I know I need to get out more!!!..hey I work nights!!). It sits on the wall of the pantry and if anyone uses anything they tick it or they write it on the side....it's not fool proof but it does help and when I'm going shopping I can quickly flick around and check things so I don't forget them.

(This is 2 shopping lists on one piece of paper)
The other thing I do is it is in the order of the shop..and if they change the order of things I change the list so I don't get distracted.