Trying to save money this year - any clever tips?

Don’t go shopping!
Except for food.
If I’m near a shop I don’t usually get home without buying something I ‘need’.

Mysupermarket.co.uk is a very handy site to compare prices of individual items in the major supermarkets. It’s really intended for doing an online shop, then allows you to see how much the total basket costs and you can choose to place the order with the cheapest.
However, if you just want to use it as a comparison site, you can skip registration (select ‘skip’ in the top righthand corner of the registration page) and use search for an item. Then click on the item and you’ll see the prices listed for a nominated supermarket, click one the item again for current prices in all the main supermarkets.

This is invaluable for searching out special offers.

Doh! ON the item, not ONE the item.

I use a Debenhams or M&S card to pay for all my shopping / holiday purchases, use the points I make for any clothes I want to buy and then save the amount of the vouchers.
Make sure you book the flights early as most airlines increase the price the closer to the date you book. I'm sure Moneysaving expert suggests 3 months ahead.Enjoy the wedding.

Congratulations @granoffour that's such good news

When I'm having a frugal month I tend to find batch cooking and freezing the food to have later is a good way to save money - and time

If you join Checkoutsmart, Shopmium and Topcashback/in store/groceries, all for free, then there are quite often freebie food items; every little counts.

Oh have a lovely time I was in your position this time last year and I was trying to save money too my daughter got married in Italy and it was lovely, just cut back where you can. Hope you have a wonderful time please read up on Italy there are some tips to be picked up on such as trains and ordering food some restaurants charge for fish by weight!! ????

Pop in yr bank ( or online) & systematically go through a list of all your standing orders & direct debits. Close down or cancel everything that is not essential e.g subscriptions, indulgences & haphazard stuff.

Shop around for better utility accounts & insurance policies. One useful tip I got from MSE was for online quotes for any insurance policies is to put the proposed start date some three weeks in advance of the day you are searching. Seems the algorithms produce a more favourable rate.

If you impulse shop online, good idea to put into the basket & leave for a few days. Also try putting the item (s) onto the ‘wish list’. This fulfils the compulsion to ‘get it now’ but avoids the near miss of putting it in the basket. It takes one click to pay for stuff in your basket but TWO clicks to go from wish list to basket to payment. A little bit harder to spend the money.

Take out cash once a week for essential food shopping, leave cards at home, & pay cash for ONLY what is on your shopping list.

Food shopping - plan meals a few days ahead; never food shop when hungry; always write up a list to food shop & get that in the basket first; set a time limit to get round the aisles; don’t browse. Don’t bulk buy unless you have room to store it. BOGOF is not your friend unless it is something you buy & use up regularly.

All this in coming months will amount to some savings AND a money savvy mindset - all the better to enjoy a lovely time in Italy.

Cook from scratch.
Look for the reduced section at your local supermarket. The best time for this is usually an hour before they close.
Freeze anything you don't use.
Grow your own vegetables. For e.g. even in a small space or a plastic trough you can grow cut and come again salad lettuce for the price of a packet of seeds, Much cheaper and healthier.
Don't buy expensive cleaning mateials. If you have a steam cleaner use that to clean the cooker hob. A microfibre cloth will clean paintwork and windows with plain water. Buff up windows with newspaper.
Walk rather than take the car if you can. This is better for the environment and your health.
Turn the central heating thermostat down and wear thicker layers of clothes. An electric blanket is cheaper to run so turn the ch off all night.
If you have a mobile phone put it on pay as you go sim only and only use it for emergencies. Let people ring you.
Avoid cake shops, cafes and other temptations.
Don't throw old clothes away. Cut them up and recycle them as dusters and cleaning cloths rather than using expensive paper disposables.
Only boil as much water in the kettle as you need.
Cook more vegetables together in one saucepan. If you have a steamer cook potatoes in the bottom and steam other vegetables on top. Then you only use one ring.
Try to cook your main meal and dessert in the oven at the same time by finding dishes with compatible heat requirements.

All of the above are very useful suggestions, the one I would recommend is getting rid of Sky. They are prone to putting your subscription up by just a couple of pounds at a time and then before you know where you are the price bears no resemblance to what you signed up for. We cancelled it. The first year we then got half price as an incentive to lure us to stay but I still cancelled a year later and bought a Freesat box. There is no monthly fee, and we bought the box for about the cost of 3-6 months Sky subs. Still have it four years later so a great amount of money saved there. I would also seriously consider not renewing your pet insurance as long as you would be able to pay should there be an emergency. We 'self insure' and have saved thousands over the years of pet ownership. When we have had a couple of hefty bills, we paid them and it was still far less than the annual insurance policy, especially when you take off all the exclusions. When you are in Italy, why not look at an AirBnB? Cheaper than a hotel, gives you the freedom to eat and drink what you like, when you like, and you can go out to eat in the evening where you wish.

Free pleasures:- walking, reading, listening to the radio and watching (good quality) TV, cooking & baking, using the library, making your household & garden chores your fitness regime (cancel gym fees), watch Freeview instead of subscription TV.

Cheap pleasures:- buying from charity shops instead of new, eBaying unwanted items, swapping instead of buying, putting unwanted items on Freecycle and contributing your own unwanted items to same, yellow sticker hunting for discounted food, downshifting brands you buy to save cash, haggling online for cheaper phone, TV, insurance and utility bills, share a Netflix and Amazon Prime account with someone else.

If you find you are saving - bu using Aldi, Topcashback, cheaper fuel, etc; find a bank to open a savings account like mine at Natwest - if I save at least £50 in a month, as well as adding monthly interest you get a bonus interest rate - quite a difference!
Also suggest you look around , de-clutter and sell any surplus items on ebay, someone always wants what you don't!

Read the small print.

For example: Sometimes special offers only apply if you order a minimum amount and you end up buying something just to hoik the order value over that amount. Cheaper not to buy it at all and to do without the special discount.

Try to have 15 days a month when you don’t spend (food excluded). Use cash for food buys and card for anything else so you can budget carefully. Cash definitely lakes you think more carefully about spending.
We are doing a yearly cash challenge this year. Get a box/container and on Jan 1st put a penny in, 2nd Jan two pence, right round the year until you are putting £3.65 in on the last day of the year. Open it up next Jan and you should have around £700! We have varied this a bit by writing the days on the box and throwing change in and crossing off the relevant day for the amount of change..

I don't know where the wedding will be but Italy is like the UK in reverse. Cheaper in the south!

I have been off work for some months and am now being paid SSP which isnt alot. So I went through all of my direct debits and then started ringing around the utility companies. I got a reduction on Virgin, Mobile phone and Water. I found a direct debit being paid out that I didnt need. I shop in Aldi most of the time and if I do go shopping I ask myself if I want it, or need it. Usually I end up putting it back. I try to combine car journeys so that I do all my 'chores' in one trip.
When I was working I didnt worry about what I was spending and if nothing else, this has taught me that at times I was quite wasteful and bought things I did not need.
I also try not to put the heating on all the time during the day and layer up my clothes.
All of these little things do add up.
Have a lovely time at the wedding.

If your an Amazon shopper take your card off.
That means that every time you are tempted to buy now you have to go through the fluff of putting it back on again.

Compare prices. Even if you shop in the cheaper supermarkets you will find that certain items are cheaper in the one than in the other.

Use LED light bulbs everywhere in you house, but do still turn lights off in rooms where no-one is sitting.

If you drive a car, consider whether you could save money by walking shorter distances to shop.

You can save on water rates and electricity by using the shortest programme you washing-machine has.

One I do so automaically I do not ven think about it.

State Pension is paid every 4 weeks, which is 13 payments a year, but I plan my finances as if it was paid every month. That means once a year I am paid twice in one month and, within my system, that is a bonus sum that can be allocated on anything I wish from a short holiday to, what I actually do, is set it aside to pay for Christmas.

Have a look in your wardrobe to see if you already own a suitable outfit to avoid buying a new one. Perhaps a good friend would lend you accessories. Use google to find out what the weather will likely be. Borrow suitcases if necessary. Be aware of baggage restrictions to avoid paying overweight charges.

We used to pay for internet and phone with Orange which became part of BT, then separately a Sky entertainment package for TV including sports and movies and an additional BT sport add on which together came to £170 per month then we changed and had it all through Virgin Media on offer for £90 per month for 18 months and then it reverts to £120 and get exactly the same plus we get unlimited data and minutes on a mobile phone which is a bonus as saves our son £35 per month only downside we no longer get Sky Atlantic but have saved £80 per month on package and now get unbelievably fast internet and because we did it through Topcashback we got £90 cash back too. I just wish we had looked into it sooner.

Have you tried the TooGoodToGo app? It is food that may have been ordered too much or not sold as many as thought, some lovely restaurant food. All really good and the supermarket food isn’t on date or anything like that.
Got 4 beautiful buns last week from a bakery that does lactose intolerance food. You do pay but such a small amount compared with the normal cost.

How about trying to sell some of your unwanted items. There are lots of sites Ebay etc. You may not make much but you could make enough for hotel accommodation/meals out etc - every little helps!

Woodmouse. Ditto. They’re useful accounts aren’t they!

Don’t look for sales, especially not online....it can waste so much time, not to mention money!