| Misc Tips that don't quite fit elsewhere: 1. Complain! If you have been treated badly or let down by a company the best way of getting compensation is to write to the managing director. You don't need to know his/her name, just send a firm and polite letter detailing your problems to the 'managing director' at whatever main address you have.
2. Christmas shopping - don't leave it until Christmas - nothing is cheap in the shops then. If you see nice gifts for your friends and family at other times of the year in sales buy them then - it takes the expense out of December! Don't miss our Frugal Christmas section
3. As many as one in three UK taxpayers are due a refund - could you be one of them? Refunds Direct are a company who will find out for you on a 'no win, no fee' basis. Fill in a short survey to find out.
4. It pays to shop around for your internet service provider - at the time of writing (October 2005) are the cheapest in the UK for broadband - unlimited too, very nice :)
Readers Tips: 1. Using a fabric
softner keeps your clothes looking new for longer
- it also lessens the time you will spend
ironing. Jean.
2. Carol recommends a site that tells you about competitions - she has won many large prizes - www.ealthy.co.uk
3. Haynes manuals can seriously save a great deal of money when it comes to running a car. They talk you through fixing just about anything on your car, and tell you how tough a job is likely to be. Ben. - www.haynes.co.uk
4. Cheap face scrub: Mix some ordinary table salt with olive oil in the palm of your hand. Massage gently onto damp skin avoiding the eye area. Rinse with warm water and soap. Pat dry - lovely soft smooth skin! Moisturiser and make-up seems to go on better after this as well.
Hope this is useful. Dee Hagan
5. Budgeting tips from Derek: Know what you get, and set categories with weekly or monthly spending
limits that keep the total outgoings below this. Using multiple bank accounts can help this to work well, I have about 8,
one for the car, one for house maintenance and decor, one for christmas, one for holidays etc. This stops annual bills making my 'core' account
look sick, ideally the core account should increase by the same amount each month. Try not to use credit cards, even if you pay the entire balance off each
month. There's nothing quite like looking at an empty wallet to let you know you've run out of cash this week.
6. Catalogue advice from Cat: Buying from mainstream catalogues can be expensive but the 'free' credit facilities can be useful if you're on a tight income. Look out catalogue websites such as Kays where many items are hugely discounted and you still get the 20 week 'interest free' period in which to pay!
7. Jon shares food shopping and gaming advice: I strongly recommend you visit a Julian Graves shop. Nuts, fruit,
herbs, sweets, minimal packaging, very high quality, very low prices (way
better than supermarkets) and frequent bargains, 2for1, bigger packs. Julian Graves
have very cheap pistachio, different types of peanuts, and their herbs,
20g-50g for around 60p, better than supermarkets.
I also recommend you get into german board games. Great fun, huge replay
value and cheaper than the rubbish games you get here.
8. A freezer tip from Jane: an empty freezer wastes money. When shopping buy up the bread products that are `reduced to clear`. This is an economic way of filling space in your freezer and if you split it down to what you use on average a day (say half a loaf) even less will go to waste.
Hope you find this tip helpful.
9. From Polly: It really is worth cutting open tubes of make up to get more out - you'd be amazed how much is left in there. If you get a little brush you can scoop out what's left of lipsticks too and you can make lotions go that bit further by adding a bit of cold water and then shaking vigorously to mix.
10. From Louise: If you buy fabric softener mainly for the smell you will often find that it disappears by the time your clothes have come out of the tumble dryer. I don't put any in the washing machine any more. Instead I add 1 - 2 tablespoons to an old, clean & dry, face cloth then put that in with the wet load in the dryer. Your clothes are soft and static free and the smell is lovely. And what's more you are saving money by not buying expensive tumble dryer sheets!
11. My friends and I always seem to be broke around Christmas and have dutifully
battled our way through countless shops and crushes looking for the ideal
presents, always spending more than planned and thinking "next year I'll
start earlier". This year we have set a challenge........our presents have to be free.
We've already started collecting all sorts of freebies - its amazing what is
actually out there if you look. Its a great way to get present buying into
perspective as well and hopefully we'll have started early enough to avoid
the frantic panic on Christmas Eve. JJ
12. Sainsbury's often has BOGOF offers, and often has foods reduced in price for quick sale. If you can combine the two, it's possible to get "free" food. For example: A pack of sausages is normally £1.99, but on BOGOF if you take two packs to the till, the cashier will ring up 2X£1.99 and the computerised till will deduct £1.99. If those sausages are reduced to £1.00, buy two packs. £1 + £1 - £1.99 = two packs of sausages for a penny. Lisa.
13. From Karen: 'LETS' schemes - a way of exchanging goods & services without money. e.g if you are good at DIY, like taking dogs for walks, can repair cars, don't mind ironing or gardening, or...any number of different activities...you can register with a local scheme and gain credits which you then use to pay for goods/services from other LETS members. Here's a link to a website about LETS - LETSLINK UK
14. You can make free garden decking from old pallets found dumped or begged from shops I made one from 4 pallets. 3 x pallets were put longways side by side. I fastened them safely together at the back and front with old pieces of metal with holes for screws in them. I repaired any damage with wood from the fourth pallet. I then covered front and sides with long lengths of old boards to keep them firmly together and painted with left-over fence paint. You can finish off with any kind of railing/rope you need to complete the look. I used 5 x 4ft metal poles (which were part of a dismantled childs swing) and concreted them around the pallets at corners and middle of the back. I then strung the old plastic rope from the swing from one pole to another and finished the end of poles off with old plastic doorknobs painted gold to look like filials. Total cost: £2 for long screws and nails, £1 for gold spray paint, £1 for quick set concrete. Time taken to construct 1 hour 20 mins. Instant decking which is at least 15-20cms (9-12 ins) high. Judith.
15. If you grow cabbages (spring or sweet heart in particular) after you cut it make a cross in the stem that remains in the ground and several new cabbages or greens will form. So after you finish the row return to the start and you will have more to cook and eat.
16. Here's a tip for the even just slightly green fingered from Polly: Do you have a garden? Get out there in late summer and collect those lovely free seeds for sowing next spring. You can also take cuttings of perennials
and shrubs at this time of year too (find out how to do it from a book or
the internet). Then next summer you can go to the car boot sale and sell
all your lovely wares. If the worst happens and nothing grows, you haven't
lost anything but your time! Alternatively, check for half-empty packets
of seed and consider using them up; they can last several years past their
'use-by' date.
17. Never boil your kettle with more water than you need in it. You'd be amazed
at how much electricity a kettle uses and the more water you put in, the
longer it takes to boil. Watch the electric meter when you are boiling your
kettle if you don't believe me - it whizzes round! Also this means you are
using a little less energy and doing your little bit for the environment
too! Natalie.
18. I have four children and find that filling their stockings can be very pricey, especially the teenagers. Since January, I have bought a small present, say about £2 for example a pack of pencils, a nicely presented bar of soap, socks, note pads, photo frame etc all inexpensive stuff. The loot is piling up in my cupboard so I know I won't be in a panic 2 weeks before Christmas.
Happy shopping! Catherine
19. Don't buy expensive shower gells. Buy supermarket family size bath creme and fill up your empty shower gel bottles. With 1 bottle of 69p Asda bath creme you can fill up 4 shower gel bottles and you cant tell the difference (Im sure there is no difference!) - Anne
.
20. Contact your local college of FE for cheap beauty treatrments and hairdos - most of them train beauty therapists and hairdressers and all activities are closley supervised by the teachers. You can get all the hair treatments including colours at my local college - they even do a "spa" day which includes a facial, sauna, jacuzzi and massage for about £30. I know people who always get their legs waxed at the local college and I am planning to get a foot massage (for £5) - Julie.
21. When using an eye-level grill, placing a saucepan on the top will use the grill's heat to warm up peas, beans, sauces etc and will free up a gas ring, whilst saving you money! Chris
22. Try looking in newsagents and mini-market shops that are run by an Indian family for dried herbs. I learnt this when I lived in the middle of the Asian community in Coventry & found an excellent choice of spices in my local newsagents for a fraction of the price in supermarkets. Caroline
23. I have found that boiling a near full kettle and putting the rest of the water into a flask saves boiling the kettle several times if you drink a lot of tea or coffee. Also free weed killer. Once you have boiled your potatoes take it out and pour over your path I dont know why but the hotter the better. It clears it up and saves pounds. Tracy.
24. Plastic lids from the big 500g yogurt pots fit perfectly over ramekins. Save on cling film by using plastic lids to cover food to store in the fridge. Also, greaseproof paper and parchment used in baking can be wiped clean and re-used again and again. It has the advantage of being ready-cut to fit your baking tins. Helen.
25. Citric acid from the chemist makes a good cheap descaler. The chemist recommends using a quarter of a box but I used half a box as my kettle was thick with limescale. I put the minimum amount of water in my kettle with the citric acid and boiled it up and left it to cool overnight. The kettle was spotless next morning and citric acid is only 69p a box from local chemist. I also use it as a safe descaler for the steam steriliser. Rachel
26. One of the big costs of driving far in this country is stopping for food or petrol at service stations. I’ve found a good book "The Great Motorway Secret", which lists (by motorway) the superstores right by the junctions of all the main motorways in England and Wales, which means you can save £££s every time you have to stop. Lisanne. You can buy this book from Amazon.co.uk
Little
Freebies:
Very little
is ever actually free and the offers below are
not going to change your life in any signifigant
way - but they are completely free and it is fun
to get them through the post!
Red Bush Tea has an unusual
taste which is rather nice and very good for you.
Road Safety Educational materials for different ages - free to UK addresses.
http://www.creditexpert.co.uk - free 30 day trial credit check.
Free Physics Posters aimed at 16 year olds but interesting for other age grups too - free to UK residents.
Free Vegetarian
Starter Pack
- free ink cartridge for most Epson and Canon models, or free photo paper for Hewlett Packard or Lexmark printers - you do have to pay £2.99 postage.
Yorkshire Tea - will send you tea
to suit your local water! Click the link "sample request" on the left hand menu
Original Source - toiletries
samples - register for samples
Freebieholics Freebie Sites - links to lots of UK based free stuff and frugal sites - don't forget to vote for frugal living!
Free UK Stuff - just what it says.
Many of the major washing detergent and shampoo manufacturers offer freebies from time to time - it is worth typing in a search on Google for their names and products "+ free sample".
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