Fifty ways to be thrifty
Here’s a fantastic list of easy ways to save money from The Times Online. Some really good ideas.
http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2008/02/the-thrifty-fif.html
I’m already doing some of them (cooking in bulk, using leftovers, magazine swapping with a friend each month, using a piggy bank for all my loose little bits of change, reusing pots and bread bags for storing sandwiches and leftovers in, using pan lids to keep in extra heat and turning off the hob a few minutes before the food is eaten) but was unaware of several choice gems including:
When taking your car for an MOT use a local council test centre rather than a private garage. The council centres do not offer repairs and therefore have no vested interest in failing your motor. Contact your local council for details of your nearest centre.
Check whether it’s cheaper to buy medicine over the counter rather than putting in a prescription. Many commonly prescribed medications, including painkillers, allergy tablets and dermatology creams, are also available over the counter without prescription. Often it’s much cheaper just to buy them this way, rather than paying the £6.85 flat prescription charge.
If you do buy fresh herbs and find it hard to get through a whole bunch, instead of throwing what’s left away make frozen stock cubes. Finely chop the herbs, put them in an ice cube tray and cover with oil. Put the tray in the freezer. When frozen, pop out the cubes and place them in a freezer bag for easier storage. Next time you need herbs for soups; pastas, etc. add a cube to your recipe and warm.
Being thrifty and frugal is definitely becoming strangely fashionable. Everyone’s talking about it, only a few are doing it…
June 26th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
a great link.
Agree with making sandwiches to take to lunch, we always used to do this and I think these days we get into bad habbits. Infact, I remember years ago seeing sandwiches on sale in the supermarket, already made (shock horror, lol!) and thinking what sort of person would spend so much money on a pre-made sandwich when it is so simple and cheap to make them. But of course, I thought the same too when bottled water started to become the thing to have - who would seriously pay so much for water when you can get it out of the tap!
June 28th, 2008 at 2:01 am
You’re right about few actually doing anything even though everybody’s talking about it. From my own observations, it seems that a lot of people are afraid of being seen as ‘poor’ because they see that as being synonymous with ‘unsuccessful’. I’d say we’re more successful if we can make our money stretch as far as possible while saving some for a rainy day. Still, everybody doesn’t think alike and I doubt they ever will.
@ Jake. Prepacked sandwiches really are the height of laziness. Paying £2 upwards for something that would cost a fraction of that to make at home just shows how little people care about where they money goes, not to mention all the unnecessary plastic packaging.