[Tracy]

There are lots of ways to cut down and save so that you can then use the saved money on more essentials I find a lot of people use multiple home cleaners hence extra money why not buy one multipurpose cleaner for everything I buy thick washing up liquid and dilute half the bottle then I get two for one been doing that years I even use the little bit left over wat you never get out 🤣 by filling the empty one with warm Water and cleaning my bath and sink and toilet less harsh cleaning too 🤗 to keep the kiddies entertained cheaply with crafts lots of leaves cones pebbles around my granddaughter loves painting them beach combing is a great idea for them to make something from there finds too it's great to teach them about nature too we talk about the new flowers and we make bird food from the last bits in the peanut butter jar and some reduced price bread she also loves to go to the local woods and take the fruit scraps and bits to leave for the animals she's like a little mary Poppins watching her lol teaches sharing too 😊

[geoffers]

Get rid of all the unnecessary streaming services Netflix etc ...there's more than enough to watch on free to air catch up channels such as iPlayer; itvX; All4 YouTube and so on.

Get rid of Amazon Prime : if you want to buy things via Prime just create multiple eMail accounts, so switching between accounts you'll normally get a month's free trial which you can cancel any time within that month and it'll still run to the end of the month.

Then use a different email which you haven't registered with Prime for a while (it forgets them if they've been inactive) -Sometimes you only get 1 week for 99p if it recognises that email has been used before (but that's better £8.99 per month) then cancel and use a different email next time

[Indyk_EONNext]

Hey @Tracy

Thank you sharing 😊 some really great tips there!

awh bless! Little ones are so adorable when it comes to exploring and creating. My daughter loves exploring the beach too 🏖 and has pots full of decorated and painted sea shells 🐚 she has collected around our travels.

With cleaning I intend to use fairy and dilute another refill spray bottle which I use around the home for cleaning and dusting. It cuts costs with buying different cleaning products and the big bottle of fairy from stores like B&M lasts so much longer.

[Indyk_EONNext]

@geoffers 😂 can't believe I didn't think of that for Amazon Prime!

As I am one of them that pays £8.99 a month 🤐

[Tracy]

Yes there lots of little things that we can change I shop allover there's so many price difference in shops and not all the so called best brands are the best and the cheaper ones are just the same stuff with a different package 🤣 if we teach young maybe the future will get better if not wat ya lost nothing least ya tryed that's my motto 🤗

[Tracy]

Ha ha I do that on Amazon too I never subscribed to the 8.99 just wait till I need stuff in bulk then use the free trial or the 99p too 👍

[meldrewreborn]

Watching the clean it fix it programme on BBC1 mon -thurs @14:00 leads me to suggest white vinegar, and baking powder for cleaning products.

[WizzyWigg]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

Watching the clean it fix it programme on BBC1 mon -thurs @14:00 leads me to suggest white vinegar, and baking powder for cleaning products.

I know I'll be accused of nitpicking but sodium bicarbonate is what clean it fix it suggests. It's cheaper than Baking Powder. 🤔😂

[meldrewreborn]

@WizzyWigg

OK I stand corrected - I'm a bit of a pedant myself so I can fully accept your intervention.

They also use Rubbing Alcohol to clean hard plastics, and toothpaste to remove crayon from painted walls (after using an iron and paper towels to remove the majority - don't try the iron bit on vinyl wallpaper though).

White vinegar seems to be a staple for cleaning though. When visiting my Son in Australia I did notice that they sell the stuff in 2 Litre plastic bottles, which isn't the norm here. What they use it for is not known however!!

[meldrewreborn]

I tend to pay attention to dates on products. Reduced stickers on products nearing their "Best Before" date are great - because products don't just go off once that date has expired. If you don't need them for cooking that day pop them in the freezer for later.

You have to be more cautious with "use By" dates though.

My local Morrisons does a great line in Cooking Bacon where a large pack goes for about £1 usually. As its in clear packaging I go for the packs with the least fat. You might get slices or slabs, but with a bit of trimming its a great way to extract value for money. It may not look as pretty as back bacon, but my stomach hasn't got eyes!

And as this is an energy forum, i would advise anybody paying on receipt of bill on a standard credit tariff, to pay by variable direct debit instead saving about 6%, and to switch to a fixed tariff if this offers saving against Net Flex.