Yout tips for living a more cost effective life?

Question

Given the enormous debt levels,low wages and rising costs here in Britain, I was intrigued to find out if any of you have any tips on how to make ends meet, and survive in this country?

Answer 1

Pick a cheap place to live. I just went on a road trip all over the UK, and found Birmingham and Leeds to be much cheaper than London for almost everything. Everything seemed expensive compared to the US but your wages are higher.

Answer 2

Will i make sense,here goes.You want new curtains but there £20,you see a pair for £10 and say ok for now.But your never happy so eventually you go back and buy the £20 ones,so now you have spent thirty.Wrong move.Equally,i bought a good razor for £6 with blades,the first blade went 2 months easy,and i had 5 more.Disposables i went through quite quickly and guess what.The same applies to special offer,as an example,there are 2 sizes of toothpaste,100 or 200 grammes.The 200 version goes on special offer at £1.99.When you check the 100 version its only 79p,so with care you really can save.But whatever is up front and close to the in door,wait,all that glitters.Avoid credit cards,no matter how you look at it,everything has a price,better £5 cash than £5.50 credit,each time gets you further and further into the swamp.For any government to hatch a plan to recover houses to rent,this must come close.Selling them off looked good but now the true cost is showing through.Good sense and good luck to all.Life never promised to be easy.

Answer 3

lots.. simple things.. even shopping..

i went tesco the other day.. bought pasta sauce.. own brand .. 70p or something, other brands £1.30 etc. might not seem a lot , but buy say 3 jars.. and it is.

fruit / veg. pick it loose,or find a good grocer. don't pay for the packaging

walk instead of taking the car all the time for short journeys.

if you wanted to buy something interest free.. save for it first.. put that money in a high interest account.. then use the 0% apr for a year.. but make damn sure you pay it before it's due. You gain interest on money in the account ;-)
(if your memory is bad forget it)

avoid using credit cards.. paying by card all the time can easily make you over spend. until you paid it off its the property of the credit company even though its in your house.

when you buy something.. look at in the sense of , is it someone you need or just "want".

as for paying full price for things, shop around.. haggle.. use comparision sites.. remember shops are on a 15-40% mark up in some cases.

e.g. www.find-dvd.co.uk
(i had to buy 2 dvd's for someone's birthday .. i saved £10).

make a list of what you need before shopping.

it's like i buy games.. rarely will I pay full price.. i buy em for like £1 / 2 even though their old.. i'll make a rare exception for things like call of duty and pay £27 for that =)

Answer 4

Don't let your boyfriend have a credit card. Don't buy anything you don't need. Don't eat out unless its a special occassion. Look for bargains in the supermarkets but don't buy them unless you are going to use them. Make things last and mend them rather than replace them. Survival is hard in this country - i think we should all emigrate to somewhere cheaper and warmer. I don't know why people want to come here to live.

Answer 5

If you dont need it ,dont buy it.A bicycle is cheaper than a car,you dont need a television,smoking ,drinking,both can be easily dispensed with,buy cheaper types of food from the big stores looking for bargain offers.You may be saying,how can i survive without all this.A cheap radio is enough at night.

Answer 6

I pack my own lunch--I am in the USA,but things are bad here too.

Answer 7

live on a canal boat, u only have to pay water rates.

Answer 8

invest money

Answer 9

Tried crime?