[MotherBear]

On the back of the ?Simply can?t afford to live in NZ? thread, I wondered if we?ve got a secret store of cost cutters that we draw on when the purse strings need to be tightened and would like to share with others. You never know what useful tips you might find on here if we all pool our resources and even little savings can mount up.

Just a few of mine are:

Only fill the kettle with enough water for your immediate needs to save electricity.
Go to bed earlier in the dark evenings and get up earlier to make the most of the daylight and heat from the sun.
Dry clothes on the washing line whenever possible to save using the tumble drier.
Use cotton dishcloths instead of those rubbery ones that start to shed bits after a short while and you can?t keep them properly clean. Cotton cloths can be put in the washing machine frequently or even sterilised if need be.
Always make out a supermarket shopping list and try to stick to it so you don?t make impulse purchases that you don?t really need or can?t really afford.
Use the library for books instead of buying new or buy from secondhand book stores.
If you don?t regularly do home-baking or feel you aren?t any good at it, find some easy reliable recipes that you can do and bake from scratch instead of buying ready made. It?s healthier as well as cheaper.
Take sandwiches or similar to work instead of buying snacks from a local shop or takeaway.
Invest in some microfibre cleaning cloths that clean without streaks. They aren't particylarly cheap but you can often do away with expensive cleaning fluids, especially for windows and other shiny surfaces and they do last a long time.
Negotiate a good price with your local butcher for bulk purchases of meat and stick it in your freezer. Could well work out cheaper than buying bit by bit from the supermarket.
Buy veggies in bulk when they?re in season and cheaper and freeze them.
Buy only one type of shampoo, one conditioner, one body lotion, one hand cream etc. at a time. Finish one before investing in a different one. You can only use one at a time anyway and it avoids the clutter of a pile of half empty bottles standing around waiting to be used up.
If you grow your own veggies or flowers, compost a wide variety of household waste to enrich your garden and also save on paying for extra rubbish collections.

That'll do for starters. If someone finds only one of these suggestions useful, it will have been worthwhile.