FOLLOWING THE publication of Budget 2012 last week which included over €3 billion in adjustments to public spending and taxation, TheJournal.ie asked you for your best money saving tips.
Here’s a compilation of some of your suggestions as posted to our open thread on the issue over the weekend:
Michelle Rogers recommends growing your own veg, investing in insulation, and sharing skills:
Get your house insulated – the Government grants are still largely unaffected and fuel prices and carbon tax are only going to keep rising…Grow some of your own! It’s a lot easier than you think and there are GIY groups everywhere that will give you help to do it free of charge – even if it’s just herbs, apples in a pot, lettuce, berries, tomatoes in the summer.
Meitheal is a good old Irish tradition – get your friends round to do work you need doing in the house or garden and you can do the same in return for them.
Eileen Gabbett suggests saving on your electricity costs through alternative heating methods:
Turn down the central heating and wear an extra jumper … / use hot water bottle to warm the bed instead of the electric blanket
Mark Dennehy says cooking from scratch can save you cash:
Dried beans cost even less [than baked beans] and taste even better when cooked right. And they keep almost indefinitely if stored properly.But the real tip is that cooking from scratch is always cheaper if done right. Plan meals a week in advance, buy ingredients that are less perishable than ready-to-microwave slop, and use leftovers properly (roast chicken? stock from the carcass; Spag bol on monday? Make lots of ragu and make lasagne too and freeze it; and so on).
Niamh Byrne shares her tips for saving on chicken meat and… toilet paper
My tip is don’t buy chicken fillets, they are at least a fiver, buy a full chicken for a fiver, you get two days out of it plus stock for soup or risotto. Also toilet rolls, when buying them in the supermarket look at the small print in the price, it gives you cost per roll, makes it easier to see through the special offer prices…it doesn’t matter if its quilted, its all wiping the same end (:
Enamonkey says there’s money to be saved in switching your credit card provider:
Look at changing your credit card company- most cards offer hugely reduced rate on balance transfers, so, if you have a large balance, and are approved for the new card, you can use the money you save on the interest payments to bring the card balance way down( you can always switch again at the end of the promotional rate period )
Marc Creighton has a longer-term suggestion:
Make politicians salaries performance related – save a fortune!
Dave Rainsford says it’s worth looking into your taxes to get money back:
Register with revenue.ie and reclaim those taxes, if you’ve no receipts call your bin company and they’ll give you a figure on how much you’ve spent on rubbish collection. I’m with AES and they even gave me a statement for the last few years! Your doctor should be able to do the same.
Mark Downes has some advice about not being fooled into buying ‘special offers’:
In supermarkets, don’t be fooled by double-packs, wrapped together to give the impression of a bargain. Very often, two individual ones are cheaper. Same goes for larger size versions of the same product- they should work out cheaper but often don’t. It’s worth working out the cost per kilo/litre/metre rather than just picking up what appears to be cheaper. If you want good quality cooked ham but don’t want to pay €30 a kilo for it (typical price for quality pre packed ham) get it from the deli counter in superquinn if there’s one near. Nice ham,no fat on it, cheaper and it freezes very well.
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