Your Biggest Challenge

From re-using your underwear to DIY haircuts you can spend less

Unless you’re an expenses-fiddling MP or a bailed-out banker, money is getting tighter all the time.

So it’s hardly surprising that a phenomenon, extreme saving, is sweeping Britain.

Some people are turning to radical and, at times, downright daft ways to avoid spending – and we’re not just talking about buying fewer clothes and flogging more on eBay. Brad Liebman, managing director of voucher website bview.co.uk, behind the extreme saving trend, said: “In the current climate, everyone needs to save money any way they can. Everyone has an oddball relative who finds wacky ways to save, but now this extreme saving trend has moved into the mainstream.”

So, whether you’re mixing your own cheap lemonade in the pub, re-using underwear, or getting your washing done at a friends house, remember the mantra: Cheap is good but free is better.

1 – Instead of paying for lemonade in restaurants order water with lemon slices, squeeze the juice into the water and add sugar.

2 – Save cash in the pub by letting mates buy the first three rounds. By the fourth they will have forgotten whose turn it is, at least one will be on halves by then – or still have a drink.

3 – Wash the car at your petrol station using the forecourt’s own water and squeegee – even better do it just before it rains.

4 – Find the freebies – pencils from IKEA, betting shop pens and coffee in the receptions of some banks, including HSBC. Or try a branch of Nespresso which plugs their £99 coffee machines by offering free samples.

5 – Tell relatives and friends you are going away for Christmas and buy their gifts in the New Year sales.

6 – Take home free ketchup, salt, pepper, sugar sachets and pour them into your own branded bottles.

7 – Sew teabags down the middle then cut them in half. Or just dry one and use it again.

8 – Fill a container with water and freeze your credit card. If there’s something you want, waiting for the card to defrost will give you ample time to consider that purchase.

9 – Use the bags in cereal boxes as storage bags. Finish the cereal then take out the bag, fill it with whatever you want to store, fold over the top and put a peg on it.

10 – Never pay full price for an umbrella, Instead pretend you’ve lost yours and get one from lost property at a railway station. But give it back when you’ve finished with it.

11 – Ring people when you know they won’t be in and leave a message so they ring you back.

12 – Wash your clothes underfoot while in the shower to save on water. Wash yourself first then start stomping on your clothes and watch the suds clean them. The average annual cost of using a washing machine is £30.

13 – Men, don’t bother shaving every day. A pack of four multi-bladed razor blades costs around £4.50, let your chin get a bit stubbly and they’ll last far longer.

14 – Have a barbeque and invite everyone you know. Get them all to bring a bottle and food. You’ve just got lunch and drinks for nothing. If someone buys and brings a disposable barbie, even better.

15 – Take longer between shopping trips.

Try skipping a trip to the supermarket altogether and eating what’’s already in your fridge.

16 – Gym membership can cost a fortune so exercise at home. Press-ups, sit-ups and squats do not require any equipment and will still get you in shape – for free. Try “earning” your leisure time, so if you want to watch the telly you have to exercise while you do it.

17 – Drop the internet connection. You can always read real encyclopaedias instead of Wikipedia, and post letters instead of using email. You can always check your emails at your local library or any Apple store to make use of their complimentary service.

18 – Only read in daylight. Why waste money on electricity if you don’t have to? Instead, only use the light bulbs you really require.

19 – Don”t be ashamed of asking for a doggy bag when you cannot finish your meal at a restaurant. You can often make a full meal out of it the following night just by adding salad.

20 – Tell a mate your washing machine has broken and that you’ll have to use theirs. It’ll work on each friend at least once.

21 – When shopping for fruit and veg, remove the stalks from apples and cherries to cut weight.

22 – If your water supply is metered, use the toilet at your friend or relative’s house and watch your bill drop.

23 – Take home a flask of hot water from work to make your tea with at home because they’ve already paid to boil it.

24 – Call people, identify yourself and chat for a minute, then suddenly hang up. They will almost always call back. Express surprise that the call ended, and continue the conversation at their expense. But be warned that doing this too often could strain friendships.

25 – Change your home phone to a special premium rate number. This will earn you a fortune and you will really find out who your friends are – because only those willing to spend up to £1 a minute to hear your voice will call. See phonenumbers 4u.co.uk to buy a line but remember, legally, you must warn people of the cost when you give the number.

26 – If you have a pet dog, take them with you when you visit a friend who also has a dog – and let your dog eat the food they’ve left for their own pet.

27 – Instead of wasting all that cash getting your sons” hair cut at the hairdresser, buy a pair of hair clippers – the Remington Titanium Washable Cordless Hair Clipper Set costs £19.99 – and give them a buzz cut at home instead.

28 – Be radical and shave your own head, too that way you’ll save on shampoo. The average person uses up 198 bottles of shampoo in their lifetime and each bottle costs £3.10 on average.

29 – Desperate times call for desperate measures. Don’t launder your underwear after one wear. Re-use them by turning them inside out, then back to front – saving on wasted washing powder and water. Or why not skip underwear altogether, weather permitting? Going commando will further reduce your weekly wash load. Just be careful zipping up your jeans, fellas.

30 – Make your own gifts. What’s more important than the quality is the fact that you spent hours making them it is the thought that counts, after all. You could knit someone a scarf or – for two gifts in one – fill a nice glass or small vase with sweets then tie with ribbon.

31 – If you drive in the country, pick up roadkill, clean it up and eat for dinner. The Original Roadkill Cookbook, full of tasty recipes, is only £4.99 from amazon.co.uk – or better still, borrow the book from your library.

32 – Join St John Ambulance as a volunteer. You will be trained in first aid and despite being on duty, you will be able to enjoy free Premiership football matches and great gigs.

33 – Pop into your local chemist on your way to work in the morning and do your make up with the testers and samples. Men can go for the free aftershave too.

34 – Be cheeky in the supermarket. If the person ahead in the queue doesn’t have a club card, then offer them yours. You’ll get the reward points.

35 – If you have a garage for your car, reverse into it. If you do it the other way and reverse out in the morning, from cold, you use 80 per cent more fuel than if you drove forwards instead. This works for driveways too.

36 – Water down your washing up liquid. With a good brand you can put in the same amount of water again and you won”t be able to tell the difference.

37 – Instead of taking your dirty shirts to the dry cleaners or laundrette, give them Oxfam. They will wash and iron them and you can buy them back for as little as 50p.

38 – Save the leftover bits of soap bars and compress them into a “new” one. Hey presto, a free bar of soap!

39 – Only ever charge your mobile phone at work. But make sure this is not prohibited by their employee conduct policy otherwise you could lose your job. Also, charge your laptop at work and run it off the batteries at home – that way, you”re not paying a penny for the electricity costs of running at. You will save £9 per year on average by charging both of them outside the home.

40 – Make a compost heap in your back garden and grow your own fruit and veg – much cheaper than buying them from supermarkets. You will save around £5 per week.

41 – Don’t put stamps on anything non-important that you are sending to a business. They will normally pay for postage at their end.

42 – Borrow DVDs from your local library rather than the video shop – they’re about half the price, saving you around £2 on average.

43 – Microwave rock hard stale bread for 10 seconds and it’ll be warm, soft and ready to eat again. But check for mould first.

44 – Many gyms provide free shampoo and shower gel in the showers. If you’re shameless, you can fill up your empty shower gel and shampoo bottles.

45 – When your tube of toothpaste is so empty you can”t squeeze out any more, cut it open with scissors and you’ll have enough for another few days.

46 – Buy only supermarket ownbrand food. Your family may not thank you for it, but you can point out all the extra cash you’ve got to spend on everything else. For example, instead of buying Farmhouse Fare Bread & Butter Pudding for £ 3.99, go for Co-operative Truly Irresistible Bread and Butter Pudding, 400g, £ 2.79. The pudding was a Quality Food 47 Awards winner last year.

47 – Some branches of Pret A Manger give away their cakes for free if they”ve reached their sell-by date at closing time. So swing by and bag yourself a free chocolate brownie or Love Bar.

48 – Make sandwiches at home instead of buying them at work and save around £20 per week. And re-use plastic sandwich bags instead of throwing them away. Just shake any crumbs away, rinse them out and dry them.

49 – Vinegar and lemon juice make great kitchen cleaners – and are far cheaper than cleaning creams.

50 – Have a no-spend month once a year where you try your best not to spend a penny. Stock up the freezer and make sure you have got a monthly travel pass if you’re using the bus or train. If your whole family can manage this you will all reap the rewards.