5 ways I’ve saved money in July

Part of my ongoing mission to save money this year, these things have saved me money this month…

1. Cancelled our lovefilm membership

I’ve fallen in and out of love with lovefilm over the years because of billing issues, scratched DVDs etc but having been fine with them for a while it’s come to the point where I’m just forgetting to send DVDs back so not getting replacements. This is a waste and has had to be cut (saving £4.07 a month)

2. Used shorter program on the dishwasher

I found a neat idea on another frugal blog about letting the dishwasher run until it’s finished the wash cycle then opening the doors and letting the dishes air dry to cut out the most expensive(?) part of the cycle (drying). Unfortunately I don’t have the patience to sit next to the dishwasher to wait for the wash part to finish so instead I’ve just dropped it down to a shorter, colder cycle. I’m not noticing a difference in dish cleanliness.

3. Changed my veg box

I love my veg boxes but at this time of year the potatoes are always new potatoes and I’m the only one of us that’ll eat them (Karl hates skin on his spuds, Izz pays too much attention to what her Dad eats). I refuse to stand and peel tons of tiny spuds to make mash etc so the potatoes have been going bad sat in the cupboard. Instead, I have swapped to a potato-free box and am buying bigger spuds at the supermarket. This may not seem like money saved, but it’s certainly less waste.

4. Watered down milk

Came across this tip accidentally via the Money Saving Expert forums. When my carton of milk gets down to about half-way, I add one cup of cooled boiled water (important to boil it first otherwise the bacteria decreases the life) to the milk. Little shake and voila. I’ve managed to drop down from 3 x 2ltr bottles to 2 by doing this (and being a tiny bit more stingy with milk on my cereal). As I buy organic milk, it’s a saving of around £7 a month.

5. Did my big shop ‘on offer’

I discovered a Sainsbury’s coupon — £15 off a £75 online grocery shop — for new customers (coupon code: 3646-KLQ7-VDK9) so did my regular big shop there. I saved the obvious £15, but have discovered some of the stuff I bought was cheaper than equivalents at Tesco so may have saved more than that overall.

Did you see the 5 ways I saved money in June?