30 ways to save £1

I have seen this pop up on several of the blogs I follow today and decided it is too good an opportunity to pass up.

The money supermarket are paying bloggers to post their money saving tips to celebrate the 30th birthday of the British pound coin. You can read more about it here.

So without further ado here are my 30 tips:

1. Menu plan, before you go shopping take a look in the fridge, freezer and cupboards build a menu around these then only shop for the extras you may need. Don't buy anything else.
2. Look in the reduced sections of the supermarket, lots of bargains can be had by arriving at the right time. The right time depends on your supermarket and what you need, I find in ours meats go on reduced in the morning, bread etc the evening. So shop at the best time for what you need.
3. Grow your own, you can grow your own in small containers especially if like me you have a small garden.
4. Take on an allotment, I pay £50 per year on my allotment. On it I grow my fruit and vegetables. I also have 2 apple trees, a pear tree and a damson tree. All of which were added by a previous tenant so cost me nothing but I get so much fruit from them I preserve as much as I can and also give a lot away to friends and family.
5. Borrow. Some things are unnecessary to buy they are not used that often. I borrow books from the library, a carpet cleaner from my sister, large tools from my uncle, DVD's from friends. Don't forget to lend what you have too I lend out various things depending on what I have that people need.
6. buy second hand. I buy many things from charity shops, eBay, amazon traders, friends. I always try and get anything we need second hand before shelling out for new.
7. Swap trades. I get my hair cut for free sometimes by a friend, I try and help her out by looking after her children when she needs help.
8. make do and mend. I always try to repair things before replacing them. Clothes, teddies and bedding are things I have repaired recently in my house and in friends/ families homes. I'm often passed things that need a quick stitch by two of my nephews. If you don't know how to fix it ask help from relatives/friends. Stephanie's bed was broken the other day, I was unsure how best to fix it so my uncle came and did it for me. Saved me £xxx on a new bed.
9. upcycle. I have made clothes for Stephanie out of my old worn/ stained clothes. I recently made some birthday presents out of past mending/ no longer fitting clothes, for Stephanie's school friends.
10. Walk. Don't drive short journeys, it saves on fuel and helps keep you healthy.
11. Look for alternative parking. I recently discovered I could save several pounds on parking at the top of a cliff and following the footpath down. It took me 5 minutes to walk and gave some stunning views I would otherwise have missed.
12. Go to the park rather than indoor play places. Indoor places are very pricey these days nearly £10 per child in some places. Get some fresh air instead and visit a park.
13. Join places you love. We have English heritage and national trust membership as we love to visit these places. I can save the cost of the membership by visiting twice a year. See here for costs saved during a recent trip.
14. book last minute. Save your money for a few months before you want to go away and then book last minute. We recently saved £190 by booking our holiday a few days before we went. I paid less than a third of the price advertised.
15. use online codes to get money off of purchase. A quick Internet search can bring up all sorts of vouchers to save.
16. use discount food shops such as approved foods to bulk buy foods you use.
17. When shopping for clothes or household goods try and wait until the sales. Then have a good look at the clothes to make sure they are going to stand up to being worn a lot. Quality is important.
18. swap parties. When you have clothes that no longer fit/ you don't like get a group of friends together and swap. A new wardrobe and no cost.
19. take a pack up. Don't buy food when you are out, plan ahead and either time trips so that they are not at meal times or make a pack up to take with you.
20. Have a reusable bottle and fill with drink whenever you leave the house. I use an old water bottle and refill that, or you could buy a specific drinks container.
21. If you see something on a whim while out shopping, don't buy it on impulse. Do you other shopping and then come back to it, or even better go home and if you still think you need it a few days later then go and buy it.
22. bootfairs; use these to buy goods but also to sell things you no longer use. We have a clear out each year of clothes/ toys outgrown which we bootfair and then use this money for a camping trip in the summer holidays.
23. Get a tent. Camping is MUCH cheaper than hotels. I also find we enjoy camping holidays much more. We camp in quiet sites, usually they are cheaper. And we benefit from the detox of screens. We camp without electricity  (this also saves money as pitches with electric hook up are usually more money.)so there is no point in buying a portable DVD player etc etc.
24. trade down your car. I used to have a larger car it cost more on insurance, tax and fuel. I now have a small car and it is more economical in all of these areas.
25. Keep you car well maintained. By keeping oil levels etc at the correct level your car will be in better condition. Also keeping tyres correctly inflated means that you use less fuel.
26. Use a slow cooker, they are incredibly cheap to run saving on energy costs. Also as food is cooked slowly cheaper cuts of meat cook so that they are more tender in the slow cooker than a conventional oven.
27. Shop around. Don't accept the renewal costs of car insurance without looking around. I always check out several of the comparison websites find which companies are coming out cheaper. And then go direct to them. I have always found I can lower the quote even more by doing this.
28. Get to know your butcher! I have recently done this and found that by buying larger quantities of meat from him I get  a massive discount. I spent £90 a couple months back and still am less than half way through the meat I bought.
29. Batch cook. I cook larger portions than we need and freezer in portion sized containers. These make great ready meals on days when I have meetings at work, and days when I just can't be bothered. This saves money on supermarket read meals/ take aways.
30. Fill your oven. When using the oven try and cook several items at once to make the most use of all that heat. you can cook several days meals at once, cook cakes for packed lunches etc to make the most of the heat. I also fill up the steamer when cooking veg, I then get 2 or 3 days worth of veg cooked at once saving on energy costs, as they just need a minute or 2 to heat in the microwave the next day.

So there you have my top 30 money saving tips. Which of these do you use? Do you have any others I could use and improve my frugality?