Recession Cutbacks: Ten Painless Ways to Cut Your Daily Bills

"Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves" goes the old British saying. In a time of economic recession, all of us can profit from finding ways to save a little extra, to cut back on our outgoings without giving up too much comfort. This article suggests ten simple ways to save the pennies on a daily basis: small reductions that can make a surprisingly big difference over time.

1. Shop Around

Even in a small town, there is frequently more than one place that sells the same or similar products, often within a few minutes of each other. While many of the big-name stores keep a watch on their competitors' prices and match them, the difference on some items can be quite startling. Rather than going to a single store and buying everything, investing some extra time in some research can really pay off: a half-price offer in one place or a few cents difference on an item you buy regularly in another can very quickly add up to a big saving.

Don't forget to include independent traders as well as the supermarkets: not only can you help local businesses through a rough time with your custom, but you may find some excellent deals tucked away on their shelves. In short order, you'll find yourself with a mental list of the best places to visit for daily purchases.

2. Food On The Verge Of A Breakdown

In addition to this first basic principle, the time you shop can also matter as much as the location. Have a look at a food package: there are three types of date potentially recorded on it. "Sell by" indicates to the store the latest date on which they can display the package. It's decided by their head office and company procedures, as well as by the food itself, and errs on the side of caution - no big-name market wants people getting sick from a moldy item.

"Best before" is used to inform customers that the quality of the item will begin to suffer after the date noted. It does not mean the product is inedible. The important one to watch for here is "Use by" - this is the date after which the food can be potentially detrimental to health, as it's definitely past its best.

Most of the big stores tend to mark down their food prices towards the end of the afternoon. Instead of having product go to waste when it's out of date the following morning (judging by the "Sell by" and "Best before" dates), they'll cut a third or more off the usual list price. These make excellent bargains for the evening meal or even the following day's repasts. Be particularly vigilant, however, where meat, dairy and fish products are concerned, as these can be very nasty if the dates are passed.

3. Back To Basics

Many of the big supermarket chain stores produce their "own brand" goods these days, at a greatly reduced price compared to the normal household names. Admittedly, the quality can be unreliable, so some trials are in order, but it's worth the effort and some lost cash (or less tasty meals!) to figure out which ones are good choices.

In some cases, the "own brand" range can be almost indistinguishable from the more expensive brands, especially if you are using them as one of many cooking ingredients rather than the primary part of a meal. This also goes for hardware goods: do you really need the latest, prettiest, Teflon-coated item when a simpler non-stick version will suffice at half the price?

4. Online Shopping

The Internet has put a lot of 'bricks and mortar' enterprises out of business, due to the reduced costs of centralization and fewer staff. It's also encouraged a lot of the major chain stores to get online and offer delivery to your door. This is good news for the customers, as some of the company's savings are passed on to us.

Surprisingly, many online grocery shopping bills work out cheaper than going to the store yourself, even taking into account the delivery fees. This is because you can order car-loads full of goods from the biggest, cheapest store instead of trawling around looking for individual bargains by hand. It's also very convenient, both in effort and time.

5. Heating and Electricity

Many of us forget the costs of heating and electricity until the suppliers hit us with a massive increase. A little thought in their management is, however, a very simple way to cut down your daily outgoings.

Dropping the temperature in your house by a single degree can have a huge effect on the bill, for example, as can simply remembering to vary the inside heating with the weather outside. If it's sunny and relatively warm, drop the heating by a couple of degrees for the day - the chances are you'll hardly notice, but your wallet will. If your supplier has cheap night hours, use the heating's timer to take advantage.

A lot of the electrical goods in our homes are also frequently forgotten and left on "stand-by". They're still using electricity, though very little comparative to when they're switched on. Still, actually switching them off can make a significant difference, especially if there are a lot of them. For example, if everyone is out in the daytime, the television, DVD player and sound systems can all be switched off at the mains. The microwave, too. It all adds up.

6. Save The Change

This idea is an old one, but has recently been implemented by some banks when using a debit card. The premise is that, every time you spend, you round up the cost and save the difference. For example, if your purchases cost $14.75, you pay $15 and put the odd 25 cents away. Those tiny amounts add up very quickly in a normal week.

Some banks have now started doing this: whenever a card purchase is made, they will deduct the rounded amount instead of the actual cost and put the difference into an account of your choice. Thus they reproduce what you could do yourself with cash. Given that most of us think of prices and bank balances in terms of round numbers, without the odd cents, this is an excellent idea.

7. Cashing In The Small Change

When you've been saving the change from all your purchases for a while, you'll often find that you have a great big pile of pennies and other coins. It can be a real pain to use small change to actually buy things, or even to count it all up and take it into a bank to deposit it.

In many central locations, usually large supermarkets, machines are now available that will do all the counting and so on for you. Admittedly, it'll cost you a small amount to use the machine, but most people tend to wait until they have literally bags full of pennies before they cash it up, so the automation can be very helpful. You'd be surprised by just how quickly all those little coins add up.

8. Cook From Basics

In our modern society, it's easy to choose convenience over cost-effectiveness. Why bother peeling, boiling and mashing potatoes when you can buy ready-made mash to throw in the microwave? Why bother cleaning and dicing your own vegetables when you can buy them ready-prepared? Why? Because it's cheaper to buy the raw ingredients and do the work.

All the ready-to-use and ready-to-cook packages in the supermarket are priced on their ingredients and the amount of preparation it took to get them to a saleable state. Unless a product is on special offer or you are cooking for one person with perishable ingredients, you'll be much better off financially by cooking from basics. Add a normal freezer into the mix, allowing you to prepare larger batches of food in one effort and your savings can be very noticeable.

9. Walk The Walk

Even in the modern setting of more environmentally-conscious society, it's frightening to see the number of people who will leave their house and get into their car to drive to a destination ten minutes away. The same goes for public transport. Stop for a moment to consider whether you really need to take your wheels with you on each trip.

A simple shopping trip to the local market may be within walking distance and could save you not only the cost of fuel, but parking charges as well. Taking the kids to school may be more enjoyable and a lot better for their health if you can walk for twenty minutes to get there. The advantages are not only financial, but physical and mental: walking is good for you, the fresh air will do you good and not having to face traffic will leave you less stressed.

10. A Trip To The Library

Libraries don't just stock books these days. They have Internet access, CDs, DVDs and tons of other services. If you're an avid reader, you can potentially save yourself a ton of money in book purchases by visiting your local library instead. Most offer an online reservation service, so you can make sure the titles you want are there before heading out, rather than wasting a trip.

Need a couple of films for the weekend? Why not rent them from the library instead of the local rental store? The chances are they'll cost you less and you'll be able to keep them a while longer, in case your weekend goes wrong and you don't get the chance to see them. And if you were to walk to the library, you can even save yourself the cost of public transport or the stress of driving.