I’m a cheapskate single mum – my mad schemes to cut energy bills leave people stunned but I’ll have the last laugh

WITH the cost of living only rising day by day many mums will be looking for ways to cut costs.

And thrifty mum-of-three Catherine Lofthouse, 41, has done exactly that, managing to halve her family’s food bill and slashing her petrol costs by a third since the spring. 

Here she reveals how she’s managed to save money rather than spend it during the cost of living crisis.

Rely on your community fridge

Catherine has found a way to cut her weekly shopping cost down to just £20 for her family of five.

She says: “We’re lucky in our town that we have a brilliant social supermarket and a separate community fridge, both open to all. 

“Lots of people mistake these for food banks, but actually they are there to save surplus or almost out-of-date produce from going to landfill and they welcome everyone. 

“The social supermarket has a great range of fresh and tinned produce and you can fill up a shopping basket with vegetables for £1.

“I spend about £20 each week and usually come away with enough to feed my family of five for three or four days. 

“The community fridge is open on weekday lunchtimes and redistributes loose multipack stock from shops like Aldi and Lidl, which can’t sell the items once the packaging is damaged.

“I get lots of crisps, tins of beans or tuna and soft drinks from there. 

“My food bill has dropped from £590 for a family of five to £325 this month.”

Spread the cost of petrol with friends

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And that’s not the only change she’s made with Catherine relying on friends to help her cut down her petrol costs.

The Leicestershire mum adds: “We moved house last year and my children go to school in another village, so now I lift share with another mum to cut our petrol bills and give us both more time to work on the days we don’t do the school run. 

“I also check online to see if I’m going anywhere near a cheap petrol station and will fill up then rather than wait until I don’t have a choice over the cost.”

Time your energy usage

With energy bills on the rise again this month, one simple change helped cut a massive amount off Catherine’s bills.

She says: “I was shocked by our first winter energy bill of more than £250 a month. I got it down to less than £200 by making one simple change: checking what time our economy 7 metre turns on. 

“This is usually sometime between 10 pm and 8.30 am, depending on where you live. But our dial is so old and has lost so much time that our seven hours of cheap energy are running in the middle of the day. 

“Once I started setting our appliances to run during the daytime instead of overnight when I had assumed it would be cheaper, we immediately saw a massive reduction in costs. 

“It’s worth checking your metre if you don’t know exactly when your cheaper rate kicks in.

“And remember to factor in the clocks going back in the autumn and forward in the spring, as most dials are analogue and won’t automatically adjust.”

Ask for freebies

Catherine explains: “After hearing that some energy companies like Octopus gave away free electric blankets last winter, I’ve just invested in some for my children to keep the heating low in the bedrooms and save money. It’s easy to check if you’re eligible for any similar schemes with your energy provider. 

“Between January and April, Octopus sent out 7,000 free electric blankets to customers. 

“The smart metres of 4,190 customers who received electric blankets showed they had reduced their energy bills by a fifth compared to a control group, which could be a saving of £300 over a year for the average household.”

Fry your way to better finances

Next up on her list of cost-cutting measures is finding cheaper ways to cook.

Catherine says: “If you’re after a new air fryer to help cut cooking costs but are worried about the expense of buying it, why not team up with another household to invest?

“Then take it in turns to have it at home and you’ll both be saving, plus you won’t have to find a space to store a bulky piece of kitchen equipment when it’s not in use. 

“If you already have an air fryer and a neighbour has a slow cooker, you could swap appliances every now and again for batch cooking and save on the expense of buying two separate appliances for each household.”