Save-a-quid-or-2 thread

[Kumagoro]

There are a load of tesco codes on Hotukdeals.co.uk valid for the next couple of
weeks the best one being £12 off £80

[Ferral]

We have just done a road test in the wet. Our car has a mileage in the tank feature. Coming back from Washington we started with 114 miles in the tank, when we got home we had 194 miles in the tank.

How we did it :

4th gear and travelling between 40 to 50 mph.
Cantered round the roundabouts like mentioned.

Why not though canter when it comes to exit ramps and other downhill roads also, doing this actually really helped our mileage

[digit]

For more fuel savings on a modern-ish car, make sure to coast in gear - no neutral or clutch. Yes you won't be able to coast as far, but the difference is you will be using absolutely zero fuel to do so - as soon as you use the clutch or neutral your engine has to use a surprising amount of fuel to maintain a smooth idle. You will also have full control of the car in gear.

I wasnt aware of this, will come in very handy with the amount of driving I have fast approaching!

Reguarding A/C I only turn it on for short bursts when it gets really hot cools down the car a bit then gets turned off again, usually A/C will be for a max of ten seconds before it then gets turned off again. I make sure I always have my fan set to cold on either 1 / 2 to keep my car cool all of the time.

I'm not sure if anyone else has heard of staying in 5th gear as much as possible at low speed like 30MPH for example, does it really make a difference?

[MadduckUK]

One word of caution though; unless you want a room to look cold DON'T let your PC-pimp side take over and buy the blues ones... stick with white or you'll end up with a room looking like the inside of a modders case.

need UV reactive furniture

[stytagm]

I'm not sure if anyone else has heard of staying in 5th gear as much as possible at low speed like 30MPH for example, does it really make a difference?

My driving instructor (going back 10 years now) worked for a company where they logged all mileages and fuel consumption, and he reckoned he got 5% better fuel economy than anyone else at his branch by using 5th at 30 on the flat.

Obviously this is dependent on your car (driving school cars are typically small and light), some will grumble a bit which is probably not good on balance.

Edit: Also remember that Driving instructors probably drive on the dot of 30 far more than most people. YMMV

[kalniel]

I'm not sure if anyone else has heard of staying in 5th gear as much as possible at low speed like 30MPH for example, does it really make a difference?

Depends on the engine and gear ratios obviously, but if it's not labouring the engine to do so then yes, doing 30 in 5th is fine.

In my diesel 30mph is basically idle revs in 5th gear, which is fine for gentle roads but it doesn't like hills too much.

[staffsMike]

I'm pretty much always in 5th but accelerating in 5th isn't necerssarily the most economic thing to do, especially if you find your foot welded to the floor trying to get it to move.. best to change down and use less throttle I have found.

[manwithnoname]

I'm pretty much always in 5th but accelerating in 5th isn't necerssarily the most economic thing to do, especially if you find your foot welded to the floor trying to get it to move.. best to change down and use less throttle I have found.

accelerating in 5th is probably is economical thing to do fuel wise but if the engine is labouring then you may be doing damage to the motor. You can have you're foot the the floor but it the RPM of the engine is still low then you will not be using much fuel

[digit]

Depends on the engine and gear ratios obviously, but if it's not labouring the engine to do so then yes, doing 30 in 5th is fine.

In my diesel 30mph is basically idle revs in 5th gear, which is fine for gentle roads but it doesn't like hills too much.

Thanks for the explaining that

accelerating in 5th is probably is economical thing to do fuel wise but if the engine is labouring then you may be doing damage to the motor. You can have you're foot the the floor but it the RPM of the engine is still low then you will not be using much fuel

Won't be accelerating quickly at all though ... I myself like staffsMike choose to go down a gear to allow for more revs to get me up to speed.

[kalniel]

Agreed - use peak torque range for accelerating and once at speed change to the highest gear possible without labouring the engine.

[GAteKeeper]

Accelerating in 5th at 30 or even trying to in my 1.6 petrol 307 sees my mpg (I have the trip computer for ~instantainous mpg) go from ~55-60 (flat road tickling along in 5th) to ~20 and gain ~1mph in the process. Change down if you need to accellerate.

Best trick for saving elecly money, based on our Southern electric usage monitor (its really cool), is to only boil the water you actually need in the kettle. Our usage is about 400Watts (yes watts) during the day (200 if its just the fridges) and 650ish in the evening when everyone is in, but the kettle is like 3.15kW so even if its only on for a few minutes its still stucking major juice.

GK

[manwithnoname]

Thanks for the explaining that



Won't be accelerating quickly at all though ... I myself like staffsMike choose to go down a gear to allow for more revs to get me up to speed.

Suppose it depends how quickly you need to accelerate but if you are accelerating in 5th why change down to 4th. I can't imagine the journey time been increased greatly and on the other hand not sure how much extra fuel would be used - but if you're trying to save money ...

[CrazyMonkey]

My sister comes home from Uni as often as possible - That way gets free meals etc at home and my parents often buy her things to take back, plus she raids the cupboards and makes a quick exit

[fray_bentos]

Use cashback sites for online purchases, e.g. Quidco. For insurance products some offer £50, as do Orange, the money would normally go to someone else but you might as well have it.

For financial products make sure the quote is the cheapest though, treat cashback like a bonus.

Edit: As others might have said, read Moneysavingexpert.com and check Hotukdeals.com - but even if it's on offer doesn't mean you have to buy it!

[Mrs Dak]

Boots Advantage Card. Keep an eye out for the extra points offers, they've got one today with an extra 1000 points (= £10). There is a minimum spend (think it's £60 today), but I wait till they have this offer combined with the extra points on clinique and then place my order. Have spent £66 this morning, but received £22 worth of points which I redeem at christmas time and get my girls loads of goodies for their stockings. I had £100 worth of points to redeem last december

[Lee H]

I get loads of advantage points from boots when they have the special offers on aftershaves like issey miyake pour homme and the new limited edition one