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It would be great if everyone could post their favourite tip for saving money. Since we're an international bunch I thought I'd do it with a format which mentions where the tip is valid. So here's one to kick off - I'm sure other people will have much better ones...

Country Where Valid: UK (and possibly Internationally)

Product/Service: Books

Tip: If you're buying a book on an ebay auction, try checking amazon as well. I regularly see people pay much more on ebay.co.uk for books that they could have got for less by clicking on the "new and used" sellers at amazon.co.uk - even taking into account that, at £2.75, Amazon's "new and used" charges are quite high.

[ruthyroo]

Country Where Valid: Everywhere!

Product/Service: Food / groceries / shopping

Tip: Meal plan for everything. Sit down once a week and plan what you are going to eat for the upcoming week - breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Plan your shopping list accordingly and only buy what is on the list! An empty fridge / bare cupboards at the end of the week is a sign of success!!

[SarahEDH]

Tip for women -- black seems to be "the" color in business clothes here, at least where I work (IBM/Wellington at the moment). You can build a wardrobe around a small number of good pieces -- I mean, who can tell the difference between 3 or 4 pairs of black pants and 20? I keep a basic black wardrobe with a small number of colorful blouses, jumpers and jackets to mix it up a little bit. You can get a lot of mileage out of several black skirts of different lengths and trousers of slightly different styles. This isn't the only color I wear -- khakis and jeans are okay in my office too -- but black is the workhorse color that keeps me from having to buy too many outfits.

Buying things that don't need dry-cleaning -- obvious money-saving tip but worth noting. I will say that my favorite clothes are the ones that DO require dry-cleaning but I don't wear them as often due to the cost, and so they stay nice longer . . . and I take better care of them here in NZ than I ever did back home because it's so hard to replace quality clothes at a reasonable price :wah