h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I organised a "swishing" event which is a sort of clothes swapping evening. I think this sort of thing will become more popular in the future, as an environmentally friendly and cheap way of revamping your wardrobe.

I'm very conscious of the amount of food being thrown out, and in fact I'm working on a Guide Entry on that matter as we speak! (there's a thread in Ask, all contrbutions welcome.) But menu planning is the way to go, so as not to buy too much food to begin with. Sometimes BOGOF offers aren't really a saving.

Big expenses - I've just sold my motorbike in order to fund a new bathroom. I really couldn't justify keeping something that I only used about 3 times a year. Which reminds me, I must clear out some surplus biker boots and gear and sell those too.

My biggest worry for the future is for my children - the expense of putting them through University or other post school education, coupled with the expense of driving lessons and massively increased insurance premiums, and at the end of it all their job prospects are not looking rosy. Those sleepless nights as a parent just never stop!

Hi Beatrice, lovely response - honest and practical. A lot of folk will have to be 'creative' in their thinking in the coming months and years, as more of us are going to be feeling the pinch. The clothes swishing idea is a great one. Buying or even bartering/trading second-hand goods is good fun, cheap and ecologically sound! I still get a cheap thrill whenever I don my 2nd-hand tweed jacket made by the esteemed company Magee of Donegal which cost me £20, in great nick as well.

Find a roommate who works shifts opposite yours. When you are sleeping, they are working, and vice versa. It's like both of you have a private residence, only at half the price. Once you have split housing/food/utility/supplies costs, you'll be amazed how much money you are saving every month.

The cost of a two-bedroom unit over a one-bedroom, once split, now saves me a third what I used to pay for the one-bedroom. The down side is bathroom cleaning, every day. I can live with that, as the bathroom is always spotless.

I like to cook; they don't. But once they saw how much they saved on eating at home instead of eating out for everything, that tune changed fast, too. I can buy groceries for two people for half their eating-out budget every week. I cook, they wash up.

Outlining the rules first was a must. Not complicated, but in writing - no surprises.

So far, so good.