For those of you who don't know about our super successful Money Diaries series, it works like this: Each week, a person anonymously records their outgoings to give us an insight into their spending habits, salary, rent, bills and more.
We've covered everyone from the single mum to the university student, the comedian to the police detective. We've had salaries ranging from £9k to nearly £1 million. We've had contributors hailing from Newcastle, Brighton, Tokyo and Los Angeles. We've had diaries that have gone viral and diaries that have started debates.
As Money Diaries has got more popular, the comments sections have gone off. Which is both good (I'll tell you why in a second) and bad (consider this my annual reminder to commenters to remember that these are real people posting their diaries, real people with real feelings).
Why good? Well, the comments have turned into a surprisingly good place for savings advice. Turns out you lot are a fountain of knowledge on everything from how to get the best price for prescriptions to how to save money living on a canal boat.
We've collated our favourite pieces of advice from recent diaries to help you get better at your finances. Click through to have a read.
And for those of you who want more Money Diaries content, we now have a Money Diaries Facebook group you can join which is also jam-packed with helpful tips from readers on how to be a money genius.
"One thing I would suggest is annual travel insurance – my boyfriend and I just paid under £25 for couple's European cover for a year. If under a week in Valencia costs £7.49 this seems like a money saving tip??"
Commenter Cuffers on A City Break In Valencia
"Re. half price Itsu, OP should see if she can find a Wasabi nearby because they do half price before closing as well and it's way cheaper – you can get two dinners for £8!"
Commenter Cyan Battery on A Woman On 35k Living On A Narrowboat
"It's difficult to ask when you're just starting out, but work should be paying you a breakfast and dinner allowance for these nights away. I hope you've kept the receipts & drop your HR team an email.
I felt embarrassed too first starting out, but now, at quite a senior level I expense everything – from a £2.40 tube ticket onwards. You should never be subsiding [sic] an employer. HR won't think any the less of you for asking, I promise."
Commenter Red Popsicle on A Restaurant Manager In Newcastle On 23k
"Whilst £70k is a good salary it is important for all those going on about how 'rich' she is to realise that her tax bill will be pretty high, she works freelance – so the mortgage requirements are harder, and work benefits such as sick pay, holiday, maternity etc are likely to be non-existent."
Commenter Red Popsicle on A Digital Editor In Bath On 71.5k
"You're paying £17.60 a month for prescriptions? That works out to £211.20 a year! Please look into the 12-month PPC (pre-prescription payment certificate), which only costs £104 a year if you need more than 12 prescriptions per month. Or the three-month PPC at £29.10 if you need more than three prescriptions in three months. You will save so much money!"
Commenter Cyan Bottle on A Restaurant Manager In Newcastle On 23k
"I don’t want to be 'that person' but I just want to give a heads up to anyone who is going on holiday soon and is buying travel insurance – many companies will void your cover if you purchase it in the airport because technically your holiday begins when you leave the home."
Commenter Olive Flask on A City Break In Valencia
"Look for venues like pretty village halls or community spaces which give you free rein on food, drink and decor. You can usually get the whole space for a few days (to set up and take down) if you explain what it’s for. Go out of season if you can (we did October).
We got our wedding bands custom made by an independent jeweller which was a lot cheaper. We also got a ‘wedding blooms’ bucket of flowers where we did the arranging ourselves, and that was cheaper than getting a florist.
I don’t feel that we had to compromise on much for the wedding, and it came in under £10,000 ."
Commenter Lisa Scott Thacker on How I Spent 10k On My Wedding & Still Had A Free Bar
"Loved this, this lady sounds lovely. However – and I tell loads of people this – stop buying Nurofen! It's just cheap as chips ibuprofen with the added price tag of being a 'brand'. Ibuprofen is about 40p. Hope this helps save a few quid."
Commenter PurpleBandaid on A Recently Divorced 33-Year-Old On 33k
"I live on a boat, and work full time online. Grab yourself a WiFi box off ebay (£50 ish) and an unlimited data sim from three (about £25/month) and you have unlimited fast WiFi Internet access (and sky go!) throughout the boat, it changed my working life!"
"Also I would really recommend getting a storage battery for your solar power (Tesla Powerwall for example). Decent upfront cost but means you don't have to worry about where you are moored as it'll store the energy your panels make for later!"
Commenters PurpleChefHat and Blue Plane on A Woman On 35k Living On A Narrowboat
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Money Diary: A 24-Year-Old Trainee Lawyer On 45k In London