Spend less 2021 and money saving tips

[Nebbymoo]

Going into 2021 I'm hoping to really try to reign in my spending. I'd like to start saving money where I can too.
My household is a family of 5 and 3 animals so any saving will be fantastic.
What's your best money saving tips? I'm sure theres plenty of us on here all looking to save a few quid where we can and its always good to have other people for support so thought I'd start a thread for anyone else who's interested

 

[Elvis4525]

I’m interested too.. going back to work part time after being on maternity so definitely need to be more careful with my money.
One of my goals is to not spend money on things I don’t need.. whenever I’m out I always end up picking stuff up and then have shoppers regret cause I didn’t really need it/already had something similar at home. I guess this may be easier with the shops not being open though..

 

[Swipeuplikeandshare]

I deleted Amazon app as it was too easy to buy things there
I try to use my phone instead of a debit card as I have a spend limit on it

 

[kittypaws]

Money boxes are a really good shout! Depends how often you have change obviously but i bought my bf a money box last year and he just put pound coins in it. I bought it him for Christmas and by august he had over £500 in it! He also has a second money box for all other change as well.

 

[Giggling Squid]

Tiny things you don’t even notice really start to add up - I think most banks let you save the pennies, so all transactions get rounded up and the pennies get added to savings

 

[Melier]

Tiny things you don’t even notice really start to add up - I think most banks let you save the pennies, so all transactions get rounded up and the pennies get added to savings

Second this! I have this set up on my bank and I’ve saved up a few hundreds pounds just from rounding up my spending

 

[MonkeyTennis]

Not a revolutionary tip or anything here but l tend to avoid Poundland as l go into to get just one thing and comeout with a shead load having spent 15 quid on stuff l really didn't need.

Also a lot of cleaning products and the like are cheaper in Lidil and Aldi than Poundland.

And before shopping l write down a list and stick to it as much as possible. No extras, l used to bring out the exact amount of money for my shopping in cash, so there was no temptation to get anything else. However since Covid I am using my card more and find the little "extras" going into the trolley. And my weekly savings going down.

So l'm going to try and get into the habit of withdrawing exactly what l need in cash for shopping and petrol and leave my card at home. I also make sure l have the right amount ready at the till, as l don't want to be "that person" who holds up a queue, counting their coppers out.


God my life is boring

 

[hashbrown123]

I find what helps me is set myself a weekly budget (not including bills but just purely spare money) of £50. I probably don’t need that much but I do it so I’m never having to dip into my savings. Every Friday I move whatever I haven’t spent of that £50 into another account and do this every week. At the end of the month anything I’ve got left over I move into my savings.

I also try and save at least £50 a month anyway and move it into my savings on pay day so I dont have it sitting in my main bank account waiting to be spent for very long lol. The best advice I could give was before you get started to go through your debits and make sure you need everything and cancel anything you don’t.

also if you’ve got any debts I would pay them all off first before saving If you can. I had about £3k to pay off but I did that so I know that the spare money I have is mine to save and means no interest payments

 

[Fofoca]

Move your money.

Loads of good tips above of how to spend less so my tip for step 2 is to “move your money”.

I know interest rates are pretty much non-existent these days, but I find it easiest to save money when it’s in a separate account. If it’s not there you can’t “accidentally” spend it. Even £5 a month will add up. £50 a month if you can would be £600 at the end of the year.

If you’re the type of person who feels they need a specific goal then have two pots and split that £50 however you want (£25/£25, £10/£40, whatever motivates you!).

My tip on how to spend less -
Examine your kitchen and bathroom.
Pick one item at a time and try and swap it out for a cheaper version. Sometimes you might try something else and not like it, that’s fine, stick to the original - this isn’t supposed to be torture. But maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised and save some pennies down the line, and as others said, the pennies do add up.

Good luck!

Oh! Didn’t see @hashbrown123 ‘s comment but absolutely agree and love the filtering of savings.

And that’s another useful point - just being really mindful of where your money is and what it’s doing will (hopefully) make saving easier. Not in an overly obsessive way - finances don’t need to be super complicated (as I think we are often led to believe).

It’s so cliche to say but once you’ve got a rhythm going and saving becomes second nature it is about just making your money work harder. Make the £ streeeeeetch. I have a list of certain items that I never buy unless on promotion/discounted. Mayonnaise, ketchup, drinking chocolate, fabric conditioner...I buy these all branded because I didn’t like the cheaper swaps but buying them discounted is my compromise.

And I have three pots - holiday, handbag, house. Whatever floats your boat!

 

[kadykal95]

Firstly sit down and work out how much disposable income you have either monthly or weekly.
Then decide how much you want to save each month.
Set yourself a budget and don't go over it.

Check if you could save on your energy bill - Martin Lewis has some good tips for this.
Start shopping at Aldi/Lidl. Stick to a strict food shopping list. Don't buy any spur of the moment extras and no brand items.
Buy in bulk if you can.
Do a takeaway/eating out ban and do a fakeaway at home instead.
Cancel any gym memberships and start excising at home or start running outside.
Do you have a phone contract? Can you go pay as go instead?

 

[Greys1324]

Try and earn some extra money through apps. I use Shoppix, Storewards, HuYu, OnePulse and Profilic and can earn £20-30 a month extra. I put that straight in my savings, only a little but it all adds up!

 

[LaurieLaurie]

Keep out of supermarkets. I found myself popping into them daily before lockdowns and before I knew it wasting £30+ on absolutely nothing.

 

[lemonlime]

Last year I've cut way back on online shopping and takeaway. Deleting the convenient apps and logging out on my laptop and deleting the cookies and saved passwords helped. I also no longer click "remember password" on websites etc. so that I'm not as easily tempted to buy stuff that I think I want/need but will forget in a couple of weeks.
Changed my mobile network provider as my old one was way overcharging. The service isn't as smooth but I live in a central area and the reception is usually perfectly fine so it's not enough to deter me from a cheaper package.
Cancelled all subscriptions I don't use very often or switched to a cheaper package if it's not something that really adds to my life apart from the occasional convenience.
Recording what I spend helped me see where my money goes and I regret not keeping this up throughout 2020. The pandemic threw me off and I just didn't care but definitely goin back to this and looking for a simple excel template to record the overall situation. For daily recording of spendings, I just used a small notepad as I don't like keeping notes on my phone. (I've made expense categories basen on what my needs and wants were.) Having clarity about how much money you actually have and what you can actually afford is a great starting point.
I also try not to use my credit card much. I prefer my debit card and spending the money I do have on what I can afford. (Life doesn't always go according to plan but this is what I aim for.)
I still have my impulse purchase etc. but compared to a few years ago I'm doing much better.

 

[Mulholland Drive]

Take a look at your broadband package. Is it coming up for renewal? do you need the fastest speeds for streaming? Can you go with a much cheaper package without too many sacrifices?

 

[Nebbymoo]

Loads of great tips there, thanks so much!
Currently have one of those tins you cant open and the curiosity of how much is in there is killing me already
Cheapest phone sim deals already going and broadband.
Cancelled other tv services.
I think our biggest expense is take aways and buying junk food/things we dont need. So that's definitely where I'm going to focus first.
Transferring change across to savings account too!
Look forward to seeing how this goes this month

 

[LaurieLaurie]

We have Sim only deals with Tesco and paid for the iPhone handset from John Lewis. £20 for two sim deals, we each have 8gb, 5000 texts and 5000 calls.

 

[Kim Mild]

Remember that you can't magic up money , you can only reconfigure the spending of money you already have.

I write in my diary each day if I spend anything and I have a monthly paypal and direct debit spending list. Keep an eye on little spends here and there which mount up.

Buying/ selling second hand can be cost effective.

I am naturally frugal which helps.

 

[JoeBloggs]

I have a excel of all our costs each month. I put that in the joint, then we both get £400 for every day things and then the rest go into savings. I budget for all insurances so they can be paid in full to save and I also budget for Christmas so that is already paid for. Unless we’ve bought something big once the £400 runs out that’s it.

 

[Belulah]

I have a chip and plum account. Both take money every four days. I also have plum put a tenner away every time it rains and it puts £1 a week away as well.

 

[AnderbeauJohnson]

Pinto beans are great for either replacing or making pork mince go further. Cannellini/Haricot beans can do the same for chicken.

If you find yourself stress spending for a dopamine fix make a list of other things that you find enjoyable/calming and do one of those for five minutes first when the urge to spend strikes.