Spend less 2021 and money saving tips

[birdiefly246]

-Like others have said do the savings at the beginning and anything left over at the end.

-If you have a credit card, designated a thing that you're going to use it for and that is all. For example, I use mine for petrol/transport every month and for any big day out. So if I'm going to a concert I'll use the money for the trip (e.g the petrol to get there and the meal out) and that is all. Also set yourself a max limit. I don't go over £150 even though the limit is above that. Really easy to fall into the trap of 'ah I'll stick it on my card'.

-If you can (I know some can't) do your grocery shopping online and have it delivered. I find that when I go to supermarket I see stuff and just throw it in the trolley. If I do it online I only order what I need and I can check the cupboards while I'm doing it if I need to.

- Try to extend the time in between shopping by doing 2 big shops a month instead of weekly. I will say this may not work for bigger families but as I live alone I find that it works much better. It means I actually buy what I need instead of just stocking up and I find I actually use everything up instead of wasting things as it's still x amount of days until my shopping.

- check your bank account every day. Helps you spot those random outgoings that you may not know of, and gives you a chance to save the pennies.

- Don't deny yourself things if you really want it or at the very least, replace it with something else. I find that if I go to hard and say okay I'm not buying any drinks I'm just going to drink water, I end up running to a shop half way through my week to buy something which is normally fizzy drinks costing a fortune. I buy fruit juice or squash now and the supermarket value ones are cheap but still nice.

- crazy vegan here but try and reduce the amount of meat you eat. Meat is so expensive and it tends to only make 1 meal whereas lentils which cost £1.65 can last for months! I once bought a big bag of lentils for £4.50 in Asda and they legitimately lasted me a year. Think about what you can do to your meals to bulk them up. Chickpeas, lentils, frozen veg, different varieties of beans, sweetcorn, etc all bulk up meals for significantly less than what meat would cost.

- reduce the amount of washing powder/liquid you use by around a quarter or half. You don't actually need to fill it to the line. Your clothes will be as clean as they will be with the full amount unless they are absolutely stinking which they usually aren't, but you'll stretch the amount of time you need to buy more. Also wash them on a lower temperature with a reduced spin.
If you really want save money invest in a wash ball which is like £15 but you can wash for months with it. I don't have one but my mum does and she reckons it's fine.

- try buying clothes etc when you need them from eBay or places like that instead of in store. I find that you can buy branded things, especially hoodies and stuff like that which will be much cheaper but also probably end up lasting you longer as the quality is better.

- leave reviews and complain, especially if you don't like something. I never think to send stuff back if I don't like cause I just think oh well that's life, but I've often left reviews when prompted via email and the company have commented on the reviews saying "phone this number to arrange to post it back to us and we'll give you a refund".


I'll be back with more but that's all I can think of right now

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[WilmaHun]

I'm definitely not the best person at saving, but I have been making a conscious effort lately. Here's a few things I now do.

- Have a weekly standing order going into my savings account (I guess it's relative to what you earn but mine is currently £65 per week).
- Set up "save the change" or whatever your bank offers on your account. It rounds up your spending and saves the spare change - I am surprised at just how much that helps!
- Start a spreadsheet which shows your outgoings (debts, bills, expenses etc). Once you know what you have left over each month you'll have a much better idea of how much is realistic. On a different tab on the same spreadsheet I also have a graph showing my debt, and how much is paid off (or it is increased by) each month. Seeing monthly movements really helps to motivate me to continue paying it off. I also have a graph showing my savings and again, seeing it in a graph going up and up really motivates me.
- Buy one of those savings pots which you have to smash to get into (can get them cheap off Amazon). I put all my spare change into it. (I tend to leave a £5 buffer of spare change in my purse) but anything taking me over my £5 buffer gets put into the pot. It really does add up!
- I restrict myself to one extra treat a week - tends to be a Saturday night takeaway. No midweek takeaways or trips to Greggs on my lunch break etc.

 

[Ohchristmastree]

Write a shopping list and stick to it, my biggest flaw is trying to do a food shop from memory. But the last six months I’ve stuck to a list and it makes a big difference in my budgeting. I live abroad and my supermarket has an app where you can scan the barcode of your product and it adds it to your list and gives you a running total. I don’t know if this is a thing in the U.K. (it wasn’t when I lived there) but having a list I find to be really helpful and not a huge lifestyle change.

 

[Porky_Goes_Pop]

This is something I’m trying to do this year.
So far I’ve started saving £2 in one of those non openable tins from the pound shop.
I put all my loose change (1,2,5,10,20) in an old demijohn.
I’ve signed up for save the change with the bank.
I’ve had a mass post-Christmas clear out and started listing things on eBay.
I’ve gone back to shopping at Aldi instead of Asda and also writing a shopping list and sticking to it as much as possible, instead of just browsing the aisles and picking up anything that takes my fancy!
We’ve knocked our “fancy” takeaway coffees on the head and bought thermos cups to take our own drinks out with us
I’m attempting to try and go the entire year without buying any new clothes or shoes

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Monkeybum]

I'm an excel geek and have a finances spreadsheet. At the start of each month I allocate what I think I'll spend on things to make sure I have enough money to last the month. I then change it to 'actual' when I know what I spent. Seeing exactly where money is going really helped me to cut back on some areas. Similar to others I transfer an allocated amount to save each month and then the day before payday I then transfer whatever is left to a savings account.

I find having a supermarket delivery helps too as in store I add bits and end up spending more

 

[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!

 

[mcfeez]

Not particularly a 'savings' tip per se. But sites like "Quidco" can earn you money, when you need to spend it. Its particularly good for certain purchases, things like buying insurance or broadband packages, you can serious money back.

For smaller purchases it all adds up and all it means is you have to click into your chosen site for shopping through quid co.

 

[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.

 

[TravellingPants]

Hi All, I’ve just found this thread (I’ve been deep in searches for money saving tips this week) it’s payday today and I’ve managed to save 90% this month.

However, I’m now starting to feel anxious/apprehensive about life after lockdown and staying on track with saving. For context I spent waaaaay too much than I saved last year. Although I achieved small wins realising now how much I squandered makes me feel sick.

Does anyone have any ideas how to keep going next month?

I think it’s about training your mind out of impulse purchases (if that’s an issue for you?) and setting a budget that you stick to. Tracking spending always really helps me hold myself accountable and spot the areas where I can pull back or assess ‘want’ vs ‘need’.

I’m really hoping that lockdown has taught me and my friends that we don’t need dinner/drinks/tickets to something to spend time together and catch up... but I am similarly apprehensive that being ‘set free’ will lead to lots of spending again to make up for lost time!

 

[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

 

[Nosymum]

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

I did the same deleted amazon, eBay, next and Etsy!

 

[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?

 

[rainbowlemon]

Very random but for those who like reading on kindles etc and maybe pay for books on them check to see if your library offers an online service where you can get books for free. I joined my local library online and then downloaded an app and put my new library member details in and get access to loads of the latest books all for free the app is called borrow box but I just joined on the library’s website first. Might be worth looking if your library has anything similar if you’re a keen reader!

I also have this app and it's amazing! Sometimes there can be a long waitlist, but the last non school book I bought myself was instrumental by James Rhodes in 2017! Think I've saved a small fortune by using libraries only.

I only became serious about saving money at 26. The best thing I did at 18 though was to pay into a £25 a month policy. It was over 10 years and I know I would have frittered that money away without even noticing it and it was in an account I couldn't touch until last year.

I pay £2 a week into my younger sister's (20) LISA account. Free 25% top up.

 

[TravellingPants]

Echo all of the above about shopping lists and conscious spending.

The thing that helped me most was using a tracker app (I used Dollarbird) to input where every penny was going and assign it a category (essential food shopping, junk food, health, beauty, clothes etc). It is a little admin heavy... I know Monzo etc do this automatically but for example if I’d been to the supermarket and bought my food shop and cleaning products, I would split them out into different categories.

It definitely stopped me making as many frivolous purchases because I’d need to document them and hold myself accountable. I am also quite stat-driven so being able to see the change in my spending habits acted as a reward for me.

 

[Iamonlyhereforthetea]

- Put money into savings at start of the month not at the end
- Set up a reminder on your phone for the night before pay day and transfer any left over money (even if it’s only a few £) to your savings
- Downgrade your supermarket shopping i.e. if you buy brand go to store own brand, if you already do this then try and swap to a cheaper supermarket e.g. go from Waitrose to Tesco and then to Aldi/Lidl
- Share any streaming services with a relative. I share Netflix, Amazon Prime and Discovery + accounts with my sister. We split the monthly charge and can stream on our own individual devices

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

Ditch the takeaways and junk food and set a healthy eating plan. Better for your health and better for your finances.

Start by going online and researching some good healthy recipes that you can make, then make a meal plan and write your shopping list based on that plan and stick to that list when you go the shops.

the other important thing I do is give myself a budget. When I get paid, I take away my outgoings and then I put half of what is left into my savings. The other half is divided by five to give me a weekly budget. If I don’t spend all of the weekly budget, the leftover also goes into savings.

 

[TJ90]

I’ve found not going to home bargains and b&m has helped me a lot. Yes, products might be a bit cheaper than the supermarket but you end up buying so many more than the basics that you spend a lot more than you would have done if you’d have just got it all in your supermarket shop. I’ve started getting the majority of our food shop from Aldi. I know we should buy local but we simply can’t afford it.

 

[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?