With inflation currently in double digit many are finding themselves in a difficult financial place. People have a question on their mind – how to start saving money?
While I am a strong believer that you should focus on finding ways to make money rather than cutting expenses – there is an issue with this. You are able to cut your expenses at a fairly quick turnaround and see the result. Making more money often takes longer to achieve.
Below I will give you 26 ideas that you can apply to your own life to start seeing the results fairly quick. Go though the below checklist and applying the relevant techniques to your own personal finances. The following step will be to start thinking of ways to increase your income.
1. create a budget
Firstly, I would suggest creating a budget. This will allow you to identify how much money you have and where do you spend this. Try to make things like savings and investments part of this to see the full picture. This will also allow to identify potential ways to save and give a blueprint to how much to spend on what category.
2. plan your grocery trips
Reducing impulse purchases is another great way to save yourself some cash. Never shop while you are hungry. Create a list of items while you are home and make sure to stick to this.
Getting 5 additional items into your basket can easily cost you over £10.
3. review your debt
One of the smartest ways to reduce your expenses – take your debt seriously. Credit Card debt for example can easily cost you 20-30% per year. Pay day loans can be even more expensive.
Getting on top of these debts can save you a lot over long run. Use one of the 2 well known methods to start clearing your debt and getting in charge of your personal finances.
4. create a sinking/emergency fund
Creating a sinking fund or an emergency fund can be a great way to boots your savings. Firstly, it gives you peace of mind that you can cover unexpected expenses. If you store this money is a savings account – it will also pay you interest. It’s a great way to have both a peace of mind as well as make some interest on the side.
5. review all your subscriptions
Doing this is much easier once you have a budget and understand where exactly your money goes. There are people who have multiple subscriptions of the same type – SKY Sports and BT Sports. Both charge a lot but do you actually still use both of these?
There are many other apps that do the same thing yet people choose multiple of these – Amazon Prime and Netflix, Spotify and Apple Music. Make sure you know all your subscriptions and actually use these.
6. try before you subscribe
One mistake I have seen people do in January – subscribe to gym for 12-18 month contract. In the new year people normally feel motivated about changing their habits and exercise is often one of those.
After a couple of weeks people are left with full term of the contract while they no longer use the subscription. Rather than thinking – I will save myself 10% each month over the life of the contract, subscribe to a slightly more expensive monthly option and trial it first. This will give you confidence that you won’t end up wasting money in the long term.
7. use free trials
Many apps/services offer a free trial before you start paying. Use these and look for codes online that can extend the trial period even longer. Check if you can try, unsubscribe and then resubscribe after a period of time.
8. check your utility providers
Often people stay with the same utility provider for years and don’t shop around. Check if any of your contract have expired and you are free to move. Other providers can give you a better deal and some welcome bonuses on top.
9. automate bills
Automating your bills is another good way to save yourself some cash. Direct debits will take care of you forgetting to pay on time and being charged with late penalties. These can add up over time.
10. pay insurance upfront
I used to buy my insurance and pay this in monthly instalments. Later I realised that the full price of the product was actually 10-15% higher compared to paying it all as a lump sum.
I now always save money in a sinking fund to pay the whole amount upfront. This can easily save £50-100 per year for your car insurance.
11. try saving challenges
There are many savings challenges available. The idea is – you save on a regular basis an amount of some sorts.
Some ideas and examples are:
- Roll the dice daily/weekly – whatever number it lands on, that’s the amount to transfer into your savings account
- Save daily – start with 1p on 1st of Jan and finish with £3.65 on 31st of Dec. As this might turn Dec very expensive – write all the available options on bits of paper, put these in a hat and pull one daily
- Throw a dart – save the number you hit. Hitting bulls eye will be an expensive one
12. round up your expenses
One other clever way to save money – round up your expenses. There are some apps that do it for you. Alternatively, you can simply look at your card expenses and do it manually.
The idea is – you round every purchase up to the nearest pound or even a tenner. This way – every day that you spend any money, you also save some.
13. apply 7 day rule before buying expensive item
One other way to save money – being wiser with what the money is spent on to start with. Often people buy items they don’t really need. This has a tendency to add up over time.
7 day rule helps you filter out these unnecessary purchases. Once you see an item you like – don’t buy it and sit on it in your head for 7 days. If after a week the item is still top of your mind – buy it. Otherwise this was simply an impulse purchase.
14. cashback websites
Cashback websites are great. You can earn cashback for simply buying the same good you normally would through a link from a cashback site. Depending on what you are looking to buy – you can potentially earn yourself hundreds of pounds. TopCashback is by far my favourite one to use.
15. check if your employer offers discount program
There is an alternative to cashback sites – employer offered discount platforms. Many people have this perk at work yet very few actually use these. The idea is extremely simple – you buy whatever you need through a link and get a discount or cashback credited to you.
16. cook your office meals at home
A way that can easily save you £5 per day if you work from office – prepare your meals at home the night before. The odds are – the meal will be more nutritious and healthier as well as it will save you a chunk of cash over time.
17. use a cheaper supermarket
Getting your groceries from the likes of Lidl and Aldi isn’t something to be ashamed off. You can reduce your grocery bills significantly. And the items you can’t find there – simply get those from your regular supermarket.
18. buy reduced products
It is worth having a look at the reduced section in your supermarket while you are there. Some of these items can be sold at a discount of 90%. If you are planning on consuming it the same evening – the products will definitely be fresh.
19. buy in bulk
One other way you can save cash – buy in bulk when it is cheaper. Items like toilet paper are being used constantly and a larger pack won’t go to waste. This way you can save yourself both money for buying cheaper and time for not having to go back to the same shop.
20. collect loyalty points
Loyalty point are the hidden gem. These are offered by majority of retailers. Buy 9 coffees and get the 10th for free. Or why not get 1% discount in Tesco through their loyalty program? All of these schemes add up over time.
21. look for discounts/vouchers
Discount codes are real gold. And finding these online is fairly easy. If you are not feeling like doing it manually – there are many browser plugins that will scan the net for the best deals for you.
22. try to fix things
Trying to fix things rather than replacing them can be a great way to save. Added layer to this – try to fix these yourself so you don’t have to pay someone else to do this.
One advice – try to estimate the time and cost of replacing parts. It might end up being cheaper if you replace the item rather than its parts.
23. declutter
Decluttering is a great way to make your place look brighter, cleaner, give you more space … and make you some money. Rather than throwing everything into the bin or take it to the charity shop – see if you can sell some of these items.
Someone can get a quality item at a reasonable price while you can earn a couple of quid for yourself.
24. reduce temperature by 1 degree
With energy costs being sky high – reducing the temperature at home a little can save you a fair bit over a longer period of time. The actual saving will depend on the size of the property, its energy efficiency and the type of heating source you have. These factors make it hard to estimate the saving you could get.
25. turn the lights/appliances off
When you are leaving the room – turn those light off! Also, this applies to all the sockets that are not in use. Switching all of the above off will save the energy and reduce the pressure on the grid as well as reduce your monthly bills.
26. consider renewable energy
One further alternative – consider getting solar panels. This way you can power your home with help of green energy. On top of this you can also sell what you do not use back to the provider and get some money that way.