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Introduction to Saving Money
Everyone tries to be really good at saving money, some are better than others. It’s always best to have money put aside just in case and everyone has their own way of saving. With the ongoing cost of living and inflation crisis people are trying to save more and more money. In this article we look at 10 of the best tips for saving money.
Saving Money on Your Subscriptions
Everyone has subscriptions of some sort. The most popular ones are streaming services and magazines and there are plenty of them. The most popular being Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Youtube Premium, Time and the Economist. These prices vary but it is common to see people have more than one service at a time. Standard Netflix price is £10.99 per month and Disney+ is £7.99 per month. Both of these costs will cost you £277.73 a year which in these difficult financial times could be money better placed. We also have to look at how vital these subscriptions are. Youtube premium is £11.99 per month and all it does is get rid of ads and allow you to download videos. For paying that price you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it?
Saving Money on your TV deal
Sticking with television and this time we are looking TV box deals. In recent times more people watch Netflix then they do Sky, Virgin or even BBC. If you use Netflix quite a lot but rarely watch Sky maybe, it’s time to rework your deal. This could either be taking away some of the channels you don’t watch like sports or getting rid of it all together. One thing we are seeing more people do is cancelling their TV license. This is what is required in order to watch BBC programming and it has controversially been raised recently. It now stands at £159 a year and a lot of people are cancelling their license as they don’t see it as worth it. If you are like many others and don’t really watch much BBC programming cancelling it is a good way to be saving money.
Saving Money by Buying Own Brand
Whenever we go shopping, we see 100s of brands for various different items. Some of these include Nestle, Mcvities and Heinz. However, many shops like Tesco sell their own branded items as well and these are usually cheaper. In Tesco if you want to buy a pack of Digestives, Mcvitie’s Digestives will cost you £1.19. However, Tesco own brand will only cost you 50p. You will be saving 69p for something that tastes the exact same. If you were to do your whole weekly shop of just own brand items, then you would save a good amount of money. This would also mean that your monthly expenses decrease meaning more money in your pocket.
Take Advantage of Vouchers
Vouchers can be a great help and there are always plenty that offer deals. It is very common to see vouchers in newspapers offering £5 off x or £10 off y. Time to utilise these great deals by cutting them out and using them. These will help when it comes to saving money as you will be getting these products for far cheaper then usual. It’s also incredibly easy to do and requires no work so might as well use them.
Avoid the Payday Splurge
This is something we are all guilty of doing. You’ve just been paid, and you think I’m going to buy those new clothes or new game. Whilst for the first week we maybe living like the wolf of wall street by the end of the month we are broke. Instead stop and think, do I really need those clothes or games? Are they an absolute necessity or would it be better to be saving money or putting it aside for necessities? By having self-control over the payday splurge you can easily help save yourself save £100 if not more.
Consider Switching Supplier
We all use water, gas and electricity in our homes as they are some of the most basic necessities. We obviously pay money to energy suppliers for these necessities and each price varies company to company. Sometimes companies raise their prices, and it may feel as though you’re being ripped off. Well, it’s good to keep an eye on your bills and look at what other energy suppliers are offering. You may find that company x is charging £20 less and it would be wise to move to them. Always be sure to be on the lookout for the best deal possible as you could save yourself a good share of money.
Track Your Spending
This is another easy tip which is track what you spend per month. Place all your expenses into a spreadsheet for every month and you will be able to assess what money is going where. That way you can easily plan and budget for the next month and move money around if it is required. It does take a bit of time to input in all the expenses but the benefits for doing it make it all worthwhile.
Get a side hustle
A side hustle is like a part time job but far less time consuming. It is usually something that you can do from the comfort of your own home and spend no more then an hour doing. One of the most popular side hustles is to complete online surveys. These usually take 10-15 minutes each and can pay up to £30. Being paid that for doing something that takes little effort is a great way to make a little bit extra money. Depending on how many you do and how much you earn from it you can use this money to help pay bills or the weekly shop.
Cut back on Food Waste
This is another thing most of us will have experienced. We go through the cupboards or fridge and see leftover food that we won’t eat. More often than not it’s food we have forgotten we had, and it has expired. This means we have wasted money on things that we never used. Keep track of what you buy when it comes to food and think will I really eat this? Or will I just forget about it and let it go to waste? By doing this you will be little amounts here and there. However, in these times every penny counts when it comes to saving money.
Cut back on Smoking
Not everyone smokes but there is still a large chunk of the population who do. Smoking is not just damaging in terms of health but also financially. Your standard pack of 20 cigarettes will cost you about £10, £13 if we include a lighter. Some people smoke up to 20 cigarettes a day if not more. This means that £10 every day goes on cigarettes and that expense quickly adds up. That’s £70 a week and £3650 a year. All that money gone up in a cloud of smoke whereas that can be put to better things.
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