To ask what you do to save money?

[time4change2020]

DP and I are gonna go try to overhaul our finances next year. We currently have no savings behind us and I would like a bit of a safety net to fall onto if we need to.

This year has been particularly hard financially and I've finally said that it's time to change.

What do you do to save money?

I don’t buy coffees, drinks, cakes, chocolate at work or out and about. I don’t smoke or drink. Don’t eat in fancy restaurants as don’t really enjoy them. I still do the things I love, travelling, having friends over for meals, etc. I have 6 figure savings on a £40k salary.

Also I shop at lidl and aldi

I meal plan and portion plan so there is less waste. I take lunch into work so I don’t generally buy lunch.

We also save first and budget out of what is left, spent this year overhauling our finances and rang all the companies I pay monthly bills to (bar council and water) and saved hundreds of pounds a year by haggling them all down.

As a mother of six under fives (yikes), it can be quite hard to save. All my kids seem to like different things so meal times can be a nightmare, but I found a way to manage.

I pay my rent every month (I'll be moving onto mortgage after the new year when we move house to be closer to family), so that goes out automatically with the rest of my bills and taxes. I spend £40 a month on each gas and electric and I'll often bath the triplets together and my older three together to save hot water, and they all love it so there's no complaints off them!

I do all my shopping at Lidl and Aldi to save money and get some essentials from ASDA if I have to. My triplets are three months old and are all in hand me downs from their big sisters or their older cousins. We reused the furniture like cots and prams and bouncers as my mum stored a lot and my brother's kids outgrew theirs as my kids grew into them.

We don't tend to go out much because six kids as a single parent is a hassle, but if we do, we go to local places like the park or the forest or farms by either my house or my parent's house and the kids just run around and burn off steam. I plan for Christmas starting in June/July and start buying their presents then before they run out or get more expensive in November/December, and I buy wrapping paper and tags in January when they're going dirt cheap so shops can get rid of them.

It's a struggle but we've been doing this since my first was born nearly four years ago and we have quite a bit of money saved up to go towards the mortgage or holidays when all the kids are a bit older.

1. No takeaways (we haven’t had one for almost 18 months now)
2. Sounds daft, but look at every single standing order going out of any accounts you have. I was sceptical but saved us £80 a month by doing this. Obviously don’t cancel things you need but I found I was still paying for a phone I didn’t have, that I was building up a credit balance with my energy provider, that I was paying for an insurance I didn’t need and could change my car breakdown plan for a cheaper one.
3. Don’t buy coffee to go. Sure, go out for a coffee to meet a friend, that’s an enjoyable social thing, but invest in a little flask or stay-hot cup. And take a packed lunch. You might only save, say £1.50 a day but think how that adds up,
4. Have you got anything you can sell, I don’t mean particularly valuable but bits and bobs. Music Magpie gives you an easy price for any old phones.
5. On the day you get paid, have a standing order going to a savings account, even a tiny amount like £20 a month adds up. Once you have a little bit saved, consider buying Premium Bonds. Savings interest rates are rubbish anyway at the moment, but with PBs you have a chance to win a prize and the original investment stays the same

I have started the last two years with a no spend January, 31 days of not spending, apart from supermarket shopping & transport costs.

This really hones in on spending, no coffees outside the home (or friends homes) no buying lunch when at work (make packed lunch) no magazines, popping to the shops etc

I use the money advice service budget planner, which you can save online and log into www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/budget-planner

I have my wages paid into my current account
Then I have a separate current account without cards etc which all the household bills are paid. Each month a standing order goes to the bills account on pay day, to cover the yearly bills amount divided by 12 - this includes MOT, car insurance, council tax, gas & electric.
I have a third account for savings which a standing order is set up again on payday, this is my savings

What is left in my current account is mine to spend on supermarket shopping, fuel and sundries - but like pocket money for me and the house.

The less I spend the more there is left in this account at the end of the month..which is usually £5 🤣

Yellow sticker reductions for meat or ready meals. Freeze for another day.

Cook big casseroles and soups from scratch. Portion up and freeze.

Use birthday or Christmas money on season passes to a local attraction (or buy instead of loads of toys). Mini morning cinema is good value.

Charity shops are full of lovely stuff where I live. I got a brand new high end makeup set today for £2.

Walk if possible to save petrol money.

Invite friends with children round for lunch rather than meeting in a cafe or pub. More relaxed, children entertain each other, much cheaper.

Join the library and use it.

Cut down on snacks, alcohol and soft drinks. Healthier, saves a lot of waste (wrappers, cans etc) and saves money.

Use soap bars, shampoo bars and conditioner bars rather than liquid versions. Basically you are paying for the water that's been added to it, the packaging and the cost to transport the extra weight. I started my first shampoo bar 4 months ago, wash my hair every 2 days and it hasn't run out yet!

Every few days I go into my bank account and withdraw a few quid to round down my current account to the nearest fiver. Usually ends up skimming about £30-40 a month from my current account - money that would probably have been blown on a latte here, a scratch card there etc. The money goes in a savings account - this year I put the yearly amount towards Christmas. Next year I plan to put it into an ISA.

We find it really hard to save monthly, so once a year when my husband gets his bonus in March we just put the whole amount into an ISA. It may only just be a few grand but it adds up over the years and means if our washer breaks or we need a new car we don’t need to worry as the money Is there.

We have a savings account that a small amount of money automatically gets transferred into at the start of every month.

We also have our son's savings account - same process but a smaller sum of money.

This way it's done and you don't need to think about it.

Other things we do: put a tenner in a pot each month jan - Oct so that we have £100 for Christmas shopping. Obviously that's not enough but at least it takes the edge off things!

Once a week I put a few coins into my son's piggy bank and put about a fiver away in a jar in case anything comes up e.g. needing a new item of clothing, someone's birthday.

Save £2 coins - about £100 a year for me. Review utilities and insurance annually. Meal plan. Only buy clothes and household stuff - tea towels, plates, clothes- in sales. Find a second source of income. Moneysavingexpert is your friend.

And don’t internet shop without going through topcashback/Quidco/nectar/Barclays Blue Rewards etc. This seriously adds up.

Another one-
If you have a local market near you, use it. So much cheaper for fruit and veg than supermarket

I’m loving these ideas! I’m really hoping to save better this year!

I’ve recently done well on saving over the last few months by no longer buying magazines, and emptying the cupboards and freezer before food shopping again (makes for some weird combinations tho!)

I’m hoping to start fresh and keep going! New job just started before Christmas (which provides me with lunch, huge money saver!) so new me!

• I’m going to do the cash only thing, and see how that goes. Think it will put money in perspective.
• haven’t had my nails done for 3 months and planning on keeping that as a treat
• I’m planning to cook more in bulk and freeze
• currently clearing out and have made £200 from facebook market from things I thought no one would want! Totally worth a try!
• It may have been on here, someone suggested to me that every day, log into online banking and transfer money from current account as so: either down to the nearest pound, or bring it down to the nearest 10. This wasn’t a bad idea but I kept forgetting!

Got rid of our car and use public transport or cycle when we can.
Meal plan and swapped main shop to Lidl.
Limit takeaways and buying coffee at work.
Take instant coffee to work.
Bring lunch to work.
We have "no spend days" challenges, we both try to not spend a penny a few days a month.
Swapped posh hotel holiday to self catering in France and the UK.
Cancelled gym membership and bought a set of weights for home. Cardio done via cycling and runs in the park.
Purchase on Quidco to get cash back.
Put aside savings each month and done dip into them. We're savings for a deposit so once it's put away we consider it untouchable.

I stopped buying stuff. I used to like nice clothes and accessories but now I live in cheap sweatshirts and leggings. Nobody treats me any differently so obviously my nice clothes were making absolutely no difference. Ditto makeup and hair - I thought it was important to look nice but I stopped wearing makeup and getting my hair done, and it turns out nobody actually cares if I’m ugly. I was spending all that money and nobody could care less, it made no difference to my life.

Thanks everyone for these amazing tips! I really hope it makes a difference for me next year. I've always struggled massively with my spending habits so I really need to change my whole mindset and I'll be much better off.

Join your library. Members of my library can log in to read a huge number of magazines on line. Same for newspapers. E-books too. Plus the obvious... borrow books rather than but them.

Pre make and freeze packed lunch rolls - 3 weeks at a time. At least once a month no big shop and live off the contents of the cupboards, freezer and fridge. Stopped highlighting hair. No takeaways. Sell unwanted items.

Agree with all those saying 'save first, not last'.
Make that standing order (to saving account) go out on the day your salaries go in, rather than hoping there will be something left at the end of the month to save

Then, be honest with yourself about what you are spending - write it all down for a fortnight or month,, or however long you can stand doing it. When you know where your money is going, then you can make clearer decisions about what you want to cut out or cut back from.

We don't know if you need to look through all your bills and see if you can get better deals, or, if you buy coffees on the way in to work, or you buy lunches, or if you have memberships to gyms you don't use or if you are on a really expensive phone contract, or an expensive clothes shopping habit, or whatever, but once you know, it helps you decide.

I started doing Online surveys about 8 years now and I stick everything I earn into a savings accounts and save for whatever we need. My favourite companies have changed over the years - here are my current recommendations (Disclaimer - it NOT easy money - you need to put in a bit of effort but alongside the money you get free stuff to try, communities which are well paid and online interviews which are very well paid).
I joined Swagbucks 5 months ago and have made £720 so far. I'm a bit evangelical about them tbh! As well as survey income, you get loads of tops up at the end of the month for all the days you hit your daily goal and then they give you extra points when you hit points levels called Swag Ups. Now is a great time to join as when you earn 300 points in the first 30 days, they give you a 300 bonus.

www.swagbucks.com/p/register?rb=59151827

Second favourite: You Gov as you never screen out :
yougov.co.uk/refer/5n4orle6y-iGn-xFyNEk-w/

Now is a great time to join these too as there are lots of easy surveys with Brexit still being in a state of flux.

Hope it works well for you - it's lovely to see the money landing in your account

How funny @JustACog that's exactly how we manage our finances, I've never heard of anybody else doing it but it works so well, we've done it for the last 10 years or so!

I used to hate cold houses but have cut down the thermostat a little, use the timer effectively, wear jumpers and slippers and sit under blankets on the sofa - sounds miserable but doing it gradually we barely noticed and now are used to lower temperatures. Shop in Lidl, menu plan. Have a frugal week every month using more or less what is already in the cupboards. Never have take-aways -buy our favourite frozen pizza on special offer and save for treat/lazy/emergency nights.
Very rarely buy new clothes - fortunately have a uniform for work and am not really into fashion. Haven't bought a new coat or shoes for 3 years now, but will probably need to next year.

Cut down on takeaways

I find shopping at Aldi cheaper.
Brand down challenge
Haggle over sky, AA etc in fact dump sky

Compare electric, gas prices

Do you drink? Drop a night a week.

Check any subscriptions . Do you have gym, magazine subscriptions.

You can save a surprising amount by just cutting back on small expenses. E.g. when about to buy a coffee, think ‘do I really need or want this?’
I also find it helps to keep focused on the thing you are saving for, so even when you’re missing out on something in the short term, you can still feel excited that you’re one step closer to your goal.