Does anyone use any nifty savings tricks for small amounts?

[DonnyAndVladSittingInATree]

Not sure if that title is clear at all

I am on a very tight budget but of course overspent on Xmas and will be eating cold beans for the next month

So I have set up a standing order to save £10 a week into another account from the first of January. I get paid weekly so weekly saving should work for me.

I am now wondering if I can squirrel away a few £ here and there on a regular basis without really noticing and if so how much and what for? I know if I don’t label what it is for then I will dip into it and spend it. I don’t use cash much but I guess I could save my loose change at the end of every week.

Does anyone else do anything like this?

So I have set up a standing order to save £10 a week into another account from the first of January

For next xmas!

This is what I do

Save £2 coins

Save all loose change up to 50p pieces

I do similar with online banking. I check my bank every couple of days, any odds under £10 I transfer into another account. So if I had £100 and then spent £42.99 the other £7.01 would be saved.

I budget £80 for the weekly shop, if I spend under that I put the difference away. Some weeks it might only be a couple of £s but occasionally it's been as much as £20!

If you really need to label it then decide what you'd like to spend it on first, a holiday? Expensive perfume etc but to be honest, once you see it mounting up you won't want to use it.

i save one pound and two pound coins in an old fashioned piggy bank. Shrapnel goes in a large tub and is cashed in every so often.
I have a savings account at the Credit Union into which I pay a monthly Direct Debit, but you can also put in a couple of quid whenever you have any spare. it all adds up

I have a setting on my (Lloyd's) current account called something like "save the change". Basically when ever I buy something on card it rounds up to the nearest pound and puts the difference in a savings account for me. It builds up surprisingly quickly!!

Get a tin money box with no means of opening (unless you use a tin opener to physically open the lid).
Put all coins in there each evening.
I did this last year and when I opened it there was almost £1000 - approx £3 per day.

@LovingLola please can I ask where you got that from?
Definitely stalking this thread!
My nana used to collect the 50p with the circle of hands on the tails side (shows age)

Anything left in my bank account the day before pay day goes into a savings account

Long shot but does your employer sign up to any employee benefit schemes? I'm in one where you can get cashback eg by buying gift cards for shops which give you 5-10% cash back into your account. I do it for supermarkets and Boots and spend normally using them and have made over £100 a year. Cashback websites also good when buying eg insurance and worth checking anytime you buy anything online.

If you buy anything in the run up to a sale because you were unaware there was going to be a sale always check with the company you bought the goods from - they will very often agree to refund the difference to your account in retrospect. I have done this several times this year and every time the shop has agreed. If they don't you just tell them you will return the goods and reorder. Ice saved hundreds doing this.

Let's do lunch that is a very good idea and it's something I used to do when I was saving up to move to a bigger house. It's often called a sweep facility.

I save into a Park Christmas account. £25/month for 10 months buys be £250 of vouchers. I find it easy to pay out the £25 each month but would struggle to save £250 any other way without spending it before it’s saved.

I did this last year and when I opened it there was almost £1000 - approx £3 per day.

that’s brilliant savings!!

Great tips everyone.

I’m self employed so no company perks.

kaniel I’ve always been wary of park type savings schemes. And I’m never sure I would use all the vouchers. I tend to do my xmas shopping either on amazon/Ebay and local shops. But i’ll Have a look at park vouchers to see where they are for.

@KanielOutis
I’ve never understood the point of that or am I being thick?
Could the money not just go in a jar/in the bank??

I have on line savings account that you can only put 250 per month max in and gives 5% interest for the first year. I'd open one (mine is linked to owning a nationwide flex plus).

Open one ASAP and use that knowing you will get 5% and spend it on your December shop.

Not exactly money saving but where do you do your weekly shop. I do mine online at Tesco all year and collect their loyalty points this year I’d collected £100 in loyalty points which covered my Xmas shop 👍

I skim my account daily.
I round down what I have in my account to the nearest £10 and transfer it to my savings.

I get about £500 a year just doin this. Hth

For my online banking I have separate accounts set up that on the 1st of month money goes out. £40 Christmas, £20 saving for a holiday, £50 into ISA, etc. There's no way I'd be able to find over £500 for presents in November. This way I don't notice it gone.
If I struggle with cash, I take a bit out of one of them or reduce the amount transferred.

I also collect £2 coins. I heard you can get £1000 worth from filling the 'pot of dreams' jars. So I'm trying it.

Some good ideas so far on here though.

The money can go into a saving account, but it’s locked away with Park. I’ve done it for years now.

I do my weekly shopping between Lidl and Asda. Mostly Lidl but get a few things in Asda that Lidl don’t do.

gardengeek what is the 52 week challenge?

Fab tips on here-placemarking for setting myself some new rules!

My top tip is to regularly deplete freezer stocks & another that I need to take heed of. Then you can stick up on reduced for quick sale bargains more effectively when ther is actual room in the freezer!

Set yourself s weekly shopping budget and take out the equivalent in cash. Set yourself a challenge go spend under your budget and save the rest.

My daughter uses chip to save small amounts of money. It’s an app that gets to know your spending behaviour and skims off small amounts from your bank account ( so you do need to have one to use chip) and she has saved about £700 in a year towards a big trip without really noticing. She isn’t on a high income and this has been like the equivalent for her as one less latte a week really. She’s so lucky, no big commitments!

Well having tried that I'm the reverse now.

I kept squirrelling bits away and ended up skint and using the credit card because I'm quite rigid and couldn't tap into savings.

So I did have £1 into a jar, expenses paid into a separate account, change in a change pot

Now I have £50 a month into premium bonds and no other plan.

Literally stay out of the shops.