Saving money

[AmyZak]

Does anyone have any money saving tips or ideas? I'm currently on maternity leave and my pay is slowly getting lower every month. And I'm wanting to save some money but would like some ideas.

The money saving expert website is a great place for this!

First step would be drawing up a budget of all your income and outgoings, you then have a place to start with trying to get cost effective deals with utilities, shopping, car insurance etc.

Also, take a look at any unsed assets, renting out car parking spaces no longer used, selling old hobby equipment etc.

As above, money saving expert is excellent, but as interest rates are low you may be better off paying off any debt rather than trying to save AND pay off debt.

I'm having a hard time saving money as well. Better put in in a bank and not just leave it in your wallet or somewhere in the house where you can easily get.

Put away at least 10% of your income away each month. I learnt this the hard way when working on a plantation in Spain and eating nothing but melons for a week. Don't touch it until you are absolutely desperate.

Draw up a budget - include a margin of error in case the price of something goes up.

I'm on maternity too. I made a list of all upcoming annual expenses like car insurance, house insurance etc and then worked out how much I needed to put aside each month to pay for them when they were due. I've got a budget for all my monthly costs like mortgage, groceries etc and I use a budget tracking app called YNAB. Meal planning is also a great way of keeping a handle on costs.

Why not join one of the frugal threads over in credit crunch?

I've found that this site has a few good tips for saving money: smile.findmeagift.co.uk/smile/money-saving-tips/

Other than that, I've found writing everything down (incomings and outgoings), in a big spreadsheet very effective, as you can see where to cut back and how much by. It's also very time-consuming, so it means you've got a few days occupied and not spending money!