#AD – This is a collaborative post
It’s January. It’s cold, dark, and we’re all officially feeling the pinch since Christmas.
With most people getting paid slightly early in December to account for the Christmas holidays, waiting for that January pay day to tick around can feel like a long and painful slog. When you have bills to pay and expenses you need to commit to during the month, it can be hard to gather up the funds that you need. Whilst short term loans such as CashLady are an option (and a way of getting money quickly to fund your needs), there are lots of other less risky ways in which you can manage your finances to ensure that you’re not spending more money than you need to.
It’s unsurprising that saving money is one of the top New Years resolutions (including mine!). Here are my top 10 fool proof money saving methods to help us reach that target!
- Set yourself a goal – what are you saving for? A deposit on a house – a new car? The arrival of your bundle of joy? By visualising the reason behind your saving, you can be more motivated towards achieving the end result.
- Auto direct debits – if you can afford to do so, set up an automatic direct debit to leave on payday from your current account to your savings. The amounts can be determined by you and be as little as £5 – but you treat it as you would another bill. You probably won’t even notice £5 disappear from your account (one less purchased lunch!) but it’s still £60 at the end of the year that you may otherwise have flitted away.
- Keep track of your spending – I’ve just bought myself (ironic I know) a budget book, to record all my incomings and outgoings. In the same way that keeping a food diary can motivate you to eat better, I’m hoping that the duty to record every single expense transaction will make me question whether i really need to buy it, or whether there is a cheaper or better alternative. This method is also great for understanding where you’re overspending and attempting to cut back accordingly. I bought a physical book as I personally prefer to have it in a physical format, however there are lots of apps available that can offer a similar service.
- Review your utilities – a quick way to save money is to annually compare your utilities such as gas, electric and broadband to make sure you are still getting the best deal. I won’t recommend providers here (as there are many!) but the process of switching suppliers is now a lot more easy than you may think – and definitely not the red tape nightmare it used to be. Don’t let switching put you off- it isn’t a hassle and the majority of the process is managed for you. You can easily save a few hundred pounds when you shop around.
- This may sound like one of the more obvious money saving methods but make sure you are using your subscriptions and don’t leave them to auto renew – are you still reading that magazine that comes once a month? Do you still watch Netflix? Do you need sky sports channels? Ensure you are actually using the subscriptions you are paying for and if you’re not – cancel them. You may need to give a months notice or see out your initial subscription period but after that you should be free to move on as you wish.
- Keep a 365 jar – Put some money into a jar each day – 1p on the 1st; 2p on the 2nd etc until £3.65 on the last day (there’s still time to catch up). Alternatively you could do it in reverse or cross off days at random depending how much change you have in your purse – as long as all 365 days are completed. With January and December being the challenging months this may work more effectively. If you can stop yourself dipping back into it for a takeaway then you can save £667.95 a year with this method!
- Use the library! So many people forget the library is there – but rather than buying books, DVD’s, audiobooks you can borrow them from your library – often this is completely free of charge or for a very minimal fee. Also don’t forget to check out the libraries magazine service.
- Embrace the buy and sell groups. For every new item you want to buy, ensure you sell or pass on at least one other item that you no longer need. The Facebook buy and sell groups are a great free way of selling unwanted clothes shoes and toys. January is the perfect time for a declutter and any money made from selling items you no longer require can be put straight into your savings.
- Be a frugal foodie – there are loads of way to save money on food – from packing your own lunches, to buying in bulk, meal planning and online shopping with annual delivery passes. Check out my frugal foodie post for lots of hints and suggestions – I just need to start DOING them all again now!!!
- 30 day rule. Try and avoid impulse purchases. I am the worst for this. I was watching Emoji movie and within 20 minutes of it finishing I was on Amazon buying Just Dance! 😂 If you want something make yourself wait 30 days- if you still want it then and can justify the expense then go for it, but often you’ll find that the need no longer applies!!!
Good luck with your saving in 2019!! Keep your eyes on the prize and I hope these money saving methods help you get even a little way towards your goal!
Lucy
