50 ways to save £50/$50 per month
Never got enough money? People often tell me that they can’t afford to save because their expenses frequently equal or exceed thier income.
Saving a little each month will pay big dividends. Whilst saving can mean cutting things out, saving can be done by doing things differently or swapping for an alternative.
Following these tips will save much more than £50/$50 per month if combined or repeated more often than the times suggested.
What do you think?
1. Track every penny you spend – get reciepts for everything
2. Consider using a cashback card such as the Utility Warehouse cashback card which gives you 5% of your spend against your Utility Bills.
3. Use cash when you go shopping and only spend the cash you have with you.
4. Make your lunch 1 day per week.
5. Shop with a list and don’t deviate from it
6. Sell your unwanted books and CD’s on ebay
7. Instead of paying to have old sofas, beds and washing machines removed advertise them on Ebay for a £1. Instead of paying to have things taken away you may get some money!
8. Shop around for all your utility bills;gas, electricity, home telephone
9. Use the library instead of buying a book
10. Cancel magazine subscriptions you never read
11. Email or use skype instead of calling your friends
12. Use the bus or walk instead of using a cab.
13. Cancel the health club and use the local authority gym instead or buy a few peices for home
14. Don’t go to the coffee shop at the weekend
15. Skip going to the cinema and rent a film instead
16. Eat in instead of going out for a meal
17. For a special meal go out for lunch instead of dinner (lunch is usually much cheaper than dinner)
18. Eating out – look for restaurant deals and eat mid week
19. Use coupons or cash back sites when shopping
20. Buy presents when they are on sale (but make sure you know what you’ve bought and for who – and where you put it)
21. Buy generic instead of branded items
22. Shop around for large purchases
23. Shop around for fuel and use supermarkets wherever possible.
24. Check your receipts – mistakes do happen
25. Turn the heating down and put a jumper on
26. Never pay extra for extended warranties
27. Buy in bulk where possible
28. Only run a full dishwasher
29. Take a shower instead of a bath
30. Don’t pay the lottery or football pools – the odds of winning are small
31. Pay yourself first. Pay yourself a £1 a day
32. Save all your loose change in a jar or piggy bank
33. Cut cleaning cloths in half
34. If you have a credit card balance and you can only pay the minimum balance, then pay the amount weekly instead of monthly (this will minimise interest charges) : See How to Control Your Debt
35. Use Unleaded Fuel instead of Super Unleaded
36. Don’t use Motorway Service stations – if you have no choice buy the minimum amount possible to get you to a supermarket
37. Keep you tyres properly inflated to improve fuel consumption
38. Cancel the premium TV channels you don’t watch
39. Don’t spend any pay increase. Save it or increase your monthly debt repayments
40. Spend a day cooking meals you can freeze and simply reheat. This will reduce wastage.
41. Don’t use convenience meals – stir frys can be made just as quickly
42. Turn off all your electricity appliances (except your fridge and freezer!) when you’re not at home
43. Don’t park in the city centre. Use park and ride instead.
44. Instead of having your hair or nails done every 2 weeks, try having doing it every 3 weeks
45. Don’t pay main dealer prices for generic items such as tyres and oil
46. Don’t use paper towels. Use cloth ones and wash them
47. Save up for items instead of putting them on your credit card
48. When buying something ask yourself whether you’ll still be using it in 6 months – do you really need it?
49. Hang washing out to dry instead of using the clothes dryer
50. Shop around for financial products, move your mortgage and your credit cards to a better deal.
What would you add to this list?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Related posts:
I like #15. It hurts sometimes to not be able to discuss the latest movie with friends but give it a month or two and it is in the video hire shops and for $6, or $2 on Tuesdays, the whole family can see the movie instead of paying almost $50 to see it at the cinema. It helps that we have a home cinema so the big screen effect is not totally lost.
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:08 am
Well Geoff, if you’ve got the big cinema screen you might as well use it. As long as you don’t justify having a new one on the basis of because you stay in more, you use it more so you might as well get a new one!
Thanks for the comment, great insight.
[Reply]
Matthew
Really needed this. Thanks for all the tips.
Ben Lumley´s last blog ..How to be a better dad
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Ben, thanks for your comment. Anything you’re saving up for in particular?
[Reply]
Ben Lumley Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 2:59 pm
No nothing in particular, just to have a bit more money in our pockets each money
Ben Lumley´s last blog ..How to be a better dad
[Reply]
Twitter: bluepop13
said:
I like number 15 and that’s actually what we do – but better. We have Netflix (I’m huge into movies) and we use the Instant Watch feature on the PS3 and love it! I use the Linux operating system which Netflix instant watch doesn’t support on the computer so we watch movies from the PS3 with the special disk.
It rocks!
Have you heard of this or tried this?
Eric´s last blog ..Lets Help Each Other
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Hey Eric, thanks for comment. We don’t have Netflix in the UK, but we do have lovefilm, which I’m guessing is quite similar. The only thing with Netflix (and lovefilm) I think, is that you’ve got to be a bit organised.
[Reply]
Twitter: heavenandel
said:
Hi Matthew,
Great list. Did you republish this as part of Money March? Glad you did because I missed it first time round
Number 49 is my biggest downfall. I blame it on all the rain and having three children with an inordinately huge amount of washing but truth be told, I really should hang it outside a little more often!
Thanks for some great practical advice,
Eleanor
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..From acts of random kindness to taking over the world, it must be our Winter round-up 2010
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
March 20th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Hi Eleanor, yes this was republished as part of March is Money Month. As it fitted very well with the theme of spending.
Glad you’ve found something of use!
In a few months we’ll be getting used to a large amount of washing too!
Thanks for the comment!
Matthew
[Reply]
I can vouch for number 36 ! It seems like service stations simply charge a 50% premium, £1.20 for crisps!
TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..Is $2,000 Too Expensive?
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
March 21st, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I have put £2 of fuel in my car once to get round the corner to Sainsbury’s!
[Reply]
hi mathew,
how are you? i’m really thinking about 13 but i live in a flat(space) and has got a 3yr old and a 7mth old.
done 38 yesterday.
thanks for sharing this.
p.s. it’s interesting you mention utility warehouse cashback.
ayo´s last blog ..50 Ways To Have A Good Time
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
March 21st, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Hi Ayo, yes I’m well thanks, hope you are too.
Well done on the saving, I’ve featured you in the £1000/$1000 30 day challenge.
[Reply]
Twitter: kruby
said:
Great tips, Matthew.
I’ve been really good for not going out and spending my money on frivolous things. It’s so easy to see your money go farther when you are not spending it willy-nilly. While I am pretty good with my money and have investments, the one area that needs work is my tendency to buy books from Amazon. But, now that they have changed shipping agents from Canada Post to UPS, I am boycotting them. So, the amount of money I am saving from this one act will be put to a better use.
If people just follow a few of your varied tips, they will be able to save their money for sure!
Karen
Karen´s last blog ..Friday’s Links
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Hi Karen, I’m pleased that you’re making a conscious effort on what to spend your money on. In the UK Amazon introduced an initiative called Amazon Prime which basically gives you next day delivery on everything you order for a fixed annual fee. Whilst this fee was initially high (from memory £50+) it more than paid for itself because I didn’t have to meet the minimum order value and was thus either paying for postage or buying more stuff to get ‘free’ postage.
Thanks for your comment. Matthew
[Reply]
Twitter: markbell10
said:
Hi Matthew,
Some very good tips here. My fiancee and I are living on tightened purse strings. We are getting married in November, and are striving to pay off the remained of it sooner rather than later.
We have implemented many of the above suggestions.
#15 most people have highlighted. Our local cinemas have a “crazy-tuesday” arrangement were tickets are £3. The only risk is you get popcorn and coke. DVD rentals are about £3 per night. We got LoveFilm – £10 per month, we can rent one or two DVDs at a time. Potentially 8 a month – it works out well!
#37 could be expanded to keeping your car clean. The increased drag of dirt will increase fuel consumption a small amount – everything adds up.
We also use those energy saving bulbs and switch off electrics instead of leaving them on stand by.
Another suggestion is to use the pre-paid stamps system at the post office in the UK. You can use them to pay toward utilities, car tax etc. Putting £10 a month on this is like saving really, without the opportunity to lift the cash from your savings account.
I have also resorted to cycling to work – means I don’t need a gym membership, and save either £100 per month on car fuel, or £55 on a monthly train ticket, and £35 per month gym membership.
We also would arrange to visit family for dinner – saves you paying out for a meal.
When you are living on a bit of a budget, or are working hard to save I think it’s important to strike a balance. We cut down on expensive perks, but retained our Sky TV contract and internet. If we are not going out for dinner, to the cinema or various other costly things, at least we have something to do in the house.
Cheers,
Mark
Mark Bell´s last blog ..Earning online – too good to be true?
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Thanks Mark for the comment.
Some really useful additional tips here. I like the one about keeping the car clean, that would really add up if you do a lot of miles.
I think you’re right, it is a question of balance and no one is saying you should live like a monk and sit in the dark. Good luck with your quest.
Matthew
[Reply]
Leave a comment!
How To Get Big Results Quickly
Get your product launched and sold
Get Free Tips to Grow Your Business
Recommended Products
Join us on Facebook
Top Commentators
Popular Tags
Topics
Archive
Blogroll
The Books we recommend: Life changing reads
Big Red Tomato on Flickr
We’re Featured on Alltop!
Most Commented
Company Registered Office: White House, Clarendon Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GF Company Registration Number : 6563864