How I save money (Saving tips)

Member Name: Lady_Alys

Product:	Saving tips
Date:	03/11/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: There is everything to gain from saving money

Disadvantages: Sometimes you need some good willpower to keep saving

Ways to save money seems to be a big thing in this cultural climate and I am one who trys to save in any way I can but have been things I have done for a while as I usually work part time and have spent yeras studying as well.
A lot fo these may sound really simple and silly and you may even already do these things but these are just the things I do

Food
Shop at the cheaper supermarkets, such as Lidl and Aldi, for better bargains. I am a huge culprit of snacking in between meals but I now get loads of packets of Lidl noodles, 19p per pack and around 5 flaours to choose from, they are bigger than other own brand noodles and far tastier in my opinion. These fill me up rather than eating 2 packets of crisps, a chocolate bar, sweets etc that are all so much mroe expensive.
A lot of cheaper food is also better for you. Instead of buying fruit in the mutli-bags and throwing half of it away, buy fruit that is loose every other day or so and it will last longer and work out cheaper.
Pasta is a great thing to have in the cupboards, you can eat it on it's own or buy some cheap sauce to go with it. Our pasta costs us around 40p a packet from Asda and lasts a while, you also get spaghetti from some shops as cheap as 19p for a decent sized packet.
Don't be tempted to buy treats, even if they are on offer, only buy what you plan to buy and stick to it.
I have started drinking a lot of dilute drinks as they are far cheaper, last longer and taste just as good as fizzy drinks but are better for you. Even the more expensive £1 a bottle dilute drinks last about 5 times longer than a 2 litre bottle of coke. The own brand stuff tastes just as good, Asda sells dilute orange for 22p for a 750ml bottle and it usually lasts me about 2 weeks.

Bank and money
Work out exactly how much money you have coming in per week and how much of that is outgoing in bills. If the bills seem high see where you can cut down on things like turning off lights, switching to energy saving bulbs, not putting on the heating unless absolutely needed.
Because I still live at home I have given myself a budget of £20 a week, this has to pay for my travel and any treats I want to get myself. It doesn't sound like a lot but I typically have at least £10 a week left unless it is the week I top up my phone.

Hobbies and stuff
If you like to go out, make it something more special, instead of going on a night out once a week turn it into once every other week or do something different. Get youself a friend who is on Orange and go to the cinema on Orange Wednesdays, you get in for half the price, get to see a new movie and take snacks from a shop like Homebargains instead of buying them at the cinema. You can get a good few hours out for less than £5 each that way.
I like my computer and I like to play games every now and then but, instead of buying lots of games, I download trial versions from game websites such as Iwin or gamehouse.com and they also provide free games every now and again to play, This way I have things to do in my spare time and it stops me spending money on games just to waste time with.

Make changes
Energy saving lightbulbs last longer than ordinary ones so stock up on them if they are ever on offer.
If things can be walked to walk to them instead, it doesn't just save you moeny it gets you healthier. My local town is 4 miles away from my house and I have been known to walk there and back and walk there and get a bus back. It isn't do-able for me all the time so I am saving for a bicycle.
Get a savings jar. Everytime you walk instead of using a bus put the money into the jar and then it is there for when you need to put it towards christmas presents.
Me and my mum have been with Park hampers for a few years now and always get the vouchers. It is 22p a week for a £10 voucher or 10 £1 vouchers in a book. We get the Love2Shop high street vouchers and they arrive in November. I use mine for christmas presenst and my mum uses a lot of hers so we can have nice food from Marks and Spencers for christmas dinner. You don't miss 22p a week coming out of your account and, paying for 45 weeks, it works out you pay £9.90 so you are not paying anything over what you are getting. This is also great if you are bad at saving because it is doing it all for you.
If you have free time sign upto cashback sites, syrvey sites etc DooYoo, so far, seems to have amde a lot of people happy and is a great way to earn a little back for your time. A lot of the people I need to buy presents for want DVDS, books etc so the Amazon vouchers are perfect to save me a load of money. I am planning to use mine throughout the year on birthday presents as I am new to some of these sites and have most of my christmas stuff bought.

Sales
Sales are fantastic for saving money. I now never buy clothes at full price. Because I am not really fashion conscious, I just wear what I like, so I am not bothered if what I wear is fashionable or not (give me a paor of good fitting jeans, strappy top and a hoody any day). I only treat myself clothes wise when the sales are on, there is usually never clothes that I 'need' so at the beginning of the year I did need a new coat and found a fab brown checked wasit length one for £15 in the sale at H and M, should have cost about £40! And we all know Primark is cheap but for plain clothes like strappy tops you can get them for £1 or 50p in the sales and they tend to always have sales on.

Well I think I had a pretty good rant there and most of it is probably tripe but that is the things I do to save money and help my parents save money. I have no idea how much this saves me on average or anything but one day I will try and work it all out.

Summary: How I save money every week