Save some dolla! (Saving tips)

Member Name: katyboo123

Product:	Saving tips
Date:	04/11/09 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You could end up better off

Disadvantages: You have to think and plan in advance

As a 20-something living with my Mam I should have plenty of spare cash. However, I have just sold my house a few months ago and due to the credit crunch I am about £8,000 in debt from the sale of the house. I also have car running costs, like insurance, tax, mot, repairs and petrol, along with a debt management plan from when I was a student. My disposable income is about £400 which gives me £100 to live off each week. Normally this would be great, but at the moment my partner is out of work, so I am paying for her travel and living expenses too. When I was a child, my Mam used to feed and clothe 4 of us for that amount of money, and pay her bills, etc (that was her house keeping off my Dad). But now, I go to the shop and say I buy the papers, a packet of 10 cigarettes, loaf of bread and milk, I have easily spent £10.

Before I get any comments on here saying I shouldn't be writing this because I spend money on smoking and I should quit, I am trying to quit, desperately. I have cut down from 20 a day to 5 or 6, so I am on the right track.

So to summarise what everyone already knows, money is tight. I rarely get a night out, I don't buy new make up or clothes, and my holiday this year was on a shoestring and paid for by my partner with her last payout from the Navy. So, here I want to share with you how I manage to make little savings wherever possible.

1. Budget
This seems obvious and I am not really meaning for household costs as I don't have any, but you would not believe the birthdays and social events which creep up on me when I am least expecting it! As an example I got paid at the end of October. I went to Manchester to see Pink which was a gift from my partner. I treat myself to a few bits and bobs when we went shopping there, that was all on 23rd Oct. Then on 24th Oct I remembered it was my friend's birthday, the 27th was my Step Dads birthday, 1st November my Granddads. Absolute nightmare because my spare spends had gone. I have borrowed money to buy 3 gifts and cards, and that will then leave me short next month. I would have gone without a meal out while in Manchester which was my treat and kept that money for gifts, instead taking sandwiches! To be honest my family would just say don't worry about a present as long as I get a card!
There are other things which can hit you for cash when you least expect it, syndicates at work, an Avon order you put in weeks ago, a whip round at work for flowers for someone, you know the type of things I mean, maybe costing you £5 - £10 but when it's money you don't have and haven't allowed for, you have to borrow it and then that means paying it back and being short the next month. Keep money in your drawer at work and then set up reminders for birthdays, Avon, little expenses, etc to pop up on your actual payday so you put money to one side for them.
2. Take Food!
Anywhere and everywhere! Take your packed lunches to work, take bottles of juice and snacks when going on a long journey, take picnics to theme parks, take sweets to the cinema. Rest assured you will save money. I went to the cinema last week, it was £3.99 for a hot dog, £2.99 for small Nachos, £1.99 for a cup of Pepsi and £2.99 for a bag of M+Ms. I priced it up as I had my own bottle of juice in my bag, a bag of Sainsbury's basics Tortilla Chips (25p) and some sweets out of the bags my Mam had bought for Halloween on Saturday. Needless to say I was smug as I sat down ate my snacks and looked at all of the other people who were munching away on a £4 hot dog. It would get stuck in my throat for that price, I would want to take it home and frame it! Undoubtedly on long journey's you will get hungry. And going to a service station to get petrol is a big tease, however, you can expect to pay around £7 for a Burger King. I can't afford that, so I always make sure I have snacks wherever I go. Similarly when I am taking the train, I take food and drinks, a flask can help you avoid costly coffee shop prices. Even at the Airport, I take food and then wait until last minute before I go through the gates where you cant have your own food.
If you must use an eatery, coffee shop, etc say for example if your with a group of colleagues on a trip, then try to see if you can purchase something which is on offer - a lot of service stations, trains, etc have deals like coffee and a sandwich for £5 (instead of around £5 for a sandwich), also if you frequently travel, take advantage of loyalty schemes like buy 6 cups of coffee, get your 7th cup free, etc. If all else fails and things really are tight, specify that you are on a diet, or that your not hungry. You can eat something you have brought with you later.
3. Petrol
Right, this is a massive bug bare with me, because it seems to evaporate in to thin air! However, I couldn't live without my car, I need it for work and I am the only person in my family who drives, so I need it to help people out. I read an article once about using less petrol, and these are my rules of thumb: I don't let my petrol run down to empty, it's a little like letting your Gas and Electric go on to the emergency. Plus according to my Dad it drags all the rubbish out of the bottom of your petrol tank through your engine. So I make sure it has at least a tenner in at all times. I keep my car in good working order, as mechanical issues can make the car use petrol uneconomically. I also keep my boot as empty as possible. The less weight my car has to carry the better in my opinion. I also take advantage of Tesco / Sainsbury's offers like spend £50 in store and then get 5p off each litre of fuel. These are invaluable around payday when your topping up. And I make sure I use the cheapest petrol station in town. At present they are fluctuating between 103.9 and 108.9. So that saves me another couple of pence per litre. I also have Nectar to collect points on the rare occasion BP is the cheapest, and also my Morrisons Miles Card. Although Asda does tend to be the cheapest overall. I also make sure I plan any journeys I don't know. I get the shortest route and this isnt always the quickest, but it does save me money on long or out of time journeys. I also consider public transport on a weekend when I am going to town, as this avoids the need for parking costs in addition to petrol. E.g. busfare daily pass £2.50 Vs. Town Centre parking £1.20 per hour plus £3 petrol to get me there!
4. Prescriptions / Medication
I am one of those very unfortunate people who has to pay for medication that keeps me alive, because I go out to work and don't sit at home on the dole (I do not mean to be sarcastic or disrespectful but this country sucks when it comes to paying for meds that you would die without). I get inhalers for Asthma. Now, rest assured I attend my Asthma check ups regularly and I get my flu jabs free. But despite getting my inhalers prescribed by the doctor, I get them from abroad. In Spain they work out at £2 each. In the UK I get prescribed 2, and that prescription costs me £7+. I get my Antihistamines the same way too, these work out at about £1 for 30 tablets, and they are the same medicines as we have in this country. I also buy own brand meds here. Like paracetamol, Ibuprofen, hayfever tablets (when I run low), cough medication etc, I just check the active ingredients on leading brands and then have a look which own brands contain the same stuff. It saves a fortune!
5. Eye Tests / Glasses / Contact Lenses
Provided you get a 2 yearly eye test and a yearly contact lens check up, you are free to buy your lenses and specs anywhere you choose. There are so many dirt cheap online places to buy them from. The only downside is, you normally need to buy 6 or 12 pairs at a time. So it's a big outlay, but you will reap the benefits.
6. Effervescent Tablets / Vitamins
Again, own brands are the way forward with these sorts of things - check the ingredients and compare to own brands until you find a cheaper alternative. Because places like Boots are often promoting their own brands, you can get 3 for 2 offers to stock up and advantage card points too!
7. Beauty Buys
The Old Faithful Boots Advantage Card is the only way to treat yourself when you are on a budget! I use mine throughout the year on essentials, which sometimes can cost a little more than if I were to shop at Savers, etc but if your savvy you will shop using your advantage card offers, and build up a huge amount of points which more than just offsets the price difference between cheaper shops. It also allows you to treat yourself. Last year I saved £40 worth of points throughout the year, when it came to January after I did my Christmas Shopping I had a further £15 worth of points. So I halved them (to keep on trend) and I bought make up and treats in Feb and also again in Aug. It's coming up to the party season now, not that I go out much, but I have managed to save £10 worth of points this year, less than last year as I have been on more of a budget than ever before. So I will be able to buy myself some lovely winter sparkle make up in the next few weeks. Look at the clearance section in Boots too, you still get points and can use vouchers etc but you get absolute bargains. I recently got a £5 No.7 voucher for spending over a fiver. I found some No.7 Lip Gloss in the clearance section for £3.25 and a Mascara for £3.50. I had to put £1.75 to it, but I got 2 new items of premium make up for £1.75! It's a bargain!
8. Work Offers
Find out what your employer offers. It's my anniversary coming up and I have private health care through AXA as an employee. As a member I get cheap hotel stays, so I enquired. I managed to get 2 nights b+b in a 5 star Old English Inn, normally £179 per room per night for £109 saving me £249. Including a luxury pamper pack for our arrival. You can seldom get a family run guest house for £25 pppn can you? I also get discounts at Vision Express. Thumbs up!
9. Clothes
If you shop at most high street stores and you notice a red dot or mark on either the items label, or the price label, you can be confident it is going in to a sale in the next few days! Don't buy it. Keep an eye out, or even ask a poor unsuspecting sales team member, who will probably tell you when the sale starts. This applies particularly to Next. Red dot on the label = DO NOT BUY AT FULL PRICE!
10. Evening meals
I do loads of 'one pot' dishes to save on hot water for washing up (saves money). I also make huge amounts, freeze some, take the left overs to work, etc. I really do recommend that anyone running a house gets Mrs. Beetons books, they have all sorts of tips on natural cleaning, stain removal, batch baking. Well worth the investment. So I make curries, spag bol, stew, macaroni cheese, chilli, soups, etc. These could feed everyone on the street, they are good for you, no artificial nasties in them, low in fat too. Freeze them and if you have a microwave at work take them in frozen, or if not, heat at home and pour in to a flask. I take chips and beans in a flask. Anything goes!
11. Romantic Occasions
Check out http://www.scribd.com/doc/22755/101-Romantic-Ideas for 101 Romantic Ideas, probably 75% not costing more than £10. Pack a picnic basket and a flask, drive to a field, spread a picnic blanket and sit under the stars at midnight. Go for a walk on the beach at 6am. The outdoors can provide you with so much privacy and intimacy and its free, you just need to figure out when to go and when it will be quiet. My favourite is to pop 'our songs' on to an ipod, snuggle up on the A66 and listen to them - one earphone each - while we spot our favourite constellations. Who needs expensive restaurants.
12. Freebies
I cant believe how much stuff you can get for free off the internet. Set up a junk email address and sign up for every freeby going. I just got a Moving In Box free from moveme.com associated with Royal Mail Redirection. It contained 6 full size cans of fanta, 2 full size rolls of kitchen roll, a jar of coffee, packet of tea bags, granola bars, Cif Cleaner, deodorant, full size pack of moist toilet tissues, canderel samples, money off coupons and free rental vouchers from Blockbuster. Not bad eh?
13. The Internet
As you will know fellow dooyoo-ers, there is a small fortune to make on the internet. Get on Quidco, Pigsback, Ebay, Moneysavingexpert, and click, survey, sell, review, earn until your little heart is content!
14. Second Job
It's a last resort when you work full time and study too and have a house to help run, but I do casual shifts at a local bar. I only get minimum wage, and am lucky to get £15 for a 4 hour shift after tax, but it's £15 I didn't have before I did it! Plus I get tips and drinks bought for me, its like a little bit of socialising without spending money
15. House Sitting
For 8 weeks of this year I have house sat for friends and family and earned £20 a week. So £160 quid, a full fridge, space for me and my partner; to water some plants, look after the dog and make sure the house doesn't get burgled. Sheer brilliance. There are professional companies you can house sit through, but I just stick to friends and family. It can be hard asking for money, but without you, they would have to put their pets in to a kennel, which would cost more and they would risk the security of leaving the property standing empty.
16. Complaints
It bites, particularly when your on a budget, when you get substandard service and your paying for it. Don't sit back and let it wash over you! Complain! I went to the cinema a few weeks ago and the picture had a green tinge and was jumping. Despite reporting it twice during the film it never changed, it hurt my eyes, so I ended up leaving. I complained via letter and was sent 4 free cinema tickets.
17. Loyalty
I have been with Orange mobile phones for years. Each year when it comes to upgrading I have a shop around and then tell them what I can get from other providers. They generally match or better that, and for every year I stay with them I get more freebies thrown in. Not bad. I don't see the point in moving when you can generally get what you want where you are if they have a little bit to play with. I mean it wont work if you always shop at Clarks for your shoes, but you get a similar pair elsewhere cheaper. And you should shop around for other things like general insurances.
18. NUS
If you are lucky enough to be an NUS holder, ask for discount. A lot of places don't publicise their discounts. Like Maccy D's. You can get free burgers, McFlurry's etc when you buy a meal. There's no sign in the restaurant telling you that though.
19. Orange Wednesdays
On a Wednesday text FILM to 241 from any Orange mobile, get a text ticket and get 2 for 1 in the cinema, saving you at least a fiver, its £7 a ticket at the cinema near me so this helps me out no end!
20. Make your Own!
There will be something your good at. Whether its baking, making jam, knitting, making cards, making traybakes or cookies, carpentry. So give home made gifts! I love receiving home made gifts. Even if you just buy some cheap tea and biscuits and put them in a nice basket with gift wrap and write on the label 'tea for two', or give voucher's for a lift home after nights out, make a chocolate slab in a plastic tub, melted chocolate and then decorate with marshmallows, chocolate bars sliced to reveal their fillings, swirls of melted white chocolate, broken cookies, etc or with the recipients name in smarties, wrap in cellophane and there you have it, something which would cost a fortune in a shop! There is something everyone can do, with a little time and preparation, and it saves a fortune.

Summary: Preparation prevents splurges on things you just cannot afford!