5 secrets to saving money without giving up everything you love

Kamal Khurana 23rd Mar 2016 No Comments

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Want to know our secrets for saving money? It’s quite simple really; the less you spend, the more you’ll save. And more importantly, the more you’ll be able to put into paying off your debts. The quicker you pay them off, the cheaper it’ll be in the long run and the sooner you’ll be free and able to start building your wealth. So how do you cut costs without giving up everything you love? Read on and we’ll show you how.

1. Shop around for cheaper bills 
2. How to save money in the supermarket 
3. Get the essentials for less
4. Cut the cost of your daily commute
5. Treat yourself without blowing the budget

 

Rule 1: Shop around for cheaper bills

With massive price hikes in gas and electricity, cutting the cost of energy bills really should be a priority –  it pays to check you’re getting the cheapest deal, because it can mean savings of up to £468 a year.

Again, it’s so easy to do there’s no excuse not to – head to our switching service now to get started.

Don’t just stop at your energy provider, shopping around for the best deal really is your biggest weapon, and you should do it for every bill you pay and see how much you can really save.

Check out these independent comparison tools to see how much you could save by switching your phone, broadband and home insurance.

If you’ve done all that, you might as well go the whole hog and check out your mobile phone contract.

Research from Bill Monitor shows that three-quarters of consumers waste about £200 a year by being on the wrong contract!

Make sure you’re not one of them by using Bill Monitor’s service.

It analyses your bills and matches you to the right contract according to your usage so you’ll never spend more than you need to again.

 

Rule 2: How to save money in the supermarket

Supermarket savings 

Eating food is definitely more fun than shopping for it – but you need to make sure you always get the most for your money.

We recommend using Mysupermarket for your weekly shop.

You can select your usual supermarket and shop online as you would on their site, but Mysupermarket will compare the prices with other supermarkets as you go.

So if it turns out your Sainsbury’s shop is actually £10 cheaper at ASDA you can simply switch over and have their products in your ‘trolley’ instead – genius!  The other big advantage to shopping online is that you don’t end up browsing, you just search for products you want which means much less impulse buying than in the supermarket.

Don’t be embarrassed to try the cheaper supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi either – they’re great for saving money on packaged goods like crisps and pasta and you could always buy your fresh goods at your local farmer’s market to save yourself up to 30%.

Check out our article on how to best avoid the sneaky supermarket tricks to find out loads more about how to beat supermarkets at their own game, as well as the secrets to not buying too much and using up leftovers so you don’t throw food away.

If you’re trying to reduce costs but struggle to think of imaginative but cheap meals for your family then Sainsbury’s have just the thing. We’re big fans of their meal planner – five recipes for four people which are easy to whip up and sound delicious. They’ll even give you a shopping list so you know exactly which ingredients to get. Best of all? The whole lot will set you back a mere £20 for the whole week!

For more money saving supermarket ideas read click here to read our 7-step guide to saving money without losing quality.

 

Rule 3: Get the essential for less – switch your mortgage

Probably one of the least painful ways of saving money is to keep all your essentials, but at a much lower rate.

You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much you can save just by switching to a cheaper version of the same thing!

Mentioning the word ‘mortgage’ is usually enough to make even the most cheerful person let out a groan, but paying off this massive debt doesn’t have to be scary and can be a great way of cost cutting.

There’s no reason why you can’t pay off your mortgage much quicker than you first thought – to find out how check out our article on how to pay off your mortgage in double-quick time in four simple steps.

You can also potentially save thousands of pounds a year by switching to a cheaper mortgage deal.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, but you’re not sure about how to go about it then we’d recommend talking to London & Country. Why?

• Because they’re completely independent so they can offer you totally impartial advice.
• They cover the whole market and even offer exclusive deals you can’t get anywhere else.
• They’ve won more awards than any other broker.
• The service they offer is absolutely 100% FREE.

Get some help and advice from London & Country here.

When it comes to savings accounts, you need to make sure you’re earning the best possible rate of interest – find out which accounts are right for you and which providers are currently offering the best rates here.

If you don’t seem to be able to find any pennies to put away then check out our article on how to save when you don’t have any money!

 

Rule 4 : Commute for less – cheap train tickets and travelcards

The key when it comes to buying train tickets is… make sure you buy the cheapest ticket. Simple.

Trains – OK, it may sound silly, but you’d be amazed at how many people don’t do it. For example, did you know that two out of every three people could save money on train tickets with a railcard? Fares can often be up to a third cheaper than the full tariff!

Also, look in a couple of different places for your ticket – National Rail and The Trainline are the main websites to check but also try ringing a call centre, as prices may vary online and over the phone.

The next piece of key advice is to make sure you buy the type of ticket you need. If possible, book ahead as it’s often cheaper to buy your rail ticket in advance. Similarly, find out the ‘peak hours’ – there’s no point paying a premium for an ‘anytime’ ticket when you only actually need an ‘off-peak’ one.

When it comes to Underground, trams and light railways, and if you live in London, the first point to stress is be sure to get yourself an Oyster card.

The majority of Londoners already have one and with good reason – the Oyster system will never charge you more than what you would have paid with a regular ticket and it’s usually considerably cheaper. You’ll start saving money instantly.

For more tips to help save on your commute to work click here.

 

Rule 5 : Treat yourself without blowing the budget

Holidays

Getting involved in house swaps can mean you get a cheap, or even free, holiday!

Jasmine’s done this herself and thinks it’s a great alternative to expensive hotels.

With sites like Holswap.com and Homeexchange.com, you can find loads of houses and flats all over the world for you to stay in.

You normally pay a standard fee of around $50 (about £30) a year to use the website, but think how much you’ll save on accommodation and, in some cases, even transport.

So that’s your accommodation sorted, but you’ve still got worry about getting there. Well, believe it or not there are credit cards out there that will reward your custom with things like free flights. These reward systems offer you money, reward points and sometimes even flights. For more information check out our full article on reward cards here.

If you’re going abroad, make sure you take the right credit card with you, a prepaid credit card could be the answer to avoiding fraudsters and helping you to stick to your budget. See our 50 top tips on cutting the cost of your holiday, and find out how to be smart with your holiday money here.

Entertainment for less

If your extra money won’t stretch as far as a holiday, websites like Lastminute.com and eBay are great for getting hold of those cheaper tickets to attractions like Alton Towers, plus loads of theatre shows and music concerts.

Shopping around for entertainment really is the way forward, why pay £50 for something when you can get exactly the same thing for £20? Click here for a list of wonderful money saving entertainment ideas. 

Finally, make sure you’re signed up to our weekly newsletter which is packed full of money making and money saving ideas to help you get the most for your money.