20 Ways To Save Money Right Now

As I recently admitted in my No Spend Month challenge group on Facebook, I am struggling at the moment with spending. I seem to be spending more and more often, even if it’s only little things. But, these little things are adding up. That combined with maternity leave mean that I’m definitely becoming a little relaxed with my savings.

 

So, to try and get myself back on track more than anything, I have been thinking of ways I could save money right now. Not anything long term, but easy things that I could do today that should have a positive impact.

 

Here’s what I came up with!

 

1. Write a meal plan using just what you have in at home. Using the stockpile you’ve built up plus everyday items in the cupboards, see if you can do a week’s meal plan.
2. Use cash. By using cash and not cards, spending money becomes much more real and much more difficult. I’m much less tempted to spend when I’m handing over cold, hard cash rather than a bit of plastic.
3. Hang your washing outside instead of using the tumble dryer. Especially in the colder months I am very guilty of putting our washing straight in the tumble dryer. But, this uses more electricity! Hanging the clothes outside to dry will save money.
4. Go for a walk. It gets you out of the house, away from any temptations and some exercise thrown in for good measure.
5. Count your pennies! Although we don’t any more because it got smashed, we used to have a giant glass bottle full of 1ps and 2ps in the kitchen. Every so often, I’d sit and count all of the coins to see how much was in there. This takes a surprisingly long time!
6. Do some batch cooking and freeze the rest. When you’re making your main meal of the day, double the quantities and freeze the extra. You’ll have an extra meal in the freezer for when you can’t be bothered to cook and it’s often not much more expensive to batch cook in this way.
7. Do an account tidy! Add some money into your savings by doing an account tidy. One of my favourite ways to save money.
8. Do a price comparison on your gas/electric tariffs. This can take a few minutes but can save you a lot of money over the year. Definitely worth doing.
9. Use coupons. Look out for coupons for your favourite products. Couponing can be hit and miss in the UK, but you can find them.
10. Do a stock take of your fridge and freezer. Write down everything you have and check the use by dates on things. There is quite often something lurking at the back of the fridge or at the bottom of the freezer than needs using up.
11. Do your grocery shopping online. Often, going to the supermarket can lead to impulse buys. They don’t have all of those special offers for nothing! By shopping online you can stick to your meal plan and list, therefore saving some money.
12. Cancel any unused subscriptions. Magazine subscriptions you no longer read to that gym membership that you don’t use – cancel them!
13. Grow your own! Growing your own fruit and vegetables can be a great way to save money. Even growing some herbs on your kitchen windowsill would be a money saving venture. Each year we get lots of apples for free as my parents have an apple tree in the garden.
14. Walk somewhere instead of using the car. If you’re going out somewhere that’s in walking distance, try and walk it sometimes. You’ll save petrol and get some free exercise too.
15. Use your slow cooker for a cheaper meal. I’m a big advocate of using a slow cooker for cheaper cuts of meat. This can also use all of those odds and ends in your fridge too!
16. Use price comparison apps. Buying something online? Check to see you’re getting the best price for it first.
17. Brown bag it. Take your lunch to work with you instead of buying it there. Making a sandwich to take can save you hundreds over the course of a year. Little things add up!
18. Sell something on eBay. Most of us have things in the house that we no longer need or use. Sell them! It can be a great way of earning money to put into savings.
19. Use cash back sites. I’m a big fan of using cash back sites – you get money for free by shopping via them first. I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t use them – there’s no catch!
20. Buy things in the sale. If you are planning on buying certain items – whether that clothing or appliances – buy them in the sale. Look out for good deals and wait until that time. Lots of savings to be had if you buy things at the right time 🙂

 

So, a list of things you could do today that can help you save money. I need to do some of these! For some reason I am struggling with budgeting at the moment. I don’t think being at home is necessarily helping that;  at work I have no opportunity to spend but I definitely do when I’m at home!

 

Do you have any other savings tip? Please leave them in the comments – I’d love to hear from you! 

 

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