So you’re in your new home, which you own. If you’re paying a mortgage for the first time, then there are bills, food, council tax, TV, cleaning products, phone, gutter repair, and garden maintenance. But also, you want to decorate too?! Where’s all this extra money coming from?! It is hard, but it is manageable if you try and be careful with your money. I’ve got a few tips I’ve used to help us save money where we need. It can be tight, and depending on your circumstance you can change your way of thinking with money to keep some extra cash in your pocket.
A Savings Plan
You can search for lots of these on Etsy. There’s loads of different types to help you save different amounts of money. It’s the kind of thing where you save a couple pounds a day or week, and over the year you get a healthy sum of money. It’s great to do this near the beginning of the year so you can save away for Christmas. But starting any time of year will of course benefit you anyways. Saving away what you can afford after your other spending habits will always put money in your pocket for those rainy days. Or perhaps to save up for something nice for the family to enjoy.
Cut Some Luxuries
Really think about what you do need and don’t. What could you easily live without, or do less of? Instead of paying for Netflix month after month even though you don’t watch it (I’m guilty of this!) regularly, why don’t you just cancel it and get it back when you actually want to watch something?! There is no cancelation fees or contracts with these subscription services so why not just pay for the months you actually use it.
Chose Cheaper Brands
Do you really need to have all the top brands of food? Try shopping at cheaper places like Lidl or Aldi. When you shop with their own brand food you save a huge tonne on your grocery bill. If we do our weekly food shop at Tesco we will spend roughly £60. But if we choose to shop at Lidl or Aldi (which we always do now!) we only spend around £30. That’s an extra £30 a week in our pockets to spend on something else. I honestly recommend doing a swap one week and have a look for yourself in these cheaper supermarkets. There is a lot more variety than you think.
Pay Day Loans
I know loans aren’t everyones cup of tea but they can work brilliantly in your favour and save you in desperate times of need. Pay Day Loans from Cash Lady are an honest, clear and transparent company who help people find short term solutions to their money problems. Getting a pay day loan could help you massively when things start to fall apart. By making sure you keep up your repayments on these loans will obviously keep your money in your pocket as well.
Vouchers and Coupons
Everyone loves a good deal. A discount code, any little money off is a great help. So when you are spending search around for money off vouchers. You can usually find these online, there are plenty of websites that will search around for you. I actually have an extension on my Safari which automatically searches, and inputs tonnes of discount codes before you check out online. It’s absolutely wonderful, because you don’t have to do any searching yourself.
Create Your own Fun
Instead of constantly paying for entertainment and days out, why not try replicate that at home? As long as you’ve got good company you’ll be winning. Try board games, crafts and dancing. There will be more to do than you think. You could also set up your own little cinema experience at home. Get cuddled up on the sofa and dim the lights, and pick a great movie that’ll make you all laugh, some good snacks and you’re ready to go!
What are you best money saving tips?! I personally need to cut down on the unnecessary shopping trips, and I really don’t think I need to buy Theodore any more clothes for a long time. I want to find the perfect way to track and categorise my spending!
