Friday 8 March 2013

Money Saving Tips - 1

Over the next few months I have lots of exciting things coming up which I need to save for so I thought I would start saving some money by changing some of my spending habits and hopefully you could save some money too.

1. Plan your meals
Simply planning your weeks meals you can save money by not buying unnecessary food that will ultimately get wasted. Write your shopping list based on your meal plans and your supermarket bill should be much less


2. Shop in discount stores
By shopping in stores such as Poundland, Home Bargains and B&M Bargains you can save money on top brands. Poundland often has brands such as Revlon nail polish for £1 instead of £6.50 and Home Bargains has three cans of coke for £1 rather than around 60p each.

3. Buy value frozen veg
If like me you don't eat that much veg and buying a whole cauliflower or bag of carrots will end up in half going to waste then buy frozen but I've found value brands such as Asda's Smart Price is as good as their standard brand for a fraction of the price.

4. Empty your cupboards
Before doing your supermarket shop have a rummage in the back of your cupboards and at the bottom of your freezer to see what you can put together to make a few meals. Even if you've got a couple of fish fingers, a fish cake, a tin of peas and a jacket potato then that's a meal that might ordinarily have gone to waste.

5. Hair cuts and beauty treatments
In my local town we have a beauty college that is always looking for members of the public to practise on and at a fraction of the price. Students are always supervised by tutors and treatments may take longer than a visit to a qualified professional but at £5 for a haircut who can complain?


6. Turn chargers off
If you have a charger for your phone, iPad, laptop, plugged in and switched on they are using electric even if they aren't plugged into your device and wasting your money.

7. Mobile phone insurance
Don't immediately buy from your phone provider as you can often buy it cheaper by shopping around. Also you are sometimes covered on your home insurance so check that out first.

8. Voucher code websites
Websites such as vouchercodes.co.uk offer discounts for meals out, online retailers and freebies. Whether it's 20% a meal or free delivery for a new dress every little helps!


9. Check your tax code
If you wear a uniform provided by your employer you can claim tax back for washing it. Give the tax office a ring and they should sort it out for you. This doesn't count if you wear your own clothes though.

10. Medicines
Don't waste money on automatically buying branded medicines, compare with generic (often own brands) and you could save. Anadin 500mg paracetamol tablets cost £1.45 whereas Boots Value Health 500mg Paracetamol caplets cost 16p! A massive difference in price for the same product. Just check the strength of the product or ask at a pharmacy if they have a home brand equivalent.

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