With us well and truly into 2019, and many of us having been paid early in December, before Christmas, the start of the year can lead a lot of us to start to think about saving the pennies, some out of want and other out of need. For me, I am always looking for ways to save money as any penny saved is a penny in my travel fund. With this is mind, what better time for a post on how to save some cash. An interesting and often challenging feat for people these days, especially when living in a city as notoriously expensive as London, my list* includes things that work well for me, which I thought I would share.
*I do understand what works for one person might not work for another.
- Using a fake zero
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- This sounds a bit silly, but it is honestly one of the best methods for me, which is why I am putting it first. Fake zero is when you look at how much money you have coming in and what your expenditures are. Then, when budgeting for the month, take say £200 as your zero, so only use the remainder for your disposable income. A lot of people set up savings accounts by direct debits but I have never done that because you never know when you are going to need instant access to a little extra cash. At the end of the month, you can then move the £200 to a different account if you don’t trust yourself with it, and there is not pressure if that £200 is only £150!
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- Make a fund for something you want
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- Your motivation to save will be more if you know the outcome will be rewarding! Mine is travel.
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- Use ‘Voucher Codes’ and discount codes/websites
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- These can save you up to 50% sometimes on eating out and even on weekends away, travel, clothes and lots more. Plus, signing up is FREE!
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- Avoid a credit card
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- Simple. If you don’t have one, you can’t put stuff on it.
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- Build up loyalty points in stores
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- When you do need to buy things, a lot of stores offer loyalty points that often just mount up and then expire. Try seeing how many points you have on a card and if you need something expensive, remember to use your points.
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- Stop stockpiling stuff just because it’s ‘on offer’
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- Buying things that are on offer can be a good way to save, BUT when you already have what you’re purchasing, remind yourself you don’t need more, and may not need it for several more weeks. Squeezing my budget this summer, I decided to use up all of my ‘odds and ends’ of products and stopped myself from purchasing anything ‘new’ like body creams as I aimed to use up lots of what I had first. Not easy, but stopped me from spending £60-80 every couple of weeks on new products.
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- Budget for the month, and the week, even down to the day
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- Okay, so not the most enjoyable of tasks but it works! If you give yourself say £20 a day to spend and one day you only spend £11.64 then save the rest, or put it towards a treat on another day in the week when your budget can be £28.36! Re-budgeting on a weekly basis can be really helpful as you always know what you can spend.
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- Don’t need it? Don’t buy it! Very difficult, but super effective.
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- If you see something you’d like when you’re out, remember it, set a reminder on your phone about it for a few days time. If you still want it so much when the reminder chimes, maybe give it a second look. If you forgot all about it, chances are you can live without it!
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- Eat in more
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- Cook! I know it isn’t for everyone, but it can be fun, especially if you involve friends, colleagues, family and partners.
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- Shop around for the boring stuff like
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- Nobody wants to spend loads on things like floor cleaner. Budget stores like Wilko and Savers often have named brands at super reduced prices. If I can be spending £3 on my laundry soap instead of £10 I will be!
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- Use the bus if you can, instead of the train – even better; WALK!
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- In London, train tickets between zones 1-4 can cost up to £12.70 a day! Buses might not always be the answer of course, but a bus ride is always £1.50 no matter how far you ride, and the daily cap is £4.50! #savings Things in cities like London are often closer than you think as well so walking is sometimes possible (this is the part where I walk everywhere and save on a gym membership!)
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- Look out for cheap days
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- Cinema chain ‘Vue’ for example, offers discounted tickets all day on Mondays.
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- Grocery shop instead of convenience buying
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- This can honestly save you a fortune and helps to budget as well. Grocery shopping just once a month or even once per week can help you with planning your meals, eating healthier and of course saving, as you are more likely to benefit from the offers in store when doing a full shop, than you are when ‘picking up a few things’ at your highly marked up convenience shop on your street.
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- Invest to save
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- I don’t mean invest in shares! Sometimes, a one off purchase that may seem quite expensive will pay for itself eventually. For example, a rail card can be a hefty outgoing as a student or young professional, but it will save you loads over the course of a year and can even be applied to your Oyster card if in London. For me, investing in a Brita filter water bottle really helped me to save on buying bottled water everyday. #ItAllAddsUp
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- Do free things
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- A lot of museums and galleries are free these days and you can learn new things without spending a penny.
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Failing these, you could always stay in, never go out, never do anything other than work, save all of your pennies, never spend a dime, abandon friends and family and live your life as a complete hermit, staying home to count your tenners! What do you do to save money?
Ellies London 
Who would have thought I could have produced such a super savvy adult…..😘😘😘 proud of you…😘
Here’s my two top tips
Buy the best u can afford pays off in the long run….
And
Never pay full price for anything
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
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Haha thank you momma ♥️ I like your top tips, especially never buying anything for full price! I’ve been waiting ages for some Uggs and they’re in the Sale now and I tried them today, but they’re not reduced enough yet so I didn’t bother!
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All good stuff!
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Haha thank you 😊♥️
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Great tips. It’s funny I just wrote a post about saving money too! https://therayjourney.com/2019/01/19/7-easy-ways-to-save-money/
Seems like it is something on everyone’s mind nowadays regardless of where you live in the world.
I live in Egypt, but I still find your tips helpful, especially the budgeting, I do set a budget for the month, but haven’t thought about setting one for the day, so I might start doing that too!
Ray | therayjourney.com
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Daily budgets really help me when cash flow is slow. It also feels good to spend under budget one day and then be able to ‘reward’ yourself at the end of the week with your ‘savings’ – especially if I am running pretty low. I love money saving tips – I will check out yours now. Thank you for reading.
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Great ideas! I save money in a lot of the ways you mentioned above but I’ll add two as well:
1. Barter with a friend or family member who can offer a service you need help with in exchange for a service you can provide. (Cooking dinner as a “thank you” totally counts.)
2. Shop at thrift stores for new clothes and home items. If you really need a new pair of pants, but you like designer jeans, it may be best to try a thrift (second-hand) store. Sometimes you can find them with the tags still on.
Happy blogging!
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Thank you for reading, Melissa ♥ I LOVE this idea of cooking dinner as a thank you! I don’t really shop that much for clothes so I find it weirdly easy to not buy things like that – it’s great advise though for those that do shop lots!
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Great advice! People buy way too much stuff they don’t need with money they don’t have. I love Savers (not sure if it’s the same as we have in NY). I recently picked up black dress shoes for $7 there. I always check the thrift stores first. They don’t always have the exact item you’re looking for, but when they do, it sure feels great to know how much you’ve saved.
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I think this store will be different to the one here as here it sells soap and cosmetics and house things! But the principal seems to be the same…
It always feels so good to know how much you have saved, even if it is just picking up things in the sale! Thank you for reading, Josh x
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I need to be more careful when it comes to clothing. But you know it’s never enough 😁.
Great tips, all you have to be is a bit smarter and manage your finances better, or as you said sit at home and count your tenners 😃😃
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Yeah there’s not much fun in counting your tenners! If you have any questions I’m always happy to help you with this stuff or even just advise 😏
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I always use voucher codes, it is such a fantastic website to use! Thank you for sharing these tips.
My recent post: https://lifeofellabella.blogspot.com/2019/01/how-to-keep-fit-and-motivated.html
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Thank you for reading, Ellie ♥ voucher codes is the best! I think when I am shopping online I rarely buy something without checking places for a discount code first. Even if it’s just 10% or something! x
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Love these ideas and suggestions! I’m currently saving for a new camera so all of my pennies are going towards that – although I do need a new pair of jeans as mine have a hole in so I will have to spend there! Imogen x http://www.imogenchloe.co.uk
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Thank you for reading, Imogen. It is very good that you are able to prioritize these things though as needs, and not how they are different from ‘wants’. Good luck with your saving – you will get to your goals in no time at all! x
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Your tips are so helpful, thanks for sharing (and inspiring me to focus more on saving)! 😊 January has been the toughest month financially because of getting paid early in December! I’m going to start a spending log in my bullet journal to keep track of what I’m spending/buying each month x
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Thank you so much for reading ♥️ I’m glad I can inspire you even a little to save more as it can be very hard to save! I didn’t get paid early in December and I’m so glad about it. I am looking forward to being paid next Monday though x Keeping track of spending in bullet journal is a great idea, I put myself on a daily limit and mark on it if I have not spent my daily limit with a happy face 😁
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Great tips!!! They’re so helpful and can help everyone to save money!
I’ve had spent so much recently and this post surely motivates me to save more so thank you for sharing those tips!!!!
Anaïs | http://anais-n.com
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Thank you so much for reading ♥️ I’m glad you found some of what I wrote useful and motivating 🙂 good luck with your savings! X
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These are some great tips Ellie. Loyalty cards have always worked well for me along with ‘stamp cards, for example there’s a sandwich shop near work and for every 10 sandwiches you get a freebie. I do struggle with saving money though – I have debt after leaving my ex which I’m trying to pay off first before “paying myself”.
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Thank you, I’m glad you found these tips useful. I am partial to a loyalty card myself! It’s basically free money so I always sign up 🤭 It’s good that you’re working towards paying that debt off first, lots of people don’t prioritise that stuff! X
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Some very interesting ways to save money! Some that I’ve never even heard of too! Thanks for sharing!
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I’m glad you found it useful 🙂 Thank you for reading ❤️
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