Looking to reduce spending and boost your savings? Check out these 50 tips which will help you to spend less money!
Some are quick and easy, while others require bigger adjustments. Don’t feel that you have to make drastic changes to your lifestyle – unless you want to of course! Instead, start identifying the changes that would have a small impact on your quality of life and a big impact on your wallet.
Note – If you’re new to the site I’d suggest having a read of my Spring Clean Your Finances post first for some actionable items you can do in under an hour, then come back to this page after.
Overview
Housing
- Find a cheaper room to rent
- Move back home with your parents
- Renting by yourself? Consider moving to a houseshare.
Bills/Phone
- Use a comparison site to check if your current rates for gas, water and electric are competitive
- Is your TV package worth the money? If not downgrade to something cheaper.
- Find out your monthly data and call usage and check if there’s a cheaper contract available
- If you’re outside your contract period call your phone company and negotiate a better deal
- Consider whether to go SIM only – buying a phone outright may help you to spend less money over the total contract period
Groceries
- Plan out your food for the week in advance
- Make a shopping list and stick to it
- Make large quantities and freeze the leftovers (also freeze loaves of bread)
- Cut down on your meat/ fish consumption
- Bulk-buy non perishable items
- Swap branded items for supermarket own brands
Eating Out
- Take your own packed lunches to work
- Have a stockpile of quick go-to meals in your freezer
- Make the most of any deals (2 for 1, Tastecard, Groupon, Tesco Clubcard boost offers)
- Request tap water with your food in restaurants
- Make coffee at home/ work
- Carry a reusable water bottle around with you
- Target happy hour deals such as 2 for 1 cocktails
- Pre-drink at home with friends before heading on a night-out
- Set yourself a drinks limit and stick to it
- Buy your own drinks rather than participating in ’rounds’
Entertainment
- Target cheaper weekday evenings at the cinema
- Buy event tickets far in advance to get the best deals
- Register for Eventbrite and Meetup to find low cost events happening in your area
Health
- Cancel your gym subscription if you haven’t used it and pay as you go
- Switch to a budget gym
- Take up running
Shopping
- Sign up for a NUS card to receive student discount
- Only shop for specific items
- Use cashback websites (such as Topcashback) when buying online
- Search online for a voucher code before placing your order
- Hunt for bargains in charity shops
- Attend a local clothes swap
- Repair or mend existing items where possible
- Check online for the best deal rather than buying an item in the first place you see it
Transport
- Consider whether you make good use or your car and sell it if not (hiring a car every now and again may make better financial sense)
- Switch to using public transport over taxis
- Try to walk between destinations where possible
- Take up cycling
- Work out if it’s more cost-effective to buy a long term travel ticket than paying every day
- Travel by coach instead of taking the train
- Aged 16-30 or a full time student? Spend less money on train travel with a railcard.
Holidays
- Use a comparison website to make sure your travel insurance is good value for money
- Monitor deals websites such as Holiday Pirates to find a bargain
- Set up alerts on Skyscanner for any destinations you’re keen to go to
- Stay in AirBnB rooms or hostels, rather than hotels
- Go self-catering
Hopefully the list has given you a few ideas for where you could spend less money so you can start to build up your savings pot. If you’d like to go even further and work out what your current spending is for each of the categories check out my post on Where Does All My Money Go?.
If you have any other examples of how you’ve managed to spend less money I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
