Money Saving Tips

Money; we just can’t get enough of it. Sadly that is to true at the moment, with wages static, overtime rare and bills constantly rising. Here are a few simple money saving tips to help you make the weekly/ monthly/yearly budget stretch that little bit further.

Complaint procedures
Complain, complain, complain; not generally known for our ability to be forthright people in the UK normally stick to complaining about the weather. However, our fear of standing up for our rights works both ways and shops or service providers hate a fuss. If you’ve been sold shoddy services or goods then get your money back, or at least some of it. Often service providers will be so horrified that you’ve complained they’ll go into a bit of panic and give you free stuff or discount vouchers to keep you quiet.

Use the green cross code
Stop, look and listen. This is normally advice given to children when teaching them how not to get run over but it works well when considering your next purchase. Stop and wait a few days before making the decision rather than rushing to buy any luxury item. Look around on the internet to see if you can find a discount code, or better price, and listen to that inner voice that’s telling you can’t really afford to buy right now. If you follow the stop, look and listen approach you’ll find that you’re less inclined to make impulse purchases and you may also find that you can actually afford to make them occasionally.

E-Conomy
There’s very little that you can’t buy on the internet these days; from a pint of milk to a coffin, the choices are endless. In most cases you’ll find a discount code or an offer. In most cases internet purchases attract a discount over the high street price anyway so online shopping for just about everything will see your bank balance gaining a little weight over time. Try to shop online for most things and especially for electronics, jewellery and clothing.

Double discounts
When it comes to household bills it seems the only way is up. The trick here is to continually shop around and to try to obtain ‘duel’ discounts. Most energy providers will offer discounts if you buy gas and electricity from them and often they’ll offer an additional discount if you pay by direct debit. The same applies to insurance policies; if you buy your home, contents, vehicle and travel insurance from one provider you’ll normally get a significant amount off the policies. It’s worth bearing this kind of discount in mind when comparison shopping to be sure you maximise your savings.

Leave the ‘Plastic Fairy’ at home
If you are forced to shop in real shops rather than the virtual kind you should consider taking cash with you. This is particularly useful when it comes to the weekly grocery shop. Sticking to a budget and avoiding impulse buying is much easier if you’ve only so much in your purse or wallet and don’t have access to the ‘plastic fairy’. You’ll have to learn the art of mental arithmetic on the hoof, which is no bad thing. If you’ve completely forgotten how to add up take a school age child with you and get them to do it. It’s not exploitation; it’s sort of like helping with their homework!

Written by The Spy, 17 July, 2012 - 15:14