Wednesday 3 February 2016

Top 5 Money Saving Tips

Here are my top five money saving tips... because let's face it you're probably wasting money on things you don't need when you could be saving to go somewhere sunny and far away!

1. Get Yourself a Lunch Box!
Apparently having a packed lunch is seen as uncool is the adult world... I have no idea why! When I've been at work in the past and pulled out my packed lunch, a sense of confusion has washed over the faces of my colleagues. WHY? Because everyone seems to think it's better to go out and spend money on lunch? I mean it may seem like such a simple thing but believe it or not, you're at work to earn money! It confuses me when people go out and unnecessarily spend a lot of money on lunch when you could get up 10 mins earlier (or even do the night before) and make a nice little lunch for yourself! It also means you can spend your lunch break doing something productive or that will help you destress. Work out how much money you spend on lunch a week and you'll soon see where a lot of your money is disappearing!

2. Stop Buying Coffee out All the Time
Yes, it's nice to do every now and then but if you're doing this every single day think how much money you are spending in a week! Treat yourself to a funky flask, make it at home and take it with you! Tip: You can even buy a Starbucks one and fill it yourself, pretends it's Starbucks and no one will ever know!

3. Compare and Bargain Hunt!
Shop around and find the best buy! This applies to a lot of things; food, cosmetics, insurance etc! I find this particularly with beauty products, even if it is just comparing between Superdrug and Boots!  A lot of the time Superdrug have "better than half price" deals and if there's products you always use it's worth stocking up. It may take a bit of extra time to shop around but in the long run you'll end up making quite saving! Plus nothing feels better than getting a good bargain, right?!

4. Set Yourself a Realistic Budget
I'm not the best at doing this myself but I recommend doing it in some shape or form! Knowing what you have to spend on what will help you not to overspend. Make sure you have enough money set aside for the important (and boring) stuff i.e. bills and rent but then make a plan of what to do with the rest of your pay check. I think it's important to set aside a little bit for treats but also to make sure you're saving! Even if it's £50 you can put away it's better than nothing! 

5. Treats! And Knowing the Difference Between "Want" and "Need"
One thing I've taught myself to do is not to spend money aimlessly or just because I feel like it! Instead reward yourself, for example, if you're at Uni tell yourself you can treat yourself to one thing off your wishlist once you complete a piece of work or that if you work with no breaks in the morning, go out in the afternoon and treat yourself to a coffee. Also one thing that's helps me save money is thinking about what I want and what I need! Instead of impulse buying, think before you buy. This sounds a bit odd but after working in retail over Christmas, people have seem to got a bit credit card happy now they can use contactless and a lot of people laugh and say it feels like they're not spending money! Just ask yourself, do I really need this? If the answer is no, put it back and walk away...it's all about self-control!

What are your tips for saving money? Let me know in the comments or tweet me @_bowsandbuttons

Hayley x 

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