Money Saving Tips – Do You #KnowYourMoney

I would like to think I’m quite decent with money, especially when it comes to money saving. I am pretty organised when it comes to my life and money saving is something which helps when the unexpected happens (or spontaneous trips). I have plenty of awesome things planned this year, including but not limited to; gigs, travelling, a holiday, moving in with my boyfriend and lots more.

In 2016 I made the decision to move back to York from Sheffield and whilst I was very lucky to have such a supportive family who could give me somewhere to stay, I had to make smart decisions with money, finding a job and rebuilding my life again.

SwiftMoney.com have selected bloggers, including myself, to share their money saving knowledge for their #KnowYourMoney campaign.

Do you #KnowYourMoney? Here are my handy money saving tips:

Smarter grocery shopping

Lists – planning out my meals for the week and creating a list of all the groceries I need to buy can be handy when trying to save some pennies. I go into a supermarket or shop knowing exactly what I’m going to/want to buy and try my absolute best to stick to my list.

Save any loose change

I know this might sound silly to some, but when ever I have loose change I pop it in a specific place and when the jar looks full, I take it to my local supermarket which has a machine where you can change your coins to notes for a small fee. I also have a small purse which I also keep loose change in and this can be handy when I go grocery shopping and just need to buy the odd item. I generally go to the self service check-outs when I do this,

Loyalty cards and vouchers

I know it can be annoying having hundreds of loyalty cards, but I keep the ones for places I shop at often. These are very useful (if you shop there often) because I end up collecting lots of points which can amount to a decent amount of money off a future purchase. Voucher codes and deals from handy sites such as dealsdaddy and dealsqueen discount codes for your online shopping, including clothes, accessories, beauty products, furniture, home décor and more!

Work out your disposable income

By looking at your money and working out what your disposable income is, you then have a better idea of how much you have to spend through the month. This is also great for working out if you can afford to put a little bit of money aside each month. I’ve been doing this recently and have a fair bit saved up now.

Loan money

By loaning money, you could ask a family member or friend if you could borrow some. Make sure you have clear conditions and pay them back when you say you will. Otherwise this can cause unwanted upset between the both of you. You could also consider a loan, but this depends on individual circumstances. You could use a loan calculator such as this one https://www.sofi.com/personal-loan-calculator.

Set money aside

As I mentioned earlier in this post, on pay day, I always work out how much my disposable income is and then take a decent chunk out of that which I pop into my savings account.

Sell unwanted items

You could sort through your belongings in an attempt to sell some items and make a bit of extra cash. Websites such as eBay or Depop are great for this.

I know these suggestions may not be for everyone, but I do hope these money saving tips are helpful to you in some way. Unexpected bills sometimes do happen, so it can be a great idea to have a back-up fund and keep an eye on your spends.

Do you have any money saving tips you’d like to share? Let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments.