5 Ways To Save Money Starting TODAY!

The idea behind this blog is to track my success (or failures, hopefully not) in trying to realunch myself as an entrepreneur and businesswoman. Of course it is possible to start a business on no money whatsoever, but in reality, you are going to need capital to get started. Now that doesn't need to be in the thousands, it maye be as simple as £100. When I started, I was reaching my monthly limit of spending. In fact, what I got paid each month wasn't even enough to pay my bills and rent, so I was way over my limit and actually obtaining new debts each month. I knew something had to be changed in order to prove my comittment to becoming succuessful and wealthy, and I needed to do it straight away.

Here are 5 things I did in order to save money and lower my monthly outgoings. I'll start off small so that I don't scare the shit out of you and have you thinking you need to sleep in your shed in order to save money.

1. Take your own food to work

Don't waste your money on Patisserie Valerie eclairs. I mean seriously, who would do that?!

No, I'm not talking about a manky wet squashed sandwich in tin foil. Now that is not sophis'. I'm assuming you can all cook at least something so this is what I recommend. When you do your weekly shop, buy food for meals where you will have enough to be left over and that's not gonna be gross when microwaved. Some good ideas for this are:

- anything with chicken and rice (rice is ok in the microwave, spaghetti and pasta...hmm not so much)

- fajita mix (take a wrap and wrap it at work after microwaving the mix)

- chilli con carne with rice or a bag of doritos

- lasagne

- enchilladas

basically anything that when you buy in bulk is fairly cheap but you can do enough to leave some over. If your workplace doesn't have a microwave then... your fucked. Only joking, but if you don't have a work microwave then it will involve you getting up a tad early and making something like a wrap or a salad. Whatever though, it's still gonna be cheaper than buying your food on your lunchbreak from one of the many overpriced food spots. If you're reaaaaaally lazy and you don't want to cook or get up 20 mins earlier to make your lunch then when you do your weekly shop chuck in a few microwave meals. They will still be cheaper than eating out. When you consider the average cost of a lunch is about a fiver (if it's less than that I would really question what crap you are eating) then this is gonna save you at least £10 or so each week.

2. Buy drinks for work in bulk or at the supermarket

If you know you buy an Evian / Coca Cola / Lucozade every lunchtime or break then go to sainsburys or whever and BUY A MULTIPACK. The price is like, at least 50% cheaper! Even if you buy single drinks they are still considerably less than from the newsagents or wherever. This isn't gonna save you loads, but it will be something.

3. Watch your travel spend

Tried to find one with a funny picture, was unsuccessful

I've always bought travelcards. If I am going anywhere outside of my area I buy a travelcard. Only recently did I realise that if I wasn't going directly into central London (say going from zone 6-2 or a return train from East Croydon to Victoria) that I could use my oyster card and save loads. Plus the bus journeys are significantly cheaper. Register your oyster online so that if you run out of money on it you can top it up online instead of paying for the bus in cash to go to the next top up point (note you need to do this I think a day before you need to travel). I know this is a bit of an obvious one, but it's worth thinking about. I must have wasted loads of money on buying a full priced travelcard when I didn't need to. Also, if you're under 26, get a young persons railcard. I also never did this and missed out on all those savings. Idiot. It's a third off on most rail fares!

4. Stop going out on the piss

Fit!

Alcohol is just stuuuuuupidly priced now. If you're serious about getting out of the money shithole you have landed yourself in, you can't be going out every weekend and drinking your money (that you don't have). No, I'm not saying become a hermit who spends every weekend in bed eating crisps and re-runs of friends, I'm just saying cut it down, or OUT. If your friends are really your friends they will appreciate and respect that you are trying to save money. If your friendship is built out of going to places where you can't even hear each other talk, getting obliterated and then leaving each other to get home, I would question it. Instead of going out, how about you invite your friends over and cook something at home. If you all chip in £5-10 you can make a really nice meal AND have alcohol at a fraction of the price you would spend in a bar. It's more intimate, friendly and I think, fun. How about you try cook something together, or you each bring a dish each? You could make cocktails if each person brings a spirit. You can put Dirty Dancing on, sing out of tune and dance around your living room.....no...just me?

Also ladies, there are also loads of makeup, beauty and tanning parties popping up where you can have a girls night in WITH pampering at a low cost. Get the girls round, get tanned, drink wine and enjoy. If you fancy a pampered girls night in check out The Glam Collective a London based home makeover, makeup, beauty and tanning party company. That I might be involved in... just a quick plug there!

5. Downsize

Geoff and Janet can survive with just a couple fo fold away chairs, stop being so materialistic!

My husband and I were renting a 2 bed flat for over a year. We chose to have a two bedroom because:

a) it was only £100 more than our one bed flat

b) I wanted a room for a studio

and

c) We were greedy.

Did we really need the extra room? No. Did we actually get much more room? No. Was it a nicer flat? No. Please please don't fall into this 'it's only x amount more than our current place' because it's not. Add on more council tax, more space to heat, more furniture to buy to fill that space... it just ends up being more expensive. I will again say - if you are REALLY committed to saving money, becoming financially free and improving your lifestyle in the long run, you need to take drastic action. Maybe this is downsizing to a smaller apartment. Maybe it's moving into shared accommodation. Maybe it's moving back home to your parents (we took the third option, I don't do things in halves). I can't stress how much money I've saved by moving home. We still pay my mum a good rent, pay for all food shopping (and we buy much nicer and healthier food than we did living alone) and we have great company to share our lives with. On top of this, I can afford to pay off outstanding debts, put money into my business ideas, save money towards the future AND go shopping. Shopping! Ohhhh yesss that little thing that was off limits to me for so long has once again returned! My lost friend, shopping.

Of course I think about us having our own place and decorating it and enjoying private time again, but right now, this was the best thing we could have done for ourselves. Just think about it.

  If you have any money saving tips to add to this then please share them below by posting a comment!

Comments

[kevin]

Sarah - excellent advice - I thought I recognized the girl in '4' then thought NO! Anyway all joking aside I was so impressed I sent this info linked to one of my daughters who is on a money saving exercise!
Great Post!
Ta

[earn money online easy]

I am delighted to find many useful things here, that's superb. Thanks for sharing!earn money online easy

[Charlene Holgatini]

This may seem a misnomer given the subject. However, if I am going to spend money on luxury trips I find sites such as Voyage Prive and Secret Escape very useful. They dress themselves up as elitist members clubs but in reality they are merely carbon copies of the Groupon / Living Social model, specialising in luxury holidays at a fraction of the price.

I'm more fond of days out and weekends away than nightclubs / bar crawls so I find these sites v useful as although I may not be able to plan my ideal trip I find looking for something within my budget that I wouldnt necessarily have chosen myself spontaneous and exciting. For example, my partner and I have stayed in a beautiful chateaux in the Dordogne breakfast only but an evenings wine tasting course included. The most ridiculously lavish hotel in Tuscany (5* boutique) which came with a balcony complete with hot-tub and a wonderful hotel at Fistral Beach in Newquay and many more all for £300 or less. UK breaks can be as little as £100 for 2 nights in a beautiful hotel and location.

I also use the more well known Groupon and Living Social for great value on cookery / cocktail classes / white water rafting. These are all more fun and cost effective than spending my money on a night out or otherwise and I believe a lot more positive too.

I'm aware I may sound out of place or even pompous on this blog but I hope that's not the case. I don't spend money on clothes and have had one 2 week holiday in 11 years. I find these discount sites a useful way of enjoying lots of bitesize fun and luxury at a fraction of the price. Even if I were rich
I would still use these discount sites, many of my friends have much more ordinary breaks at 3x+ the price using Teletext and Lastminute(ripoff).com

That's my 2 pence, I hope it's of use to someone. Please excuse any terrible grammar / spelling I am writing on my phone.