From a young age I've been money conscious (the stars of 'Superscimpers' would be proud) I'm a little weird in the sense of I enjoy saving, I like to see money grow. In Secondary school I managed to secure myself a few cleaning jobs for family friend's (glamorous I know.) Although the wage was peanuts (at the time it seemed like millions) I learnt that if you work hard, you earn money (drilled in from a young age.) Although as I say these jobs didn't pay well I loved having the opportunity to save and although I didn't quite realise it at the time working and earning really taught me the value of money, and the key difference between 'wanting' and 'needing' items.
Without sounding like my mum (scary) saving is so important, there's no harm in starting young too (friends of a similar age still think it's crazy that I have a pension.) My main purposes for saving are rainy days, a car and eventually my own place. I have lots of little money boxes scattered around my room for loose change you'd be surprised how quickly they all add up. I also have an ISA account for larger savings, if you have an ISA (like me) the most effective way to use this is to set up a 'direct debit' (assuming you have a regular monthly salary) this allows the money to build and also allows you to budget money knowing your savings have automatically been taken out. When setting up the direct debit I also recommend a realistic figure, remember a small amount is better than nothing.
So here are my three tips for reducing monthly outgoings (for everyone this will be different, as everyone has different lifestyles but for anyone who's similar to me this may be helpful!)
1. Subscriptions
Come on hold your hand up we're all a little guilty of this one. Whether it's home/garden magazines (like my mum) or the latest beauty boxes we are all likely to have had some subscription service at one point in our lives. The majority of subscription services are not contractual (meaning you should be able to cancel at any point.) I was previously a subscriber to Birchbox which I really truly did enjoy receiving. Priced at £12.95 they seem pretty affordable right? £155.40 a year, still sound attractive? Thought not. When I worked out how much the yearly cost of Birchbox was I simply couldn't carry on with my subscription. Although to some £155 may not seem much, for myself it was money I'd rather see in my ISA. So after reviewing my personal finances I cancelled all subscriptions (no more Allure for me *insert sad face*) All the money that was previously going on subscriptions I now save in my ISA.
Total saved- £277.40 per year (by cancelling all subscription services, I'm now a boxless beauty blogger.)
2. APP Subscriptions & Gym Membership
If you own android/Apple products it may be worth checking any in app subscription services, although most apps only charge 69p for monthly renewal this can add up if you have several apps with the charge plus if it's not an App you use why keep it! To check any in app subscriptions go to iTunes-Open Account- iTunes Store- Purchase History.
A few months ago I also cancelled my gym membership, this saves me a total of £32 per month. If you have a gym membership find out your monthly payment, view price list and see how much a single session would cost (I know in my gym this was £5 a time) work out how many sessions in the gym/pool etc you would need to make your money back does it balance? If not, cancel. Don't worry you're not banned if you find yourself missing the gym you can always reactivate your membership or pay for single sessions. If you're not getting your money's worth it's really not worth keeping- and think of all the extra money you'll save.
Total I saved - £392 per year (whoa, that much money saved from cancelling my gym membership and app subscriptions.)
3. Spend your money
I know what you're thinking how will spending money save me money but hear me out. What I actually mean is don't pay by card and limit online spending. I like to call this form of shopping 'blind spending' let's face it most online stores now save card details with one click of a button you've spent. Swipe your card, enter your pin- again it doesn't really feel like you've spent a penny. Ladies and gents go old school, draw money out, hold money, budget with money. If anything I think this brings back the reality of spending. When you start the day with a purse full of money and end it empty, it brings back the harsh reality of spending and also allows you to think about your money more and limit impulse buys.
So there are my 'tips' I'm not sure if this post will be helpful to anyone but here are the three things I did over the past few months in order to get my finances back on track. For anyone who wants to start saving I would firstly recommend sitting down with pen and paper work out monthly outgoings/incoming -include small thing's e.g transport to work, weekly food bill. This will allow you to see how much money you have left and how much potentially you will be able to save.
What are your top tips for saving money? I'd love to know, any help is greatly received as I've seriously been curbing the spending over the past few months.
P.S Totally unrelated but I recently got Pinterest I'm addicted if you'd like to follow you can here
