Money Saving Techniques 17 Of The Best

I love money-saving techniques and I love any money-saving ideas. It wasn’t always this way. I used to be terrible with money until I started saving for my first property. It made me look at my finances and see what a frivolous person I was when in reality I couldn’t afford to be. Money-saving techniques and life hacks kind of saved me a bit from my poor financial planning.

If you are not sure what a life hack is then the dictionary describes it as “a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one’s time and daily activities more efficiently”.

There are of course a variety of money-saving techniques and life hacks. The main ones are the ones that save you time and make your life easier, then there are the money-making life hacks and ones like this which is the money-saving life hack.

Once you have looked through this list and started to set up some money-saving techniques, you could be on your way to saving hundreds of pounds per year.

1:VOUCHERCODES.CO.UK

Vouchercodes.co.uk is the UK’s biggest vouchercodes website and has discount codes for everything from dining out to clothes shopping to days out. They also have a Top 20 section where you can browse the top 20 discount codes they have available that week.

All in all, Vouchercodes has 5000 retailers at hand so they can secure the best offers for you the public daily.

Vouchercodes.co.uk has been around now for 10 years and is reliable and secure it’s my one-stop-shop for not paying full price for anything and paying less than full price is one of the easiest money-saving techniques.

2:PLUM MONEY APP

Plum is the AI assistant that grows your money without you even noticing. You can sign up here at Plum. I have been using Plum for a couple of months, and I will be doing a full review soon.

It really is so easy to use. You download it onto your mobile via the app store or Play Store and then connect it to your bank account with a quick link click. Dont worry this is all super secure and you have to re-connect every 90 days just to make sure.

Once Plum is connected you just need to set some rules. I have mine set to round up any spending on my debit card and add the extra to my plum account in savings.

You can also let Plum look at your accounts and put aside a set amount each month depending on how you spend your money.

I’m not brave enough to choose that option yet but the round-up option is a good one for me.

I don’t really even notice the amount being taken from the account yet it all gets saved in my plum app for me.

The great thing about the Plum app is I can put money into different pockets such as one for holidays one for rainy days etc. It really is like saving on autopilot.

3:CLUBCARD POINTS

Most supermarkets have a clubcard system but the best one I have found is the Tesco Clubcard points system. Not only can you collect points from shopping at Tesco but also if you fill up with fuel at their filling station.

If you use the reward partners to spend your vouchers you generally end up with 3 or 4 times the original value.

When you shop as much as we do at Tesco it can add up. We also both purchase fuel from Tesco so we generally have a lot of points to spend.

We always end up using the Clubcard app to order our vouchers to use with the reward partners to make them go further.

Make sure to check Tesco’s website for details. They have announced changes are to be made soon to the clubcard scheme.

4: CASHBACK

My wife and I love a cheeky bit of cashback. We use Topcashback as I have found it the best one out of the ones available.

Every time we do any kind of online shopping we use Topcashback and we also use it when we swap energy providers or car insurance providers as you can usually get a nice lump sum of cash for switching which makes it all the more worthwhile.

Sign up to Topcashback today and start saving that cashback to withdraw and spend on a rainy day.

When you shop online this can be one of the best money-saving techniques out there. Absolute no-brainer on this one.

5:FATFINGERS:

No, it isn’t an affliction I have got due to posting multiple blog posts. It is a very clever site that has a built-in search engine that searches eBay for misspelt auctions.

For example, if you type in Samsung in the search bar, it then takes you to eBay to show you all the different ways that people have placed listings with the wrong spellings.

Obviously, poorly spelt listings get fewer views than correct ones and usually, the price will be cheaper.

Fatfingers is the number one site to go to to track down those misspelt listings on eBay grab yourself a bargain and save money today.

6:SAVE ON COFFEE

If you are a regular coffee drinker like myself then you will always be pleased if you can save money having your favorite hot drink.

Most big coffee chains will offer money off when you bring a reusable cup with you. Not only that but further savings can be had because coffee chains such as Starbucks will let you have free filter coffee refills as long as you stay on site.

If you have work to do on your laptop, for example, you need only pay for one filter coffee then can have multiple refills for free.

7:BUDGETS

Someone once said Budgets are not sexy and they were right but you know what is sexy? Excess cash in your account every month.

Try creating a simple budget and sticking to it for a couple of months. It all starts by cutting out all the useless stuff you spend your money on.

Once you create a simple budget and stick to it you will see a difference in the amount of disposable cash you have left.

8:BUY GENERIC MEDICINES

So I don’t generally buy a lot of medicines as I am generally relatively fit and healthy. I do however suffer from indigestion and I like to have some kind of Antacid available to me at home.

I used to plump for a big bottle of Gaviscon which usually costs me around £15. However, after a little bit of research, I found that the local supermarket brand bottle contained the same ingredients but was half the price.

This also holds true for most medicines such as ibuprofen and paracetamol. If you get unbranded ones they are often 4 or 5 times cheaper.

When brought in bulk to stock up your medicine cabinet this can save you quite a lot of money.

One of the money-saving life hacks that people don’t automatically think of.

9:DRINK WATER BEFORE EATING

Seems a weird one but it actually works. Im lucky in that im a slim (ish) guy but I do have a big appetite.

I find that if I drink a pint of water before cooking dinner it fills me up a little. I tend to end up cooking less food which means less wastage and therefore it saves me money.

This is also a very good money hack to try before you go out to eat at a restaurant. When it’s time to order you are not quite as hungry as before you drank any water. This means you are likely to order a smaller meal and again save yourself money.

10:CARRY LARGE NOTES

I know we are rapidly turning into a cash-free society. As it happens It has been a couple of weeks since I last had cash in my wallet.

The trick with this is when you withdraw cash from your bank only go for large denominations of notes such as £20 or better yet £50.

This stops you from spending as much. I know for a fact I am not going to break a £50 note just for a coffee.

11:GROW YOUR OWN

Grow your own Fruit and Veg in a patch in your garden. You dont need to spend lots of money to start this. Just a small wooden box is good enough to start with some seeds.

Grow seed potatoes, Strawberries, Tomatoes and any other such food produce to save yourself money when it comes to harvesting them.

If you are not sure when to plant potatoes then try a simple Google search, there is plenty of advice out there for new amateur produce farmers.

A simple money-saving life hack that is perfect for the current climate.

Because of the global pandemic with COVID-19 which we found ourselves in a few years back, lots of people are growing their own foodstuff.

12:CHANGING THE THERMOSTAT

When it comes to money-saving techniques then I’m sure you would have heard of this one.

In my house I have my thermostat set to 19.5 degrees. Any time the house temperature drops below this the boiler kicks in to heat up the house again.

This is also timed to only come on during waking hours and when I am at home.

Did you know though that by just dropping the temperature on your thermostat by 1 degree you could save lots of money over the cost of the year?

Also, set the timer to come on half an hour later and go off half an hour earlier. This will save you one hour of heating per day but I bet you won’t even notice.

13:FREE NETFLIX

Netflix is the greatest streaming service currently available and is my go-to when I’m bored and need entertainment. Although not overly expensive at around £16 per month for the premium service which allows you to watch shows in 4k definition it is the ability to have multiple people on one account.

I have my wife, Sister, brother and sister-in-law set up on my account with their own profiles. They can then watch all the great shows free of charge.

Piggyback off of a friend’s account and save yourself up to £120 per year.

Note Netflix are clamping down on people who use free accounts and as such you will not be able to get away with this for much longer. You will have to buy extra accounts for friends and family which could be another £5 per month each.

14:NO-SPEND WEEKEND

Try that no-spend weekend. If you are not sure what a No-spend weekend is or how to implement one head over to my article on the best ways to go about having that weekend with no spending whatsoever.

The premise is simple, do some fun stuff for the whole weekend that requires you to spend no money. Be it cooking with ingredients you already have in the cupboard to playing board games. Whatever you need to do to pass the time without spending a dime.

15:QUIT SMOKING

I know I say it as if it is the easiest thing in the world to do. Believe me, I have done it and I know it’s not easy at all. In fact, it is one of the toughest things I have had to do.

The plain and simple fact is not only is it going to save you thousands of pounds per year it will also help improve your health. You will get instant health benefits within the first week of giving up.

Even if you are a light smoker giving up is one of the best savings you will ever make. If I had to list the best money-saving techniques ever it would be this one.
You have to want to give up smoking for you though. If your heart isn’t in it you will likely fail.

Put that cigarette out and enjoy life more.

16:CALL YOUR CABLE PROVIDER

9 times out of ten if you call your cable provider and tell them you are unhappy with the current contract and feel it is too expensive and you are thinking about leaving they will get you on a cheaper deal.

The worst-case scenario is you end up leaving anyway and you will still save money by switching to a competitor. Remember these companies don’t reward the existing customers. They want new customers.

17:MEERKAT FREE CINEMA FOR A YEAR

Did you know it is possible to get free cinema tickets for a year? All you have to do is use compare the Market website and purchase travel insurance. The cheapest I found was just under £2 this then qualified me for 2for1 cinema tickets for a whole year.

It is a little bit of a sneaky trick I admit. People have been doing it for many months now and it is still available for you to try now.

SUMMARY:

I hope you have enjoyed some of these money-saving life hacks. I hope you get to try some of them to help you live a better life with less cash spent. Let me know if you find any other great money-saving life hacks for me to look at.