Alice Beer's money-saving hacks to save over £1500
In the first of our brand new ‘Save In Seven Days’ strand, where all week we reveal the little known ways that could help you save a big dent in your bank balance, our consumer expert Alice Beer will be showing you how cutting back on a few pennies here and there, could end up saving you over a thousand pounds a year.
1) THE PENNY A DAY CHALLENGE
Save 1p on the first day, 2p on the second day, and the last day you are saving £3.65. By the end of the year, you will have saved £667.96.
2) PILE YOUR PENNIES INTO POUNDS
At the end of every day, try transferring the pennies on your current account balance into a linked savings account. You can do this in a matter of seconds with a banking app. Even with as little as 30p you will have saved £100.
3) GIVE UP ONE COFFEE SHOP COFFEE A WEEK
Most coffee shop coffee’s cost around £3.50 - If you can drop one coffee a week, by the end of the year you will have saved £182.
4) SHARE ONE MEMBERSHIP
Look into sharing your membership for sites like Prime, Netflix or Disney with another family who are part of your “household”. You don't have to be in the same physical house - but just the same country. You can create an Amazon Household to share Prime benefits and a Family Library with another adult and up to four children. By splitting the cost of a membership you will save £47.50.
5) SWITCH TO OWN BRAND PRODUCTS
Instead of going for staples brands like Pringles, Coke and Heinz - Try swapping to supermarket own brands which often cost a fraction of the price.
Original pringles cost £2.25 a tub - whereas Aldi’s own brand costs just £1.49.
If you buy these once a week, in a year you will save £364.
6) LESS IS MORE
Every single day we use more than we need for the basic things around us. Not only is this a huge waste but it isn't making the product work any better. It is literally money down the drain: Using half as much each time, obviously saves you replenishing supplies and saves you money.
Shampoo: 3 bottles a year = £3
Conditioner: 3 bottles a year = £3
Washing powder: 2 packets a year = £10
Washing up liquid: 3 bottles a year = £9
Saving over the year: £25
7) FILL UP YOUR WASHING MACHINE
Too many of us do half loads of washing. Just by saving your washing up and doing one less load a week, you will save £10.40 over the year.
Add that to one less tumble dryer load a week, that’s another £52 saved.
Saving over the year: £62.40
8) SAVE ON COFFEE PODS
If you are sticking with the coffee pods that your machine recommends, you may be losing out on some massive savings. Nespresso: 30p a pod, Lidl: 20p a pod. Saving over 365 coffees: £36.50. That’s just for a single person household. For two of you having a coffee a day, that’s £73 saved.
TOTAL SAVING = £1521.86
Average Christmas spend in the UK is between £700 and £1,000 - So with these savings.. That’s Christmas sorted!