Ways That I Save Money, Part 4

It must be something about the New Year that gets me acting crazy, but throughout the whole month of February, and most of March, I’ve been acting like one of those possessed people of extreme couponing.  I’m obsessed!  I’m signed up to websites, I get daily emails and I’ve even got apps on my phone now to help me keep up to date with offers.  I’m addicted, but hey, there’s worse things in life ain't there? 

Printable Coupons

I’ve been checking out Hollys Extreme Couponing site throughout the last couple of months to get the best coupons online, and in doing so I’ve managed to grab several freebies.  Between the fam, so far we have managed to pick up: 3 cartons of soup, 2 bottles of lemonade, 3 four packs of Yazoo, a carton of Optiwell yoghurt drink and 3 bottles of Upbeat protein shakes.  Some of the vouchers stated one free item, others had a specific money value – all of which worked out perfectly for some super freebies when items were on offer.  Sad I know, but I get such a thrill out of picking up bits that I know the family will use for free.  I’d definitely recommend checking out Holly’s site for some fab freebies!

Shopmium

My absolute obsession right now is getting cash back on the items that I pick up in the supermarket, especially as these apps tend to have offers on the items to make them completely free.  The two I use at the moment are Shopmium and Checkout Smart, which between the two of them the apps have given me pretty decent savings over the last two months.  Shopmium is great for offering free items throughout the month – so far I’ve picked up: a loaf of bread, 3 multipacks of Go Ahead breakfast bars, a bottle of Volvic water and a bar of Graham and Brown chocolate, all completely free!  They also offer savings on other great items too, such as 50% off, try for £1 deals and multi savings when you buy two or three of the same item.  Since mid-January I’ve had £15.73 paid back into my account, which is really good considering the majority of my claims have been on completely free items.   You can use my friend code AEYYCHMF to get involved in all of the money saving madness.  You’ll even get a free bar of Lindt chocolate as a welcome gift!

Checkout Smart

This app has brought me the most joy throughout the month, because they always update it with fab offers, on products that I either normally buy, or will buy it for the kids because I know they will like it!  Using this app I’ve picked up free bread, yoghurts, beverages and fruit and nut mixes.  Not only that, but I also got really good cash back deals on other items too: 6 1l bottle of Mountain Dew for £1.50, 5 500ml bottles of Vitamin Water for £1, and other drinks for just 25p!  It’s by far my favourite app right now, and I’ve not long cashed out on my rewards – a total of £27.50 at the end of last month, and I’ve already got another £9 pending as we speak, it’s so easy!  The deals change every other day, and there is always something to take advantage of.  Take a look and see if there is anything on there that you fancy, deals are often tailored to what you but after a couple of uses – making it personal to you and helps you save the most money!

What are your favourite tips for saving some cash when you’re shopping?

Until the next one,

Ways That I Save Money, Part 3

It’s been a while my friends… the January blues hit me like a ton of bricks when the realization of exams being just a week away rudely awoke me from my festive slumbers.  Exams are over now though – so I’m ready to return to my weekly blogging mojo and social media once again!

One of the easiest things that I do every day to ensure that I’m not splurging unnecessary cash is taking a bottle of water with me to work, uni or a shopping trip to town so that if I need hydrating, I don’t have to pay for it!  Martin bought me a Hydratem8 water bottle for Christmas which I absolutely adore as it keeps me up to date with how much water I should be drinking to the exact time of day.  I’ve been using water bottles for months now, but before I started taking one with me I wouldn’t think twice about spending 50p-£1.50 per day on juices. 

Every month now without fail I like to work out my expenses down to the penny, which covers everything from my bills, dog food for the month, petrol money and anything that I feel like treating myself to.  By doing this, it gives me an idea of how much I can afford to put away into savings, and what I have left over.  I then like to break this down into weekly amounts, and then work out the expenses regularly throughout the month to try and keep on top of what I’m spending.  By doing this, it normally helps me to ensure that I’m not completely stranded the week before payday… Normally!

Now we all know that there are not many months that go by when I don’t feel the need to treat myself to some Lush goodies.  I spend a lot of money in there, and in return I tend to get a lot back too!  Every time you buy and item from them in one of their pots, be it a scrub, cleanser, conditioner or shower jelly – make sure you keep the pot!  Clean it out and pop it aside for when you have five in total.  Lush have a scheme where you can exchange 5 clean pots for a fresh face mask.  You get to choose the one you like, and they all retail at £6.75 – making it a great freebie!  I tend to get a free face mask every two to three months, as like I said, I spend a lot in the place!  I think I’ve tried out all of the masks now thanks to this scheme, with Cupcake, Love Lettuce and Don’t Look At Me being some of my faves! 

One of the best things that I’ve discovered that has helped me save HUNDREDS of pounds a year is the Trainline best fare finder.  This fab little tool helps you find the cheapest train tickets on the market, and will let you book up to three months in advance, which can help turn a £70 train fare for two into £40 no problem!  The best bit about it though is easily their email reminders to let you know when your journey is going to be it’s cheapest.  For example, Martin surprised me with tickets to see Avenged Sevenfold back in August if I remember correctly (we saw them on Tuesday and it was an insanely amazing gig!), and so when he told me about it, I set a reminded for the train tickets.  In October, exactly three months before the gig, the Trainline sent me an email to let me know that I could travel from Aberdeen to Glasgow for as little as £5!  Not only that, but I could book two first class return tickets for £40!  Needless to say I booked there and then, saving nearly £200 pounds alone on that one journey!  Although it takes a little planning, setting reminders is definitely the way to go when you know you’re gonna be travelling by train – I’m already looking at dates for this years music festivals so that I book them well in advance too.

I hope you find some of these little hints and tips helpful, as once again these are the things that I swear by to ensure that I’m getting the most for my money every month.

Do you swear by any of these tips too?

Until the next one,

Ways That I Save Money, Part 2

I really enjoyed sharing with you the simple things that I do to ensure that I get the best value for my money when I’m making purchases – so much so that I’m going to continue sharing my tips until I’ve covered the lot!  Again, these are things that I actually do every month without fail, and it’s all things that I really enjoy doing too!

Vouchers and Store Magazines

A lot of the shops that I go to these days use vouchers as an incentive to get you to come back.  And If I’m being honest, this does the trick for me!  Like I shared in my last blogpost, Tesco and Boots often provide you with vouchers that you can use on your next visit, however they are not the only shops that do so!  Holland and Barrett often print a 10%/20% off voucher for your next shop with then, Morrisons like to print off point boosting vouchers or a money saving one on petrol at the till and Superdrug a good old triple points one.  Alongside these, a lot of them actually have their own promo magazines too, which nearly always contain pretty decent money off or point boosting vouchers that you can use throughout the month.  Tesco, Boots and Pets at Home always have a good variety of coupons that you can redeem in store, which is always great for helping you to save the cash!

Free Gifts

One of my favourite things about Christmas shopping at this time of year is looking out for all of the free gifts that you can pick up whilst you are making your regular purchases.  For example, I was needing to pick up a few make-up bits recently, but hadn’t gotten round to doing it yet.  Mum pointed out that Soap and Glory were offering a free gift worth £23 when you spent £15 on their cosmetics at Boots stores.  With that being said, I was sold on the spot.  I ordered a primer and a blusher online, and received for free a highlighter, mascara and lippy – not bad at all considering the total retail price would have been £38!  At the same time as picking up these goods, I was actually ordering a couple of stocking fillers for a couple of people too.  I added my desired product to my basket, and noticed that if I spent £12 on that brand (and my product was already £8) then I would receive another free gift, worth £8.  The free gift actually turned out to be the exact thing that I was looking for, and so I chucked in another lippy for me and we were sorted.  I like that on the Boots website you can actually search for the free gifts offers by using the offers link – it makes shopping that little bit easier, and often gets me to try out brands that I’ve never used before – as I’m intrigued by the free gift.  Earlier in November I picked up some concealer, colour corrector and mascara from Superdrug on a 3for2 offer – and received a pompom for my car keys – as well as getting the cheapest item free!  Looking out for offers like these ensure that you are getting the best value for your money with every spend – hence why I like to shop like this now. 

Coffee on the Go

One of the easiest ways that I can save money every month is bring a coffee with me wherever I go.  I like to treat myself to flavoured coffees for keeping at home, and so in the morning when I’m heading off out the door to uni or work, it’s a real treat to enjoy a vanilla or gingerbread cuppa on the go – without the crazy price tag.  I like to have a coffee on me when I’m sitting in lectures  to keep me going – and so If I didn’t bring one with me everyday, I’d probably be spending £3 on a Costa a day… £9 a week… £36 a month!  Easy saving tips right there, totally simple yet you’d be surprised by the amount of people who actually spend that kind of money on the stuff every month.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about those coffee dates – and if I want an extra coffee after I’ve finished my home brewed one, then I’ll get one.  I’m not about depriving myself, just being a little more conscious of my spending is all.  Right now I’m loving the LittlesCoffees – and I’m currently on a mission to find their Christmas flavoured one, which sadly is out of stock in all my local Holland and Barrett stores.  Here is hoping I get my hands on one before the festive period ends.

And there we have it, these are some of the best ways that I go about ensuring that I’ve being a little bit more conscious with my spending every month – and yes, I’m treating myself AND saving money too.

Do you guys follow any of these rules too?

Until the next one,

Ways That I Save Money, Part 1

One of my favourite days out of every single month is the 28^th, payday glorious payday.  Not to sound superficial or anything, but I like it when my hard earned pennies gets put into my bank account, so that I can figure out what I can afford to spend and what I can treat myself to.  I’ve got a few rules that I abide to every month in regards to my spending, and a few techniques that I use to ensure that I get the best possible deals on my purchases.  I hope you find these as useful as I do!

My Supermarket App

I discovered this app way back in January during exam time.  Some people binge watch TV series when they’re not revising, I binged watched extreme couponing.  A little odd for a 21 year old to be spending their spare time, yes, but I did learn a lot about saving cash during my crazy obsession, which has helped me a lot this year to be able to treat myself and keep extra pennies in the bank too.  My Supermarket compares prices of all of your groceries in all major supermarkets – helping you get the best deal for your money.  I like to use this any time I’m buying anything a little pricier than normal, for example dog food, spot on, shampoo and conditioner etc.  It breaks it down to where is cheapest, who has offers on etc, so when you do need to go out and buy, you know where to go to get the best deal for you.  I love it!

Loyalty Cards and Apps

I am one of those annoying people who has a loyalty card for every single shop that I go to, much to Martins disgust.  I like getting my money’s worth with every purchase, so when there is a loyalty card to be had, you can guarantee that I’ve probably got it.  Most loyalty cards give you points, which over time will either equate to you being sent out a voucher or money off your next shop in store.  The ones that I use the most often, but not limited too, are Tesco Clubcard, Nectar and Boots, which all have great money saving or enhancing purposes.  Tesco send you out a voucher four times a year to the value of what you’ve earned during those months – and print you off money saving coupons at the till.  Nectar allows you to build and spend your points in denominations of £2.50, and if you download the Nectar app there are normally pretty good bonus points offers that will help you build up your points faster.  Boots give you four points per £1 right now, as well as sending you out vouchers every 3-4months and printing them off at the tills.  The app has fantastic offers all the time that you can load to your card to help you build your points faster all year round, sometimes I’ll get £3 of points for spending £3!  My favourite one right now though for doing all my Christmas shopping is the Superdrug card – as you get free delivery EVERYTIME you order online, regardless of what you buy and how often you use it. 

This year I used my Nectar points to pay for a birthday present in October, my Boots points to buy a Christmas present and my Superdrug points to get money off of a Christmas present.  So in my eyes, loyalty cards are SO worth your time, even if they do take up a little more room in your purse. 

So these are just a few tips that I swear buy for saving cash every month.  I plan on doing a miniseries on all of my tips and tricks – but in the mean time I hope that this gives you an idea on how to make some small but effective changes to your spending.

Let me know your tips and tricks below!

Until the next one,