Money Saving Tips

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"Pay yourself first" is a principle that is well understood in personal finance circles. Before you do anything with your paycheque, put some of it aside for your future self.

Take advantage of pensions/SIPPs and maybe ISAs if you have shorter term goals, and especially a Lifetime ISA if you are of elegible age (18-40).

Very importantly, set it all up so that it leaves your bank account automatically without you having to do it manually every month. The act of manually moving it over can be hard for some people as they see what they are foregoing, but if you set it all up to take care of itself then you bypass all that faff.

Unless you have very good reason to deviate, I would strongly recommend sticking to a 80/20 global stock/bond mix, or something not too far off.
 
Try something like this:

50% of your income on needs: essential living expenses, such as rent/mortgage, bills, food and transport to work

30% on wants: discretionary spending, such as eating out, shopping, trips and subscriptions

20% on savings or debt: paying off debt beyond minimum payments, or putting money into a savings account, investment or pension fund
 
chrismpw said:
Just stop spending. I don't see how an evening out is expensive so long as everyone pays their way.... unless you're some sort of Billy Big Bucks who likes to show how generous he is to everyone and thus buy friendship. Just go out with mates who pay their way.

Cancel all direct debits. Determine yo put a reasonable amount aside each month (on average I shoved half my take home into savings / paying off my mortgage and refused to touch them. If I was short, I wouldn't dip in I just would eat/drink less or turn the heating down a few degrees and wear a sweater.

Also- don't keep a female nor have kids.

I retired at 50 living off savings until the pension could be drawn. Buggered the plan a bit by getting snarled up with a female and ended up recently being a grandparent. Have to budget for Christmas presents now ffs!
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Best advice in this thread.
 
chrismpw said:
Just stop spending. I don't see how an evening out is expensive so long as everyone pays their way.... unless you're some sort of Billy Big Bucks who likes to show how generous he is to everyone and thus buy friendship. Just go out with mates who pay their way.

Cancel all direct debits. Determine yo put a reasonable amount aside each month (on average I shoved half my take home into savings / paying off my mortgage and refused to touch them. If I was short, I wouldn't dip in I just would eat/drink less or turn the heating down a few degrees and wear a sweater.

Also- don't keep a female nor have kids.

I retired at 50 living off savings until the pension could be drawn. Buggered the plan a bit by getting snarled up with a female and ended up recently being a grandparent. Have to budget for Christmas presents now ffs!
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I can tell there is real love for the female companion that snarled you up :p

I’m the money savvy at our household so no all males are buggered when getting snarled up by a female, just saying.
 
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You'll be surprised how much you can simply by altering the process you follow when you buy things.

For instance, never EVER shop for food when you're hungry. You'll just overspend.

Anything that isn't perishable should never be purchased at full price, or in limited volume.

Don't make a journey just for a single purpose. Any fuel or fares you pay for are the same whether you buy one thing or five hundred, so plan your journeys in order to kill several birds with one stone. Best example of this that I got Mrs Tree to adopt was supermarket shopping - she used to do a weekly shopping trip every Saturday... Despite driving past three large supermarkets twice every weekday on her commute to and from school.

Insulate your property. Wear the clothes you own instead of dressing like it's summer in December and whacking the thermostat up to 20c.

When you next replace your mobile phone, buy an unlocked handset outright (via top cashback or Quidco) and get a sim only contract.

As someone else mentioned, switch your bank account periodically. It's very easy. First Direct and Santander both currently paying joining bonuses of £175.

If you're currently renting, for goodness sake don't rent by yourself. Go into a houseshare with a couple of mates. Down where I am a 2-bed flat will cost about 25% more than a 1-bed... Plus you can split the gas and leccy bills.

Talking about gas and electric - batch cook. As the prices rise, this will save you more and more.

Don't lease cars. Absolute mug's game. Better off taking out a bank loan and buying something outright - it will cost less per month and less overall.
 
Several banks currently offering free money as a reward for switching your current account to them.

Top deal at the moment appears to be £200 from Nationwide, but First Direct, NatWest and RBS are all offering £175. Each has different criteria to fulfil.

Any Barclays customers out there - your bank has just launched an easy-access savings account paying 5.1% interest on balances up to £5000.

All of the above can be found on www.moneysavingexpert.com
 

Scope are offering free energy and water advice to disabled people to help them manage their energy and water needs. The service is open to any disabled person or households where 1 or more disabled people live and those households are in England or Wales.

Expert advisers can help and talk you through a wide range of topics related to your energy and water needs, including:

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Cels said:
Scope are offering free energy and water advice to disabled people to help them manage their energy and water needs. The service is open to any disabled person or households where 1 or more disabled people live and those households are in England or Wales.

Expert advisers can help and talk you through a wide range of topics related to your energy and water needs, including:

* Managing energy and water debt
* Changing your meter
* Energy and water efficiency
* Accessing benefits, grants, and trusts
* Free fuel vouchers (conditions apply)
* Contacting or complaining to your supplier
* Understanding your gas and electricity bills
* Understanding how to use your heating systems
* Support registering with the Priority Services Register

Full details can be found at: SCOPE


​
Click to expand...
Citizens Advice can assist on a lot of this as well. Not sure what kind of strain the service is under just now though.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Citizens Advice

Online free advice from Citizens Advice to help you find a way forward, whatever the problem. Our research enables us to campaign on issues affecting people's lives.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk www.citizensadvice.org.uk
 

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