So last week I admitted that I am a terrible saver. No that isn’t quite right, now I want to save, I just do not have the spare cash. So I need to save smarter. So I have been figuring our ways to save for non-savers. In fact you would be surprised to know that in just one week I have already saved over £200. Yes £200, so read on to find our more.
How to save as a non-saver
According to the Aviva Financial Personality Tool I am a Dark Scriver and I working with them to share with you mine (and their) tips for being a #SmartSaver. I sat down and first I worked out a goal as Aviva suggest and then I figured out some ways to both save money and make some money to save!
One of the biggest obstacles I face is that our income and expenses are pretty equally balanced, especially with kids in the mix and things breaking. So I decided that I need to make more money to save money as well as tightening our belts.
8 ways for a non-saver to save
- Work out your income and expenses. Yes, it is boring, but by sitting down and going through our bank statements I ended up with a good idea of what we spend and what we spend it on.
- Save the pennies. I always tell my kids that the pennies add up and they really do, so I have started saving my change from my purse and popping it in a piggy bank.
- Set a goal. It is great to have something to strive and aim for. I love this as it really motivates me.
- Make money from your clutter – I decided to clear out things that we didn’t any longer need, specifically books and DVD’s. 2 hours on Sunday and I have boxed up 250 items ready for a courier to collect from Flubbit.com on Monday morning and my savings were £180 stronger.
- Reduce invisible spending. For me this was things like the odd magazine and the husbeast paying for lunch at work. For me, it is all about planning. I buy a certain magazine every month, so I subscribed to it, which will save me 50% over the year and when I make lunch for Mini, I have started making it for the husbeast too.
- Grow your own herbs. I love using fresh herbs and I am sometimes guilty of buying those little pots for my window sill. So this year i am going to grow my own.
- Go without a TV licence. A TV licence costs £145.50, but do you need one? If you watch catch-up TV you do not need a licence, so BBC iPlayer, Channel 4 on Demand and ITV Player are all free to use if you are watching shows that have already been broadcast. You also do not need a licence for watching DVDs and videos or to stream Netflix.
- Drink water. Tap water is free, so I am going to ensure that we drink tap water if we eat out saving money on drinks.
So this week I have already put £201.42 into a savings account. But doing this as a one-off things, isn’t going to turn me into a saver, so this year I have set myself the target of saving £200 per month.
Please share with me your tips for ways to save. I really do need your advice and encouragement as this is NOT my natural state!
Disclosure: This post is in collaboration with Aviva
Some great ideas Jen – we struggle to find cash to save so all very good to read. I need to find some time to make cash out of our clutter too, that and having put myself on a no spend month to try and stop the little impulse buys I hope will help me have saved by the end of the year
If you have saved £200 in one week I’d say that makes you a saver! Well done – that is a great achievement!
some really good tips, we need to start saving which can be hard with low income x
All good tips. We drink a lot of water, which is good, and I know that taking lunch to work can save money (but sometimes I can’t face making it). I didn’t know about Flubbit though so I am going to look into that. Last year we did a big clear out and raised money through a car boot sale which was great.
SOme great tips – like you I would love to save, but there really isnt much spare and as soon as I put £50 to one side one of the kids will need new shoes or something!
Great tips – and I really need these at the mo as I desperately need to change something so we can save!
Great tips here – I did not realise that a TV licence was not needed for catch up TV. Makes sense – a saving for us right there!
Thank you x
Well done that is a great amount to save and so quickly. We are barely breaking even at the moment, but I am quite good when we have extra pennies coming in.
Well done that is a great amount to save and so quickly. We are barely breaking even at the moment, but I am quite good when we have extra pennies coming in.
Great tips – that’s a huge amount of money to save so well done x
I am definitely a non saver but would love to save. Great tips, I’m not sure about the tv licence one though as I really support everything the BBC does and without the licence fee we won’t have some of the other services like great radio. I definitely need to try and curb my Coke Zero habit though, especially with free drinks (water) available all the time!
Amazing tips! I am a sort-of-saver, as in I will save here and there, use coupons/vouchers, but then splurge on something I don’t really need, but reeeeeally want. Love the tips, and can vouch for the penny jar or piggy bank, we clock up over £30 in just two weeks of ‘anything that isn’t a pound coin’!! xx
I wish I could save. Some great tips here although we do often do the tap water thing but it’s the unnecessary splurges Where I come undone. Takeaways, toiletries, coffee’s etc that I don’t need. I’m going to try and put a little aside each week x