Bank notes
Don't miss payments Late payments on utility bills, credit and store cards, HP agreements etc tend to attract penalties. Automate the process. Regular payments by direct debit save time and money in the long run and you won't even have to think about them. And why not take the same approach with your investments? Make regular contributions every month and save effortlessly.
Late payments on utility bills,
credit and store cards, HP agreements etc tend to attract penalties. Automate the process. Regular payments by direct debit save time and money in the long run and you won't even have to think about them. And why not take the same approach with your investments? Make regular contributions every month and save effortlessly.
Similarly, paying online could get you a discount on bills. Taking it further, look into paperless billing for your home phone, fuel and other utilities – the savings soon add up.
Use Open Source software whenever possible Why spend hundreds of pounds on proprietary software when perfectly good free equivalents exist? Open Office will handle all your word processing, database and spreadsheet needs and GIMP is an excellent graphics programme. See http://www.osalt.com/ for a comprehensive directory of open source equivalents to commercial products.
Rediscover your piggy bank Simple solutions are often best. Get in the habit of feeding piggy your change and he will grow fat in no time at all. Try saving £2 coins separately and you can easily save £50 per month this way alone.
Meanwhile bank the cash you save in sales, on coupons and on discounts. It is another way of building up a nest egg with little effort.
Buy online to save money and use price comparison sites to get the best deals.
Use Freecycle, Craiglist etc Why buy when you can get something for free from online communities? Check out these widely-used sites.
When cooking, turn off your oven a few minutes before the dish is done. The existing heat will finish the cooking and save on fuel.
Avoid shopping in convenience stores where mark-ups tend to be significantly higher than in supermarkets.
And when in the supermarket, get in and out as soon as possible. Research shows that shoppers spend an extra 35p for every minute they stay in the shop beyond 30 minutes. By that reckoning, just 15 minutes extra per week equals £273 per year.
Bank the cash you save on discounts, coupons and in the sales – another way to build up a nest egg with no sacrifice.