January is well known for being a difficult month. The excitement of Christmas is over and extravagant spending over the festive season could well have left you feeling more than slightly strapped for cash. I’ve been very open on my blog about the fact that we are always trying to save money. Although Dan works very hard and earns a very good wage, it is still only one wage, for three (soon to be four) people. We try to be as frugal as possible and so I am always on the lookout for new and smart ways for us to save money. We are currently saving up to buy our first house and so every penny really does count. I know I’m not the only one trying to find new ways to save money as all my other money saving posts have done well in the past. So, here is an updated list of ways that you could be saving money this year.
Save for occasions and events well in advance.
If there is an event like a Birthday or Christmas coming up, I would recommend starting to save for it as soon as possible. Having a tight budget at Christmas this year left me feeling quite lousy about how much we were able to spend on our family and friends. I love Christmas shopping for presents for people and so this year I have started saving for Christmas already. I’m just putting a set amount aside each month so that when December comes around I won’t have that panic and stress of trying to find enough money to make sure we all have an amazing day. If all goes to plan it should just be sitting in my little pot, waiting to be spent.
Reward & Points Cards
My purse is stuffed full of rewards cards for virtually every different shop you can imagine. If there’s a points card going, you can almost guarantee I’ll have it. I know some people can’t see the point (ha!) in signing up but you’d be amazed how quickly the points do start to add up. You’ll also gets special offers and rewards throughout the year. I did one of the most adult things I have every done at Christmas and saved up all my Nectar Points to spend on the Christmas food shop. I think it ended up knocking around £20 off the total bill which does make a difference, especially if money is tight.
Buy the kids clothes a size up
This is such a Mum Thing to do but it really helps. Roll up sleeves or turn up the bottom of a pair of trousers and then when they have grown (probably only a week later) you can just unroll and un-tuck to make the clothes last longer. The only thing that this doesn’t work for is shoes, which is typical as they are usually the most expensive thing, so if anyone knows any tricks for spending less on shoes then please let me know!
Don’t browse
I can’t remember the last time I allowed myself to go into a shop, have a browse and just buy whatever catches my eye. I really only ever do that now if I have been given a Gift Card and strict instructions that I must spend it on myself. I used to love just browsing around the shops and spending money like there was no tomorrow but the reality is that I ended up with a lot of things that never got worn. I look forward to the days when we have more money going spare and I can be a bit frivolous again but for now that part of my brain is well and truly on lock down.
Search for discount codes
If you have a big purchase to make, then have a quick look online before you spend. You can almost always find a discount code online that will take some money off your purchase for you. I’ve used the website VoucherCodes before and found some great ways to get money off. Lots of bloggers also often have discount codes to share with their readers and followers so make sure to do some research before you spend. On that note, don’t forget that I have a discount code that will give you 10% off your order at What2Buy4Kids. The code is SNIPPET218 and you can read more about that offer here.
Budget & Plan
We have a set goal for how much money we would like to save this year and to keep us on track I am making a spreadsheet which we can update monthly with our progress. Some people have the patience to make a very in depth budget plan but I am not quite meticulous enough for that. However, you just do what you think is going to help you the best. For me, it really helps to have specific goals written down and to pay attention to our progress. If you are keeping track in this way regularly it also means that saving money will always be in the forefront of your mind so hopefully you won’t be tempted to splash the cash unnecessarily.
These are just a few ways for you to save money this year, I hope they are helpful.
As always, I’d love to hear any suggestions you might have for saving money. Leave them in a comments below!
*this is a sponsored post
