Here’s a handful of random money saving tips for Monday…
Cat food costs halved
It’s all very well knowing you can save cash, but it’s even better when you know how much. A while ago I mentioned how buying solid meat cat food instead of the stuff with gravy or jelly meant the food went further. I’ve been testing for a week and can confirm that I’ve had to buy more or less exactly half the amount of solid food as the gravy or jelly versions. That’s what I call a saving worth having!
Sell your iPhone
iPhones are expensive, like all Apple stuff, but they also hold their value better than most gadgets, simply because they’re a premium brand. If your iPhone 4 is in perfect condition, Mazuma Mobile will give you around £90 for it.
Wean yourself off big brand foods
With a can of Tesco everyday value baked beans at about 24p and Heinz at around 65p, there’s no contest!
Buy BIG
If you have the storage space, you can save an awful lot of dosh buying items that don’t go off our out of date for ages in bulk, since big packs almost always cost less than small.
Book your next holiday at the last minute
Unless there’s a pressing reason why you need to book early, why not leave booking your next holiday until the last minute? It’s a guaranteed way to pick up excellent deals, huge fun if you enjoy not having a specific destination in mind and taking a fly.
Rent posh threads
The wedding season is almost upon us. If you are getting married or are a guest at a wedding, track down your nearest dress hire or dress agency shop instead of splurging on new clothes. You can also borrow something from a similar sized and shaped friend, hit the charity shops, go vintage via any of thousands of vintage clothing sites or ask your gran if she has kept anything gorgeous from the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s or ’80s. You could even learn to sew and make your own – the popularity of TV’s The Great British Sewing Bee indicates sewing is set to be the next new rock ‘n’ roll.
Think Christmas 2014 from now on
If you can bear it, start preparing for Christmas 2014 now. Keep your eyes open for bargain cards, gifts, wrap, decorations, chocs, sweets, stocking fillers and anything else that doesn’t go off, stash them in a box, in the garage or the attic.
Use slaves
Have children? Then get your money’s worth out of ‘em! It’s good discipline to get kids to work for their pocket money, and a few light chores won’t kill them. Perhaps they could pitch in and help you save money by washing the car, doing the garden, tidying the shed, keeping their own rooms in order, mowing the lawn, doing the washing, putting the bins out… the more jobs you can delegate, the less you need to pay ‘outsiders’ like cleaners and garden maintenance people to do it.
Join the Aldi and Lidl revolution
Assuming the trend continues, Aldi is set to overtake Waitrose as Britain’s 6th biggest supermarket by January 2015. Take a look at this and see how much people save
Get a change pot going
If you haven’t set up a spare change pot yet, do it now. It’s really exciting. I emptied out mine at the weekend and exchanged the contents for folding money. I do it twice a year. This time I had £239 in there. Not bad for six months chucking spare change into a bowl, bearing in mind I use the change for bus fares too, so there were hardly any 50p or £1 coins in there. Crikey. I feel rich!
(Thanks to Tony Powell for the excellent free image)