We’ve all heard of ‘false economies’ – but where can you actually buy to store products, and when should you spend a little extra? Knowing when to squeeze and when to use cheaper strategies will save a lot of money in the long run.
From home bills to food shopping, we take care of when to store and when to crush!
Household Bills
Why pay more than your electricity and gas?! In general, we always recommend that you try to change your energy bills each year (or at the end of your standard payment) to ensure you are getting the best deal.
When to Splurge
However, if you have a little extra money, choose a green energy company. Providers like Pulp Energy all have a set fee – this may be slightly more expensive than your current provider. But, since this is all renewable energy, you are helping to offset your carbon footprint!
If you can switch to a green energy supplier, do so. It helps the environment and your conscience!
How to Save
Look for other ways to change suppliers and reduce your utility bills. For example:
– Remember to switch off all the lights when you leave a room
– Turn off the devices on the wall without letting them wait
– Use LED energy efficient bulbs
– Install the water meter
– Avoid using a tumble dryer
– Boil only enough water for a cup of tea rather than the whole kettle
– Turn the thermostat down two degrees.
These are all small changes you can make that will quickly reduce your utility bills!
Technology
Do you really need the latest MacBook Air? Or is a simple Chrome book enough? Your kids may speak ill of you for a new PlayStation or Xbox console – but can you save by getting the old version?
When to Splurge
Whatever technology you buy, think about what you really need. If you need reliable work on a laptop, for example, you should use it 8 hours a day, every day – then it is worth investing in something that you can constantly engage with.
How to Save
However, if you want to entertain children with a console (for example), look to buy a second hand. Stores like CEX test their second hand items, so you can be sure they will work. This way you can save a lot of money – especially if you trade in your old technology to get vouchers on your next purchase. If your child needs a tablet or laptop to do school chores, a second hand device will often do everything they need to. If you want to have Word (or Google Docs, it’s free!) And Internet access, you don’t need the latest models or very high processing power.
Mobile Phones
You can choose the excitement on the new mobile phone – or save a lot of money only with the SIM
We always want to upgrade our phone after the two year contract is over… But do you really want to do this? Doing this – especially if you have children with phones – can be very expensive over time.
When to Splurge
If your mobile phone is several years old (not just two), it may be time for a complete overhaul. Look for features that keep your new phone on edge, such as features that provide waterproof protection. Always buy and close a security case on your phone.
How to Save
You do not always need a new phone even if your contact is complete. If you are happy with the phone you got and your contract ends, switch to SIM only deal. You can get fantastic deals like unlimited texts and data for FAR rather than the deal that comes with the phone.
Even better, SIM only deals are on 30 day rolling deals – so if you finally decide to upgrade, you don’t have to buy yourself out of a long deal. You can also trade on your old phone if you decide to upgrade to save even more money.
Also look for low-feature-heavy models. For example, go for the Samsung S10 instead of the S20: it is cheaper, but the features are not significantly different for everyday users.
Grocery
We have all seen supermarket ads. “I like this… but I like this too”, where the second is much cheaper.
Supermarket shopping is an amazing personal choice. Over time, marketing and branding maneuvers become easier to obtain without realizing it – so you can spend more than you need to!
When to Splurge
Meat is very expensive these days – and organic meat is even more so. However, if you want to have quality food, it is better to spend for one or two big meat cuts per week instead of a lot of cheaper options.
If you like a particular type of chocolate, ketchup, wine or anything else, buy it too! Switching to own brand saves money – but a little luxury in our favorite foods can go a long way in boosting morale.
How to Save
You can save a lot for the grocery store by discarding household names and going for your own brand types instead.
Shop in tin aisles and in the freezer area. Not everyone has freezer access, but if you do, look for vegetables and meat from this area. You can save a lot of money – when it is frozen, buy in bulk to make multiple dishes from one purchase.
Canned food is versatile, refreshing and cheaper than you might think. Make some great videos of Sorted Food to show you what you can do with a few tin cans!
If you are actually going to use the item, only go for offers like buying for free. For example, toilet paper, laundry detergent, laundry detergent, pasta: they are all things we always use. You know you will use it – if you have storage – save when contracts increase. If this is not something you use regularly, put it back on the shelf and walk away.
Buying bulk pantry items, or creating multiple portions of food to freeze can help reduce your annual food bill. If you do not have the space to shop in advance, try to buy less at a time and try to go to the store regularly to see the ‘yellow label’ section – if the sale date is the same day things are often greatly reduced.
Holidays
A big sticky point is the mid-epidemic holiday thing. Do you record last minute bargaining and risk canceling it (and struggling to get your money back)? Or is it a wait-and-see situation until next year?
When to Splurge
Engage in long distance plans – at the same time invest in comprehensive travel insurance. We do not know how the corona virus outbreak is going now – but we hope that by the summer of 2021 the journey will return to normal.
To protect yourself if the travel operator goes bust, make sure your purchase is ATOL secured – and pay with a credit card.
How to Save
There are shelters in the UK this summer and next! Camp vacations are a great way to save a lot of money, especially for families. And you can also book city breaks to see new parts of the UK on a budget.
The good news is that as hotels and venues start reopening, so do customers. That means it’s easy to find awesome deals on sites like lastminute.com to save money.
Cars and Regular Travel
Travel – be it daily trips or weekly trips – costs a lot for everything. Small expenses like parking add up quickly.
Consider whether you really need a car – or can you save money by cycling or walking longer. It could save thousands of pounds every year!
When to Splurge
Families often need a car to transport their children from place to place. It is worth investing in something that will fit your family comfortably and be reliable for a long time. Buying a cheap second hand car is often the wrong economy – there is nothing worse than breaking the motorway with your kids!
You should also not reduce your annual car maintenance costs. Yes, we know, sending to a service can be a pain and a lot of cost – but it will save the failed MOT and ensure that it is not going to break you.
How to Save
If you only use your car once a week or less, sign up at a car club instead. Companies like Zip car and Enterprise run city rental plans: book a car parked on the street near you, rent it within hours, and return it to the same place when you finish. It can save hundreds of pounds every year!
Also look for cheap parking in your destination. Parkopedia lists all the places you can park – prices. Stopping ten minutes away from your destination and running the rest is often worth it – it saves you a lot of money each time.
Use a supermarket loyalty card plan to get points to spend on fuel. Over the course of a year, this will really save you a lot of money along the way. Be sure to FIRST your grocery store as well – sometimes supermarkets make deals that pay 5p or more per liter of fuel with your receipt.
Shop for your car insurance every year. It – in contrast – is often cheaper to go into full detail than third parties, so you should check out the different prices available. Never update automatically as it is too expensive!