I might have mentioned that Miss Frugal has discovered Pinterest recently and has all sorts of random boards set up (including a Christmas wish list) but her favourite board by far is her beauty hacks board and she’s regularly sharing new beauty life hacks with me.
Over the last week or so she’s shared quite a few with me that have actually been quite good and it’s got me thinking about what money saving life hacks I can come up with. These are the first lot that I’ve come up with….
- When you’re doing your weekly shop, look at the products on the lower and higher shelves as that will usually be where you’ll find the cheaper products. The more expensive products that the shop wants you to buy are at eye level.
- When you change your toilet roll, give the new one a squish so it’s slightly flattened rather than round which will mean that less will come off the roll when you tug it. This saved a fortune when my two were younger as they used to give it a good pull and loads would come off.
- If you have to pop to the shop to get a few bits and pieces then use a basket and not a trolley so you’ll be less inclined to put more than you need in there.
- Take advantage of your local library for more than just books – they have everything from toys to DVDs and from computer games to CDs in our local one.
- I can’t tell you how many people have told me this lately as I’ve been searching for flights for next year but apparently if you clear your cache or go incognito when you’re searching for flights then you’ll get a better deal.
- Instead of buying ice packs when you’re transporting food anywhere just freeze a bottle (pour a bit out first) and use that as an ice pack. You’ll have an ice pack and water when it melts.
- If your printer runs out of black ink then just change the text color of your document to dark blue and you’ll be able to print a couple more times before you need to change the cartridge.
- Use discounted gift cards to do your shopping when you can and get £5 off your first purchase.
- Use your slow cooker for cooking meals where you can to save some money on the energy you’ll use AND on the ingredients as you can use cheaper cuts of meat.
- If you’re buying something off the internet that isn’t urgent then add it to your basket and go most of the way through the checkout process – at least as far as adding your email address (unless it’s a site you log in to so they already have your email address) and then just click the x in the corner to leave the site. Lots of companies will email you over the next day or so with a discount code.
- Change the products you buy when you’re shopping to save money on your weekly food shop.
- If you’re a keen gardener then invest in a water butt to collect rainwater to use on your garden in dry periods to save on water bills.
- Whether it’s losing your job or getting sick, an emergency fund that can cover the bills for a period of time may just keep a roof over your family’s head until your situation improves. For my American readers, there are plans such as HDHP vs PPO savings accounts which can reduce medical emergency costs.
- Make your own products where you can rather than buying – things like this DIY room spray and homemade Febreze will save you a fortune.
- Don’t buy grated carrots or grated cheese – do it yourself and save a fortune.
- Contact your local college to see if they need volunteers for haircuts and manicures rather than pay full price.
- If something in your house breaks or needs fixing then YouTube it first before you pay someone to come and do it – there are tutorials for everything and some things are simple enough that even I can do them.
- Save a fortune on your bills with just a quick phone call – this works with companies like Sky and Virgin as well as various credit card companies.
- Cancel your monthly phone contract and go with a company like Giff Gaff who do great packages for much less than we were paying with our phone provider. If you use my referral code you’ll get £10 free credit when you activate too.
- Don’t buy a Sat Nav if you have a Smart phone – this free alternative is better than our old Sat Nav and cost us nothing.
- Ask in your local supermarket to see what time they reduce their stock. If you time it right you’ll save a fortune!
- If you’re buying something over £100 then always pay at least a small amount of it on your credit card so you’re covered by S75 of the Consumer Credit Act if something goes wrong with your purchase.
- Think about whether the day of the week you do your shopping on could impact how much money you spend.
- Get yourself a student card to save money – even if you’re not a student.
- Use this Amazon price checker to keep an eye on the price of something you’re after. You can set it to alert you if something you want reduced to a certain level.
- Always use cashback companies when you’re buying online.
I’ve asked her to write a post on her beauty life hacks so keep your eyes out for that!
What are your favourite money-saving life hacks?
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