Are you saving for something special?
I’ve just started saving for our holiday next year and as well as saving larger amounts when I can afford it (not often at the minute), I’m also saving smaller amounts as often as I can.
You might think that it’s not worth saving pennies but it really is, you’ll see your savings increase lots quicker by doing it. I guarantee it 😉
1. Save all the small change you get. We save all of our coppers and 5p coins in various pots and vases around the house. When they’re all full we take them along to our supermarket and change it in one of those machines. I know they charge about 8p per pound but it means you don’t have to sort the money out or have an exact amount plus I hate the smell of money on my hands.
2. Open a separate online savings account that you can transfer money too easily. Every time you check your balance online, transfer the odd number of pence to your savings account. For example, if your balance is £668.76, transfer the 76p to your savings account. You’ll be surprised how quick this can help your savings balance increase doing this – especially if you check your bank balance often.
3. If you manage to spend less than your weekly shopping budget or you manage to get a bargain on something you were planning to buy anyway, transfer the amount you saved in to your savings account.
Do you have any other ways to save pennies that I could use?
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Hi, instead of changing the money via one of those machine. I put all my small change in a self serve supermarket checkout, this means to get your full value of your money and it saves me breaking into a note☺
I didn't know Natwest had a change machine. i save my coppers any any loose change and I then count it up and take it to Credit Union, anyone else use that please?
I'm with Natwest but i didn't know they have a coin machine! I'll have to have a look next time i'm in there.
Check out Asda price save, it really is cheaper than the other supermarkets on most items, especially cereals and fresh fruit and veg.
That's a great tip – thanks very much x
Great tips! I already do tip no 1 and no 2. Sadly I never spend under my food budget, everything is getting so darn expensive. Thank you for joining in with the Britmums carnival 🙂
My husband and I always save up our coppers and five pence pieces. They used to be kept in various containers all over the house, as we discovered when we moved house last year, so we bagged them up and paid them into my bank account and had over £40!!! It paid for the paint to redecorate the lounge!!
Now we have another £30+ bagged up ready to be paid in, and that will buy the paint for our dayghter’s bedroom!!
(I also round up all the change and keep it in one jar now)
i have pots and vases all over with change in – I really should get one big one as it would be greta to see it all mount up x x
I like tip no 2. I like the idea of rounding up your savings accounts.
Keeping a spending diary keeps me on the straight and narrow as does avoiding shops as much as possible 🙂
A spending diary is a great way to keep track when you don't know where you're going wrong isn't it?
Thanks very much
We use the coin machine at Natwest. We're actually trying to move away from our natwest accounts; we're with Halifax at the moment but we'll always keep a Natwest because of the paying in coins.
We save £2 coins as well; my parents have saved them since they came out and they're "holiday pennies".
My parents play the lottery each week, and any winnings from there go in the holiday money pot as well.
We have a Halifax current account as well which pays you £5 a month as long as you pay in £1000 or more. This can be over the course of the month and you can take money in and money out as you wish- it's a current account. We both have our wages paid into this account which means we automatically get the £5 even though we're not earning a fortune. When you look at interest rates (which are often end of the month when there's not much money left) it works out so much better. If you have a large amount in your current account though it won't but that excess should be in a special savings account anyway!
I love the idea of the lottery winnings and the Halifax current account def sounds like something I should be investigating!
Thanks very much x
I really like the idea of transferring the pennies to your savings account. I am absolutely going to use that.
I have started asking myself when I pick something up to buy it: Am I going to use it today? Am I going to use it this week? If no, then I put it back. No matter the 'great bargain'. Because so many things are really great and then sit in the cupboard…. or if you have a toddler to empty your cupboards regularly for you, they sit on the floor.
Thats a great saying – I'm going to use that from now on ;-D
Get at Natwest account they have a coin machine and no charge!!
I didn't know that – that's even better – thanks very much x