Small Ways To Save Money

I feel that more and more people are interested in saving money these days.  Whether you have been directly affected by the recession or not, I think it’s important that we all learn how to control our finances much more.

People have started to lose sight of what really matters in life and have started to think that they need to buy lots of expensive items in order to be happy.  Of course, you can be just as happy by being frugal.  Being frugal doesn’t mean you have to be miserly.

1. Say No To 0870 - Those of you in the UK will know that if you phone an 0845 or 0870 number you will have to pay for it.  Even if you are on a special call package where you are supposed to get all of your local and national calls for free.  However a website called Say No To 0870 was set up to allow people to find geographical (eg 0151) or 0800 versions of these phone numbers.  So the next time you go to make an 0845 or 0870 call, do a search on the website for a different version.  You’d be surprised at just how much money you can save!
2. Phone Call Packages - As mentioned above, a number of people these days are on phone packages where they are allowed to make as many calls as they wish for a monthly fee.  The problem is, when you subscribed to the package you might have been making a lot more calls than you are now.  If you are now making less calls, you probably aren’t saving that much money.  Unfortunately you might be locked into a contract, however you should find out if you aren’t sure.
3. Only Buy What You Need - Sure, we all do it.  When you go to the supermarket you will see lots of really tempting special offers at the end of each aisle.  It might be that the goods have been discounted heavily or there might be a Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF) offer.  Most of the time these products are items you don’t really need and might even be unhealthy foods.  If you don’t actually need them, just walk past and concentrate on buying the items you really do need.
4. Discount Coupons - Often you will see discount coupons in magazines or popped through your letterbox.  These can be really good to keep a hold because you might be able to save a decent amount of money.  However, many of the coupons are for branded items.  We all know that branded items tend to be more expensive, so calculate what the discounted price will be and then compare it to the price of an own-brand product.  If the own-brand is cheaper and is just as good in terms of size and quality, you might as well just buy the own brand.

Although these tips might not save a massive amount of money, it all adds up and the result is that you will have more money in your pocket.  It’s amazing how a couple of pounds here and a few pounds here ends up being a sizeable amount of money.  So don’t let money go down the drain, save it for something that’s more important or even fun!  You might also want to read my other hub about saving money.