7 Easy Ways To Save Money Every Month

The way we're spending our money has changed so much over the past 12 months. Whether you have saved more or exhausted your funds, everyone needs a little financial inspiration to help them save where they can. So check out these 7 tried and tested ideas for saving cash in every area of life without even trying.

Pay Bills And Save Before Spending

Always ensure you pay your bills and set aside a portion of your income as savings (if possible) before splurging out on lots of new purchases. A good way to do this is to budget 50% of your income for your bills, 30% of your income for going out/spending and 20% for your savings. Nowadays you can even set up an automatic bank transfer for a set amount of money to be transferred into your savings account on payday.

Try To Pay off Your Credit Card Each Money

If you have a credit card then try to limit how much you spend on your card and keep it for necessary things eg. use it to pay your petrol only each money and always try to pay it off each month to avoid building up any interest debt. If you're not able to pay it off each month then you can transfer your debt to a 0% balance credit card to avoid paying interest for a fixed amount of time. (Some cards do come with a small balance fee though so check this first.) Also, try to pay for non essentials such as new clothing or cinema trips on your debit card or via cash rather than on your credit card - this allows you to keep track of how much money you actually have left to spend.

Check your Bank Accounts Often

It is always a good idea to take a good look through your bank accounts and see what is going out of your bank account on a regular basis. Have you subscribed to a service that you had forgotten about? Maybe you're paying for apps that you never use? Spending a fortune on trips to Costa? Or donating to a cause that you can't really afford to. If there are any regular outgoings that are costing you a fortune then it is a good idea to cancel these payments. I check my bank accounts usually once a month to see what is going in and out.

Shop for own Brand Foods

An easy way to cut the price of your shopping bill is to shop for own brand foods and products - most of the time you can't even taste the difference!

Shop Around for Car and Home Insurance

When your car insurance is close to renewal start shopping around online for a better deal! Using a compare website such as GoCompare or CompareTheMarket you can save a lot of money. Never allow your policies to automatically renew because a lot of the time they will be more expensive than other competitors on the market.

Cut the Coffee Trips

Picking up a quick coffee everyday soon adds up! Why not limit yourself to just a couple of coffee trips a month and start taking your own tea or coffee to work in a flask? you'll be surprised at just how much you will save.

Limit Takeaways and Cafe Lunches

As above - buying takeaways and lunch from cafes or coffee shops a few times a week soon adds up and will eat into your money. It is much cheaper to save the takeaways for a special occasion or a monthly treat and to make your own lunches - you will be surprised at how much cheaper it is to put together your own salads, sandwiches or wraps for work than to pay the canteen or cafe prices.