Saving & Making Money

If you are looking at ways to reduce your monthly outgoings and maybe even make a few extra quid here’s a few things you could have a think about:

Charity Shops

The only time I ventured into a charity shop in my younger years was to look for a fancy dress outfit! But recently inspired by my mum I’ve discovered that you can actually pick up some quality, affordable toys there! Every week she manages to find something for a pound that we have recently spent £20 on buying from new! Like this very cool squirty fire engine!

eBay

I’ve always loved eBay but generally used it to buy loads of things I didn’t actually need!

Now though I’ve found you can actually save a load of money on there by buying things you do actually need! Of course there are loads of second hand bargains you can pick up but there are also loads of companies that have shops on eBay to sell off older stock or clearance items or things that have been returned. Well worth a look!

Cashback & Offers Sites

I’m sure most people use these now but if you don’t it’s worth checking out the raft of websites that give you money for buying stuff through their site. I use Quidco but there are a few others out there.

Just type in the name of the shop you want to shop at, follow the link and you’ll get a percentage or a fixed amount back in your Quidco account when you buy qualifying stuff from that shop.

You can also try one of the deals websites that bring you current voucher codes for a variety of different shops, such as Dealsplanet.

Online Betting & Casinos

This one is a bit more of a risk, but the rewards can be high. Lots of betting sites and online casinos offer really attractive sign up offers to attract you in so if you have a level head and know when to stop you can definitely use them to your advantage. So if you fancy a flutter without leaving your living room or want to play games online it’s worth checking out some review sites to see which ones might be good for you.

Changing Shopping Habits

We have always shopped at Waitrose and Sainsbury’s for the past few years as they were most convenient. However we have recently started to experiment with Asda and Iceland and doing shopping online so we could make sure we bought the stuff we actually needed and that would last us.

By changing shop and planning better we managed to save well over £100 a month, which is actually quite a decent amount!

You can also adjust the times you shop in order to maximise your chances of picking up some bargains. Most supermarkets start discounting fresh food as the evening approaches so if you have some flexibility of shopping times it’s worth having a think.

Holiday Deals

Everyone needs a good holiday from time to time, but they can be so expensive, especially when you have little ones to take with you!

If your little ones haven’t reached school age yet, you’ve got a lot more flexibility and more money-saving options. Lots of holiday sites offer free child places, for example, so it’s always worth having a search for them. Coupled with last-minute deals this can really help your budget, especially if you’re open to trying somewhere different and are quite flexible with dates. 

You can also try offers websites which often have a range of useful discount codes and deals which can be used when booking breaks and holidays, such as Dealsdaddy. 

Those are just a few ideas that are worth a look into if you’re feeling a bit short on cash – hope they’re useful!

 

This is a collaborative post.