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With the view that money saved is worth twice as much as money earned, what are Singletrackworld's best money saving tips?
Don't buy food or coffee when out unless 'going for a meal', take it with you.
Combine the purpose of a car trip to save doing it twice.
Shop to a list for food.
Buy and store food shopping items bought in bigger quantities when on offer/cheaper.
Sim only phone contracts.
Don't buy stuff you don't NEED. This is easier with advancing years
Spent money is gone, saved money is compounding.
All the above can seem boring but not as bad as being unable to get the numbers to add up.
Get on an elec tariff that allows you to set a timer for running washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher etc as a super cheap night time rate.
I have an alarm on my phone at 2130 every night, i go and sort the white goods and put on a 3hr timer. It has saved me a lot of money.
Only use cash for day to day spending - using cards and specifically contactless is proven to increase your spending by upto 25%.
Cash enables you to budget, and your more likely to retain change in your pocket for future use.
Set-up a direct debit on payday to move some money into a savings account.
Start with something manageable (£50??) & when you have done that for a couple of months, consider whether you can increase it.
Because it is gone on the day you get paid, you don't really notice it.
Don't buy coffees and snacks when out and about. Any time you manage to do this, put the money you would have spent into a savings account
Set-up a Plum (or other) account that skims money out of your account that it thinks you can afford on a daily basis. You can set-up how aggressive you want this to be.
Drive more slowly/efficiently & try to use the car less - walk or cycle short journeys.
Review all subscriptions/contracts & see if you can get rid of some and/or switch some to cheaper alternatives.
Less important now but check out the central heating threads for tips on insulation and making your heating work better for less.
Sounds patronising but download all your statement data from your bank and go through everything, work out what it is, give it your own category (some banks attempt to do this for you but it's not that reliable IME) and then use a spreasheet to work out where your money goes. I do this periodically (not often enough) and it really helps, although there are still lots of random DD payment messages popping up on my phone.
Those are the only quick tips I have, anything else would depend on what your top spends are.
Alot of bank apps do a good job of breaking down what you spend your money on. They often need a bit of training but its quite enlightening.
Stick an - agreed with yourself - amount on a prepaid card and only take that with you.
Remove you card details from the usual places make it a faff to buy stuff online.
^ agree with timidwheeler. I have a weird habit of if I have £106 or whatever in my current account I'll move the £6 over to my savings account. I do this all the time.
Move accounts around too, I got a switch bonus last year. Nearly £200 for about 40 minutes of work.
Using cars less is a big one. TBH I tend to try and take mine out for a short spin once or twice a week (to shops) as it's used so little. Don't go buying coffee at work - we clubbed together for a coffee capsule machine at work - saves a fortune if you like decent coffee.
Make sandwiches/take lunch with you - I tend to batch cook, so freeze the excess into 'portion sized' meals and take them to work frozen in my panniers (saves spillage).
DIY where possibly - getting someone in is very expensive. I'm loathed to do it usually.
Look after your bikes/car - makes long term sense - they last longer with fewer expensive repairs.
Shop to a list.
Make meals don't buy them.
Have a look at all your monthly subs, it can all add up without you really paying attention to it, and really consider which ones are worth it.
Podcasts can replace audiobooks (if you use a sub/payment site like Audible)
Build a menu of things you can cook, then shop to that. Get it delivered.
Set up 'save the change' or whatever your bank calls it. Every time you beep your card it rounds it up to the nearest quid and transfers it to an allocated account.
Live within your means. Don't buy anything with debt except housing - wait until you can actually afford it (theres nothing worse than still paying out for something after the buzz of initial ownership has faded)
If you need to run a car run something cheap, practical and reliable rather than a status symbol that costs more to buy/maintain/insure. Use it as little as possible. Combine trips.
When you do buy stuff, buy stuff that's well made and use it until it wears out ("buy cheap, buy twice") and look after it. (I bought 4 really good kitchen knives >20 years ago. I've not bought any since, I'm still using them, I keep them sharp. My parents had a drawer full of craps knifes, bought because they were cheap/'a bargain'. they were all crap - they spent far more than I did). Vimes boots theory doesn't apply to everything, but it does to an awful lot.
Buy and sell stuff on eBay. If you need a tool for a job either buy a good one new and then sell it, or buy one used then sell it again. Don't buy a cheap shit tool that's immediately worthless and won't even do the job well.
Simple spreadsheet with all your monthly outgoings and lots of little pots that save up for upcoming costs. For example, we save £10 per month for car tyres, a small enough sum that we don't notice it but when the big bill comes along it's all covered. This planning pulled us out of a largish hole many years ago and still serves well today.
When you are looking at something to buy, think about whether it's a want or a need. Nothing wrong with buying something you want but don't need but don't kid yourself. I think people do this a lot with cars "its fine now but its at a mileage / age where it might start to go wrong".
Obvs savings to be made over time if you decide not to buy things you don't need.
For me the main thing is; Do all your purchases by card
Then at the end of the month categorise the spending. I’ve been doing it so long I have a spreadsheet & pivot table going back aeons. It really helps show exactly what you/we spend money on.
For example on my “household running” category (all the household DD’s) I can immediately see when a DD has changed and can look into it and decide if action is needed. On the “groceries” category I’ve got a staggering example of food inflation and the effect of shopping at Aldi 4x a month as against popping to the coop 3x a week for odds and ends.
Also really good to play about with your spending a bit; ”if we eat cheaper this month by having more vegetarian meals, then we could have an extra £100 to use on the bank holiday weekend next month - we could perhaps go away with that”.
it’s the old “if you don’t measure it, you can’t change it” maxim
Get on an elec tariff that allows you to set a timer for running washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher etc as a super cheap night time rate.
How much difference does this really make? Have you done the sums? Most of those tariffs have a higher daytime charge in exchange for cheaper nighttime (or extra standing charges). I know they can work if you're charging a car, or dumping power to batteries (though again, payback periods) but not convinced so much by washing machine and dishwasher.
Most of the electricity saving tips I see are nonsense - "unplug your phone charger", "turn stuff off at the socket" - modern stuff is significantly less than 1w on standby. You might possible save a few 10's of £s a year doing that but nothing more. The biggest electricity consumption in your house is (for almost anyone) your fridges and freezers. And you have people running >1, and running them in an outbuilding where any waste heat goes to outside rather than the house.
An Air fryer might use a bit less power than your existing oven. but the payback time is probably longer than the thing will last. And the you mostly use your oven in winter when any extra heat goes into your house anyway.
Heating is a much bigger cost than power for most people. Insulate. Get your boiler set up so that it's actually running efficiently - low return temperature (so it actually condenses at c95% efficiency rather than c80% - if you can see a plume outside then it's NOT condensing). Have it fitted with weather compensation (varies flow temp based on outdoor temp).
Earn more, spend the same.
Just spend it! Life is short and you’re a long time dead
Audit Direct Debits at least once a quarter and set yourself a target or removing or reducing spend on 3 of them. Include subscriptions in this. TV, apps, insurances they add up to a fortune.
I have a 'round-up' account that automatically rounds up spend in my current account to the nearest £ then moves the balance into a savings account. It soon adds up.
NEVER click on the PSA thread on this site! It's cost me a fortune in buying stuff which is no doubt a bargain but not something I really need!
Sim only phone contracts.
Not always the case, last time I needed a new phone the cheapest price over 2 years was tied into a tariff, the secret is to make sure you shop around when the deal is up, and not too continue paying a tariff that is subsidising the phone after the 2 years.
Which brings me on to my tip, review subscriptions and contracts (ie energy, phone, insurance, memberships ect) and compare prices before renewal. Beware of contract momentum.
Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves - doesn't work. Don't worry about the pennies they won' make much difference. The more zeros the more interest you should take but people often do the opposite.
Chooe your partner wisely, divorce is expensive
The biggest purchase/expense is housing and people morgage themselves to the hilt.
Next biggest expense is a car so they buy/lease something expensive and flash rather than practical and affordable.
Holidays, lets just blow thousands more than we've saved by shopping in three different supermarkets and cutting the kids pocket money.
Netflix subscriptions etc. Just bin the ****ing lot. You need a basic smartphone and a £20 contract.
Enjoy life you can’t take it with you.
Buy a new bike.
You can probably tell yourself you’re saving money somehow, if you try hard enough.
True, I saved thousands by buying a new bike in a sale!
Like all things it's a balance
Holidays, lets just blow thousands
Vs
Enjoy life you can’t take it with you.
I always wonder when I see stuff online about people hiding every penny away by never buying anything nice, never going on holiday, sitting in a cold house to save on heating, eating the cheapest food possible etc etc so that they can then boast that they're retired at X age. Great, you get to enjoy another 35 years of cold, bored misery living off whatever you can get from the 'yellow sticker' section of the supermarket. I'd rather still be working!
Don't have kids
love the tip on saving a small sum a month to pay for big expenses. I’m now going to set up another £50 a month did for the annual car service/mot , vehicle tax and insurance which hits me every October.
I do have a wee savings account with a direct debit of only £50 a month in it earmarked for my next bike purchase. I had forgotten about it. Checked the account it has £1700 in it. Another couple of years it will buy me a decent bike. It’s in a decent interest rate account.
I have recently started to transfer my day to day spending into a cash back account, Chase. It gives me the double bonus of keeping my spending to a budget and a monthly cash back.
I always wonder when I see stuff online about people hiding every penny away by never buying anything nice, never going on holiday, sitting in a cold house to save on heating, eating the cheapest food possible etc etc
These things can obviously be taken to extremes but for me it's not about never buying anything nice, rather it's about not buying things that I don't need without thinking about it, and especially never buying them on credit (houses notwithstanding). For me, that means I have a nice bike, but also I don't get take aways as a matter of habit. I took my daughter into London over the Easter holidays to do a thing that was quite expensive in the scheme of things, but took packed lunches for us both.
Buy consumables and sundries in advance. Things like brake pads from uberbike, barbs and olives in bags of 10 from ali-express for 99p, spd cleats. Stuff that is dirt cheap if you can wait for the postage but ££ in a shop when you need it.
Set yourself a rule that non-emergency expensive stuff has to wait. Say £100/week. Want a nice pair of moleskins from HebTroCo set a reminder for a fortnight to see if you really wanted them or if it was just a marketing e-mail that landed while you were bored. Want a new graphics card, give it a couple of months and see if you're still actually playing cyberpunk, new forks - give your old ones some new oil and seals and see in 3 months if you still think those Kashima Fox's are tempting.
Don't buy treats on weekdays. You'll appreciate the coffee and cake on the Sunday clubrun a lot more than the machine coffee and sad muffin from the work canteen.
Bring your own lunch, or at least find cheaper options. £3 for a jacket potato is £500 a year cheaper than the £5 meal. £1 to make your own sandwich at home is almost £1000 a year in your pocket!
Batch cook. It saves waste, saves gas, saves takeaway cravings when you CBA.
Enjoy life you can’t take it with you.
Indeed, but consider that having a lunch that cost £1 Vs £5 over your working life is potentially 16 years* earlier retirement.
I'll enjoy 16 years not working a lot more than whatever the canteen is serving.
*£22/month, 7% interest, 40 years = £260k.
[inflation erodes that, but we're still talking years if not a decade of not having to work just for swapping to something homemade ]
Get on an elec tariff that allows you to set a timer for running washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher etc as a super cheap night time rate.
If you do that have a good smoke alarm nearby. Many house fires start on unattended appliances (and face it - who watches their dishwasher or tumbler, it's VERY repetitive) - but at least if you are awake you have a chance of hearing / smelling and getting out. If you're asleep upstairs then worst case you'll not wake up, or be trying to get out through a downstairs that is ablaze.
I've said this before and people will be along to say that it almost never happens and they're right.....but, it does (to a friend who had to be rescued from an upstairs window by the fire brigade) and sufficiently enough that it is LFB advice.
Being burnt alive terrifies me, I know this thread is about money saving tips, I'd rather pay extra to avoid being burnt to death however 'unlikely'
YMMV.
Interesting points about quality of life now vs saving for later.
For me it's always been about saving money without adversely impacting my quality of life, eg a few years ago I realised that the money I was wasting on a "platinum" bank account and an expensive rolled over phone contract would pay for a weekend away mountain biking. No loss of quality of life, but money saved.
Coffee, food and booze out and food for work lunch easy wins. Most of the time it’s not the best. I had a budget of £1 for lunch- tin of Baxter’s soup from B&M an apple and a banana.
It was healthy cheap and quite nice.
Cancel subscriptions you don’t use.
Assets Vs liabilities.
Don't have a car
We have 2 cars between us. But one is a tax/mot exempt toy that does barely any miles. The other is the OH's 20 year old fiesta that we pretty much share now and it still only does 5000miles a year.
£400 less insurance
£300 less tax
~£200 less in MOT and planned maintenance
££££ in fuel!
£££ in parking
Every time I have to drive it into town I remember why driving these days is an absolute mugs game, it's just a rubbish experience and incredibly expensive.
Do have a car
My last car cost me £625 to buy, I did about 25,000 miles in it, and almost every one of those was paid at 45p for work 😂
The profit on running that car was almost as good as my actual pay!
It broke down and I went back to an office job.
money saved is worth twice as much as money earned
What are you saving up for?
Earn more but continue to save the same percentage as when you earned less.
@DaveyBoyWonder nothing in particular, just looking for some new tips to save money. So far I'm doing most of the ones mentioned apart from the running white goods at night one.
not saving, but budgeting
been using "you need a budget" YNAB for a number of years to make me consider my spending, and that works for me, to a degree
Less coke and lower quality hookers.
Earn more but continue to save the same percentage as when you earned less.
This sounds completely random and pointless. Working on the basis that your costs are approx level you should be able to save far more as a percentage as your salary goes up...?
( leaving aside other important factors like kids etc)
Indeed, but consider that having a lunch that cost £1 Vs £5 over your working life is potentially 16 years* earlier retirement.
That sounds extremely optimistic. Also, it's not over 40 years if you're retiring 16 years earlier is it?
That sounds extremely optimistic. Also, it’s not over 40 years if you’re retiring 16 years earlier is it?
£4 per day less expenditure has a double benefit when it comes to retirement as it's both £4 extra compounding per day and £4 less per day needed when you actually retire.
Great, you get to enjoy another 35 years of cold, bored misery living off whatever you can get from the ‘yellow sticker’ section of the supermarket. I’d rather still be working!
I intend still enjoy myself when retired, probably more then now as I’ll not have work and won’t have as many outgoings.
Indeed, but consider that having a lunch that cost £1 Vs £5 over your working life is potentially 16 years* earlier retirement.
I’ll enjoy 16 years not working a lot more than whatever the canteen is serving.
*£22/month, 7% interest, 40 years = £260k
What,really? I'm not convinced.
< Edit: if you use the correct monthly total then it works>
One thing I'm working on... simplify your life.
You only need 'X' squllion quid in retirement if that's the lifestyle you're accustomed too.
We have recently switched to Starling bank. You can set up as many “spaces” as you want within your account, putting money where you like, and each space can have a virtual card so that you spend what you have allocated to each area. I was sceptical but it works really well.
This sounds completely random and pointless. Working on the basis that your costs are approx level you should be able to save far more as a percentage as your salary goes up…?
I could be wrong but I think that you're agreeing at cross purposes.
What can happen is that people fall into the trap of setting up a standing order to save £100 a month when their salary is £X, but when they get a payrise/new job with a salary of £2X they leave the standing order at £100 and spend the extra money instead of putting it up to £200 a month. They then get used to the lifestyle that extra money gets them (as per hedonistic adaptation) and can't imagine saving more money even though they're earning more.
lots of "subscriptions" these days you can easily jump in and out of for no penalty.
doesn't apply to everything, but for example do you really need streaming services over the summer months? I've just canned zwift, will be back on it come september. With applepay, I can cancel and rejoin in about 20 seconds. Assume android wallet similar.
If you plan to do this from the get go, then consider the option with a slightly higher monthly cost vs the "slightly cheaper to commit to 12 months".
In general, avoid anything with an ongoing monthly payment/finance vs buying it outright. Buyers remorse can come in long before the payments finish.
Don't "insure" anything that you could afford to replace (or is a legal requirement). from Applecare, extended vacuum cleaner warranty; all ways for companies to, on average, extract money from customers.
Some large expenses are unavoidable, but predictable. Car insurance, christmas presents, partner's big birthday. Mark it on a calendar, save up for it. Don't feign surprise when it appears and then borrow on a 25% APR credit card to pay for it.
as per hedonistic adaptation
That sounds like the right word but it's not. 'Hedonic'.
(Hedonistic adaptation definitely more fun, but dosn't also encompass getting used to Kellogg's cornflakes instead of the supermarket brand...)
That sounds like the right word but it’s not. ‘Hedonic’.
Every day's a school day.
I could be wrong but I think that you’re agreeing at cross purposes.
We're definitely pulling in the same direction! 🤩( what a ghastly phrase)
I think you're saying that if someone had £1000 income and saved £100...
Then if they get a pay rise to £1200 then they should up the saving to £120 to keep it at 10%
What I'm saying is to try to up the savings to £200, or 17% since it's all extra and they can live on £1,000
Clearly inflation has ****ed with this recently, but it's what I am trying to do.
Can you pause Zwift rather than cancel so you kept your stats and profile etc?
Regarding streaming, you can rotate them so subscribe to one, binge everything you want then cancel and subscribe to another. Go through them all like this and by the time you get back the one you started with there'll be new stuff. Hopefully.
What I’m saying is to try to up the savings to £200, or 17% since it’s all extra and they can live on £1,000
Riiiight I'm with you. Yes that is probably a better way.
Can you pause Zwift rather than cancel so you kept your stats and profile etc?
yes. did it last summer. all my stats, bikes and kits still existed when I rejoined in september.
@thegeneralist, whenever I get a pay rise, I split it between my various savings and current account, with the majority going to savings. That way I still get a bit of a bump from the pay rise, but I never get used to having the full amount.
I’m with @theotherjonv - don’t leave unnecessary appliances switched on at night or when out. 32 years as a firefighter, many serious house fires attended with washers, dryers and dishwashers as the cause. As for saving, we’re both on pensions so have a spreadsheet with annual expenditures divided up into monthly amounts, as long as the pie chart has a small green segment then we’re happy. We have a monthly allowance each to spend how we wish - it stops me spending too much on bike stuff! It’s boring but keeps us out of trouble.
We have recently switched to Starling bank. You can set up as many “spaces” as you want within your account, putting money where you like, and each space can have a virtual card so that you spend what you have allocated to each area. I was sceptical but it works really well.
I've no idea about Starling, but be wary of 'new' banks, some of which are not actually UK banks, aren't part of deposit protection schemes, or have a very tough attitude around fraud.
This wasn't the story I was looking for (there was something this week) but https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/oct/31/tsb-reimbursed-15-times-more-customers-losses-than-monzo-in-2022
This wasn’t the story I was looking for (there was something this week) but
Was it the Revolut horror show you were looking for ?
A very wealthy man told me the best piece of advice his accountant ever gave him was "keep it in your trousers".
@BigJohn if it flies, floats or fornicates then rent it rather than own it.
Great, you get to enjoy another 35 years of cold, bored misery living off whatever you can get from the ‘yellow sticker’ section of the supermarket. I’d rather still be working!
Look at it the other way round.
Compound interest means you need to give up very little in your 20's in order to retire much earlier or more comfortably.
Clearly inflation has **** with this recently, but it’s what I am trying to do.
The good thing is that things like your mortgage are fixed in time when you bought the house (interest rates aside) and that's a big chunk of your outgoings. So the pay rise is actually much bigger compared to your day to day expenses.
e.g. if I'm paid £2k and have a £1k mortgage then I've got £1k disposable.
If I get a 10% rise, then I've actually got 20% more disposable income.
Only ever buy bike stuff in the sales. I've saved thousands over the years 🤣
I hate tesco club cards.. They basically blackmail you into signing up to get a fair price on your shopping.
So I have a picture of my mates QR code on my phone that I scan.
1. I pay normal price instead of the inflated non-member price
2. My mate gets free points
And most importantly...
3. We both sleep better knowing we are screwing up tescos data slurping user profiling algorithms.
Everyone's a winner!
Get a supermarket credit card that gives you bonus points (we use Tesco) and put all of your monthly budgeted spend on it (making sure you pay it off in full each month). We usually end up with around £200 a year which we then use for our big Christmas food shop.
We used to have a cashback CC, but I don't think there are many around these days.
Step back in time. Do you really need an expensive mobile? In fact do you need one at all? "I'm running late" or "do you want any shopping? calls are not needed. I have a 10 quid phone and use about a quid of credit every 3 months and that is mostly unnecessary.
Why on earth buy a coffee out? Or a pre assembled sarnie. Avoid big names and anything trendy.
Why the hell pay for telly? Books are virtually free in charity shops.
Why have Sky telly?
Mend things. 10 minutes with a needle saved me from a new rucksack.
And why on earth buy Harry's razors?
When shopping with a scanning app, put stuff in your trolley and tell yourself to check at the end whether you actually need them.
You'll either decide against it and leave them out, or forget to check and walk out with scanning them. Oops.
Make your own packed lunch, rather than buying in work
Save money on expensive carpets by buying 2 small carpet samples and gluing them to the soles of your shoes
Bit late, but don't take up cycling other than riding a beater to work for a mile or so ! Oof.... Take up boring running instead.
Key to being rich... ! Your fancy cars are now't compared to bikes.....
My tips are not about saving money per se, rather making the money that you have to spend work for you.
As mentioned above, a "round up" works and can quickly add up.
Id recommend opening a Chase bank account to get 1% cashback on all spending. Again this can add up (although there is a max of £15 cashback per month).
If you have a big spend (holiday, bike etc) consider getting an Amex card then converting your amex points to nectar points to spend on your shop in Sainsbury's (or do as I do and treat yourself to a trip by converting to Avios, although flyingblue is sometimes a better scheme)
If shopping online use Quidco/top cashback.
Keep an eye out for bank switching deals which pay you to switch banks. I made about £1k last year by doing this.
Open a regular saver account and pop any spare money from that month into it. It will soon add up for you.
This is the most British thread ever.
Don’t eat avocado toast or drink latte…
Ride your bike instead of reading about bikes on the internet.
Use drivetrain wearing parts made entirely of steel, no aluminium.
Have a "holding area" list for things you fancy buying - you may well not feel like buying it after a couple of days or a week.
Keep a list of bike stuff you fancy together with reasons you don't need or want it. So when a good deal on whatever comes up and I'm bored and it's payday etc., you can look it up.
Tie purchases to goals that must be achieved beforehand. I wanted a running watch years ago, think it was £200. The price was something like running 5k three times a week for six weeks, which I did. Then I got into MTB and this this rule went out the window.
Simple spreadsheet with all your monthly outgoings and lots of little pots that save up for upcoming costs. For example, we save £10 per month for car tyres, a small enough sum that we don’t notice it but when the big bill comes along it’s all covered. This planning pulled us out of a largish hole many years ago and still serves well today.
This.
Earn more, spend the same.
Really important point here. Provided you're not being silly with your spending, there's far more to gain by advancing your career through e.g. education, going the extra mile, making sure you're getting paid what you're worth.
Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves – doesn’t work. Don’t worry about the pennies they won’ make much difference.
Indeed. It's a poor person vs. rich person mindset, people can only optimise what they have control over. But when your circumstances improve you have greater control, and old habits are hard to look beyond.
This sounds completely random and pointless. Working on the basis that your costs are approx level you should be able to save far more as a percentage as your salary goes up…?
My approach is to keep the inflation of my lifestyle lower than the increase in my net income. Broke the rule last year though as I want to enjoy life to a modest extent and had taken this approach pretty conservatively for the past decade meaning I had room to.