- Hi guys, welcome back to my channel.
In today's video, I'm going to be sharing with you
twelve ways to save money as a family.
We have recently looked at our finances,
because we have dreams of moving in about
three years' time.
So we thought it'd be a good idea to see
if there's any way we can save
and let's face it, as a family of five,
any savings is very welcome.
So I thought I would share my top tips
with you and I really hope you like this video.
If you do please give this video a big thumbs up
and if you're new I would love for you to subscribe
and stick around.
Again, without further ado, let's get straight
into my tips.
So to start out it's a good idea to analyze
what you're currently spending and see if there's
anywhere you could be saving money.
So just sit down with your bank statement,
look at what is coming in and what is going out
and challenge yourself on every outgoing.
Think about whether a bill looks right,
if you could be making better choices,
and where you're spending your money.
This is such an effective way to see
where you could be saving money.
I recently did this and I noticed that my
mobile phone bill is more than it should be
every single month so I looked into it in more detail
and I realized there are two subscriptions
on my phone that I don't even want or need
so I've now canceled them.
And I also noticed that I should be on a different tariff.
So I've now changed that.
It's a great way to reevaluate things
and see if there are savings that you could be making
but if you can't even be bothered to look at your statement,
another really good tip that you can do
is get yourself a little notebook or journal
and start writing down everything that you spend.
Whether it's a coffee, or a gym membership, or a bill.
Write it all down and you will soon see
where you are spending your money
and ways that you can save as well.
And it also is quite painful when you actually
have to write down what you're spending in ink.
So it really makes you think about your purchases.
My next tip is to look at your current energy provider
and see if you could save money by switching.
The whole inspiration for this video
was because uSwitch got in touch with me.
They are a website that compare energy deals,
among other things, and they have challenged me
to see if I could save money on their website,
because they are on a mission to save people money.
Six out of ten people are on a standard variable tariff
when it comes to energy.
So that means they could be spending a lot more
than they need to be.
So I went on to the website to see if I could save money.
All you need to do this in your recent energy bill,
and you can do it on your laptop, on the app,
or even call the call center.
It took just ten minutes and I could not believe
that I could save 300 pounds by switching providers.
I was in shock when I saw this.
And on average people save 290 pounds by switching
suppliers through uSwitch.
And some people save up to 490 pounds,
so it's definitely worth looking into.
And once I'd chosen the right supplier,
it takes two and a half weeks to swap over
and that includes a two week cooling off period.
So if you don't know what tariff you're on,
if you've never switched suppliers before,
or if you don't even know what I'm talking about,
chances are that you could be saving a lot of money
on your energy bills.
And while I was looking into it,
I also realized that I am 150 pounds in credit
on my energy payments.
So I didn't even realize that and I can
take that out if I want to or I can leave it where it is
for the winter payments,
but it's just nice to know.
And eleven million people don't realize
that they're actually in credit.
So again, it's worth looking into.
I'll put the links down below
and uSwitch are also running a competition
so that you could win 290 pounds in shopping vouchers
to spend on something that you love,
or that you like, or that you want to actually spend it on.
So I'll put all the Ts and Cs
in the description down below again,
and the competition ends on the 15th of April.
And it also sends a powerful message to energy companies
that we won't stand for rip off prices.
And while we're talking about energy,
my next tip is to cool things down.
I have talked about this before on my channel,
but a lot of the energy we use is from heating
the water in our washing machine, our dishwasher,
rooms that we may not use.
So if you can get away with a cool wash,
when you're washing your clothes,
or a cool cycle in your dishwasher,
that will save on your energy.
And just little things like teaching your kids
to turn the lights off when they leave a room,
not leaving the fridge wide open for ages,
and as I said, not heating rooms if you're not using them.
All of that will lower your energy bill.
My next tip is to make a budget,
and try and stick to it.
Once you know what your outgoings are,
you can write a budget and then anything left over
you can put into savings.
There are also some great budgeting apps
that you can use.
And another little tip is to make your savings account
in a different bank than your current account.
Sometimes it's too easy to swap money between
the two accounts when they're at the same bank.
So if you're really trying to save,
and you want to make it less accessible,
put your savings in a different bank.
My next tip is to buy your food shopping online
and meal plan.
I feel like I've said this a million times
on this channel before,
but it really will save you money
and stop you impulse buying.
I know that I will save so much more
if I plan out our meals in a week,
than if I'm in the garage everyday buying our dinners.
And another little tip is to try
supermarket owned brand products.
I think some of them taste just as good.
My next tip is couponing.
And when I say that word I think of someone
sat there cutting out coupons from a magazine,
and I obviously don't do that.
I don't have time for that.
What I mean is when I'm shopping online
and I have a full cart of stuff,
I will open a separate window,
do a Google search and see if there are any
discounts or offers online that I can use
on what I'm buying.
And there are actually desktop extensions
that you can download that do the hard work for you.
And I also utilize vouchers and offers
when we go out to eat.
I don't think I've had a full price
pizza express meal in years.
My next tip is to minimalize things.
I have loved the minimalism trend,
because it has really made me think about
what I'm buying, if I need it, if I love it, etc.
And as a family of five we have so much stuff
that we probably don't need so it definitely
makes me rethink my purchases.
And another thing that I really like to do
is have no buy months.
So once or twice a year I will not buy any luxuries.
Obviously we will pay the essentials
like mortgage, bills, et cetera.
But I won't treat myself to any makeup, or clothes,
or nights out for that whole month,
and it definitely saves money over the year,
and it just makes me think about things.
My next tip is to get strategic when you're buying
a big purchase.
There are certain times of the year
that it is actually cheaper to buy certain big ticket items.
For instance, we needed to buy a bigger car,
and we pretty much decided that when Jackson
turned one in September that we didn't have enough space
as a family of five.
But the best time to buy a car is January.
In the new year is when they are at their cheapest.
So we waited 'til January to buy our new car.
So it's really interesting when things cost more or less,
when they're at their peak, et cetera.
So I will link that down below as well.
I feel like my next tip is really obvious,
but it's definitely worth saying,
because it's a big one for us.
And that is look for free activities
and take a picnic or a packed lunch.
I am so looking forward to spring and summer
where there will be more free things to do.
Like just taking the kids to a free park, et cetera.
But there are some great apps that you can download,
or you can find free activities near you.
And I always take a packed lunch.
Often my kids prefer what I make anyway,
and it saves me a lot of money.
Obviously if I'm going to someplace or something,
I will buy a coffee but I will bring their sandwiches,
snacks, et cetera to save a bit of money,
because the cost of entry does add up.
The other day we went to the farm
and it was 35 pounds for me and the three kids to get in.
I could not believe it.
35 pounds to feed some animals.
Oh, and the animal feed was extra.
My next tip is to cancel unused subscriptions.
So just have a look at what you actually use
and what you don't.
Do you actually use all of those Sky channels
that you have?
Do you use Netflix enough to justify it, et cetera?
And it's definitely worth going to the subscription part
of your phone.
I did this on my Iphone and I didn't even realize
that I had a few coming out.
If you've ever had a one month free trial,
or six month free trial and then it goes straight
on to you paying for it,
it's definitely worth having a look at that.
My next tip is a really cool one,
and one I only just recently found out about.
And that is when you are searching for flights
or travel holidays, et cetera,
delete the cookies on your browser,
because if it sees you keep looking for those flights,
it will know that you really want them
and it could potentially put the price up.
And my final tip is to look at your mortgage
and get your house valued.
We have lived in the same house
for seven and a half years and we haven't really
thought massively about our mortgage,
but we recently had our house valued,
and it has gone up so much in value,
which means that we can get a much better rate
on our mortgage.
So we have organized it all,
it's like less than two percent now.
And we were paying much more than that.
So it's definitely worth looking at your mortgage
and valuing your home as well.
Alright, so that's it for this video.
I really hope you liked it.
I feel like I have lots of more little tips,
so if you did like this video and you want to see more tips,
let me know in the comments below,
or just give this video a big like.
And also thank you to uSwitch for sponsoring this video.
It's been really nice promoting something to my viewers
that will actually save them money.
So thanks again or that.
And as I said, I'll put all the details down below
for their competition.
And I'll see you in my next one.
Bye, guys.