Transcriber: Mary Kay Reviewer: Denise RQ
What if I told you
that you can get £35 worth of supermarket shopping for just £9?
What if I told you that you could save hundreds or even thousands,
just by changing your mindset when it comes to spending?
What if I told you that flying home could be cheaper than a one-way train?
Believe it or not, all of those things are true,
and if you are looking for a great money workout,
then I will be your trainer today.
No breaks.
When it comes to money, and especially saving it,
I've had many years of experience.
You might've seen back in January of 2016,
I flew home from Sheffield to Essex via Berlin,
because it was £8 cheaper than taking the train.
I even got £600 worth of supermarket shopping and only paid 4p for it.
When it comes to couponing, there are so many ways you can save money,
but I see so many people posting on Facebook saying,
"Got no money left," or "Oh, well, that's me skimmed for the next month;
# broke #nomomoney #lol."
(Laughter)
But why is running out of money in any context so comical?
You wouldn't see "house's been repossessed #lol."
(Laughter)
So why even gets to the first stage?
When taking a look at your spending,
making small adjustments can make a massive difference.
There're ways you can save money on all of your favorite brands
that you buy everyday.
How do you do that?
By using coupons, loyalty schemes, mobile apps, and cashback sites.
Despite what you might think, it doesn't have to be time-consuming,
and you can save hundreds, or even thousands.
When it comes to couponing,
if you go onto Pringles Facebook page right now,
you can print out a coupon for a free tin.
Simple as that.
#lol.
(Laughter)
Also, if you go into Optiwell website right now,
they are giving away a free yogurt drink.
All you have to do is print it out.
There're hundreds of coupons for you to print out right now from online,
and all you need to do is Google the word coupons.
If you print out the right ones, you can get a £35 shop and only pay £9,
including branding items such as Ariel, Finish, and Pringles.
They are all big brands, and it's a fifth of the price.
Even coupons -
if you've got one pound of coupon, you can use them on sales.
If you use a one-pound of coupon on the products on sale at one pound,
it makes it free; there's no questions asked.
Who here likes Starbucks?
Well, guess what? You can save money on that.
If you sign up to their loyalty app, every 15th coffee you buy will be free.
That may not sound like much,
but if you buy a Starbucks every single weekday that costs 4 pounds,
that's £70 a year you're saving, just for signing up to an app.
Speaking of apps, there're mobile apps on your phone now
which save you money on your supermarket shopping.
Apps like Shoppertise, CheckoutSmart will give you money back
just by taking a photo of your receipt.
There're so much on there that people buy weekly,
and there're hundreds of pounds worth of free stuff.
I'm pretty sure everyone here has bought online as well.
You know I'm going to say; you can save money on that, too.
If you go onto cashback websites, such as TopCashback and Quidco,
they will give you a percentage back of what you spend,
on pretty much anything online - car insurance, hotels, clothes.
You can all claim cashback on it, and it's only a minute more worth of work,
by clicking through their website.
That is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to money-saving,
and there're so many other ways you can save money.
For example,
if you're going out to a restaurant, have a look for restaurant vouchers.
If you really love a brand, why not send them a birthday card?
Sounds crazy, but I did that last week,
and I've got £20 worth of coupons for a 10p card.
If you are ever in the High Street, why not have a little haggle?
The worst they can do is say no.
If you take on board those tips, I guarantee you'll see
a positive difference to your budget by hundreds of pounds.
But you have the ability to turn that into thousands.
If you're not bothered by what brands you buy,
you can turn it into thousands,
And it's all by a simple change to your mindset;
just by not buying that one Starbucks coffee
every single weekday that costs £4,
that's £1,040 a year you'll be saving.
Think about what that money could do for you.
I'm not saying you can't treat yourself,
but you can always buy a 500-gram jar of coffee
and fill up a travel mug.
See? Simple change, huge savings.
Let's have a look at a bigger picture
of how changing the big spending of your non-essentials
into easy cheaper resolutions
can seriously help your budget.
This is Sarah.
But Sarah is not very happy.
Why?
Although she earns £2,000 a month after tax,
all of her expenditure,
it means she's just left with £30 each month.
Not much to save with.
But if you look at what she is spending,
there're some things that are a bit questionable.
If you change those into easy, cheaper resolutions, she could save thousands.
Taking the first example: buy a £4 Starbucks every single weekday.
If you change that into buying a jar of coffee, that's only £4 a month.
You can see what that does to her money left over each month.
[£113 left over each month]
She has a takeaway every weekday, a bit much,
But if she changes that to every Friday, that's only £20 pounds a month.
You can see where this is going - her money is adding up.
She spends £150 on working lunch, every single month.
If she changes that, and only has a pack lunch every day,
it's a little bit more work, but she's saving £125 each month.
And that adds on to her monthly total.
It's gone from £30 to £326, just for three changes.
And lastly, she spends £125 on shoes and clothes.
As a man I don't understand that
(Laughter)
but if she can change that and only spend it on sales -
so she spends £50 a month.
You can see what that does to her monthly leftovers.
She now has £401 left over each month from four simple changes.
If you put that back in,
she's still getting everything she used to have.
She's still getting her coffee, her takeaway, her lunch, her clothes,
but now she's got £370 more, just for those changes.
Now she's happier.
If you look at that with a 'before' and 'after':
Before, she was putting away £360 every year; now it's nearly £5,000,
and that's without coupons.
Simple changes to your budget can mean huge savings.
I'm sure every single person in here has something in their spending
they can cut back on.
Me?
I'm quite lazy so I spend £3
on return bus to the station every morning.
But in this nice weather,
I could cycle to the station and paddle my bike up.
That's £15 a week, and £800 if you did it all year.
So when you leave here today, have a think about what you're spending your money on,
where that money is going,
and if you can make any small changes
to give you that extra cash injection throughout the whole year.
When that money goes to good use, I'll be looking out for your Facebook post,
"Just booked a holiday with the money I've saved. #lol."
(Laughter)
Thank you.
(Applause)