Money Saving Tips For Real People

There are plenty of tips to help you save the pennies, but if double dipping your tea-bags just isn't for you, what is?

With rising living costs stretching everyone's finances, it makes sense to look at ways to cut your spending. But most of the money saving tips I read seem unrealistic and unsuited to my lifestyle.

Surely there are others like me, who care about their finances, but care about other things more (fun, friends, free time). Nearly everyone I know fits into this category of wanting to save money but not to the detriment of their way of life. I would never in a million years bother with most of the tips proffered by those with the time and energy to go to great lengths to save 50p.

So can I save a little money?

Eat cheap

 You might have heard of MySupermarket.co.uk where you can go online to find out which supermarket offers cut-price Vimto, and then be directed to their website to place the order.  Fair enough, if you are an online supermarket shopper -- most of us are not, either through choice or because they don't deliver where we live. 

The supermarkets featured on MySupermarket are Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda. But it's not rocket science to work out which is the most expensive (indeed I've listed them in order here for you).

Instead of looking at saving a few pounds on your usual shop why not accept that you might have to buy different products? If I had one supermarket-shopping money-saving tip, it would be: buy `value' or basic versions of everything. OK, most things --bread and loo roll, for me, would be going too far. But many items are no different to the big brands, like pasta and tinned tomatoes.

And, if you really want to cut down your food bill, I suggest you plan all your meals in advance and make a shopping list -- then you won't waste.

Smoke and mirrors

There have been recent stories about how much you can save by not smoking -- £170 a month according to Abbey and £250 a month according to Moneyfacts. That's great, but. drum roll here please. smoking is addictive. Which means most regular puffers are neither encouraged or discouraged by the cost. I want to quit smoking for many reasons -- and none of them is to do with the money I would save. If you are smoker and you want to save cash, switch to rolling tobacco.

Goodbye road rage?

Rising petrol prices have led to a million different suggestions about saving fuel. Put less luggage in the car, drive slower or use a half full tank.

How about simply giving up the car? As my fellow Fool Szu Ping Chan recently explained in Ditch Your Car And Save £2,042, there are many alternatives to owning a car which would still allow you to drive when you wanted to.

Plus, if you walk about more, you can cancel your gym membership (saving even more) as you'll be getting fit by default.

The smart money

Of course, the best savings are done by switching financial products, because you don't have to change your lifestyle. You just pay less for the same thing - hurrah!

Over the long term a competitive mortgage will yield the biggest savings, but current conditions mean the usual rules have changed. For many borrowers their lender's SVR is cheaper than paying an enormous remortgage fee for a relatively high rate. But it's worth checking with a broker whether you could save, and checking again in six months.

As for everything else, you can still make immediate and long-term savings. If you don't enjoy shopping around for gas and electricity (who does?) use our switching service and let us do the hard work. I went checked my electricity provision, which took me exactly five minutes. I could save £184.92 a year. Job done.

Finally, why not celebrate your new money saving lifestyle by having some friends over and combining all of the above tips.

         Walk to the supermarket and buy supermarket wine.

Cost to you: £6 for the bottle. Drinking out: £6 a glass.

         Cook spaghetti bolognese (cheap and cheerful) and get them to bring starter or pudding.

Cost to you: £5 max. Eating out: £20

(If you wanted to go crazy you could switch your financial products while simmering your bolognese, saving hundreds of pounds!)

         Zero petrol costs also means everybody can enjoy a drink.

Staying in is definitely the new going out.

More: Fight Back Against Rising Food Prices