In today’s consumer world where goods and services are almost too accessible, it’s all too easy to spend beyond your means. Financial discipline is vitally important for those looking to either get out of debt or start saving for the big-ticket items in your life, be it a very first car or home, or even a wedding.
Reducing your average daily spending is easy to say but much, much harder to achieve in the real world. Below, we’ve provided a little inspiration to cut back in key areas of our everyday lives to keep more money aside for a rainy day.
Travel
Liverpool John Moores University recently unveiled its green app, which could save commuters as much as £100 a month in travel costs. Its ‘Smart Green Journey’ app aims to encourage people to walk and cycle to more destinations across the city by letting you know how much money and carbon you’re saving by leaving your four wheels on the driveway. Budding cyclists can also use the app to find secure bike parking areas in all six boroughs within the Liverpool City area.
Weekly groceries (and weekend treats)
Many households spend way too much than they need to on their weekly grocery shopping. If you don’t already, write a food plan for the week. This helps to focus the mind on what you need to buy instead of what you want. You could also try doing your grocery shop online. You can stick to a budget easier given the running total displayed. Alternatively, you could opt for one of the grocery subscription boxes like Gousto and Hello Fresh, both of which offer quick, healthy and convenient meal plans for a weekly fee. If you’re a new customer, you can usually get a discount on your first box or two, which makes things cheaper in the outset too. Don’t forget to use sites like Deliveroo and Uber Eats for your weekend takeaways. On Uber Eats alone, there are quite literally hundreds of outlets to choose from in Liverpool across all manner of cuisines. Uber Eats tends to offer regular discount codes to save between 25%-50% on your weekend treats.
Online entertainment
There are many ways to enjoy cheaper online entertainment, be it television subscriptions or gaming. Just scrapping your subscriptions to on-demand streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix can save almost £200 a year. There are hundreds of films and box sets available free with catch-up platforms like All 4, BBC iPlayer and My5 to suit all ages. Online gamers looking to get more bang for their buck at online casinos are increasingly utilising online directories that demonstrate the best value sign-up bonuses from slot sites, including some that don’t even require you to deposit a penny to get free bonus money or free spins on selected slots. Mobile gamers that tend to rack up 4G data playing massively multiplayer online (MMO) titles may also be better off seeking SIM-only contracts for their existing smartphones instead of entering new, expensive monthly contracts for new devices with their network providers.
Health and beauty
Want to keep yourself looking and feeling good on a budget? It’s absolutely possible in Liverpool. If you don’t want to stop having your regular haircuts or highlights, consider signing up for a student night haircut, with cuts and stylings overseen by fully trained hairdressers. If you are a regular smoker, quitting smoking could be the most transformational change you can make to your lifestyle and weekly budget. In 2016, an Adult Lifestyle Survey found that just 18.9% of Liverpudlians smoke, compared with 35% in 2005. With fewer smoke-friendly environments and the price of cigarettes and tobacco continuing to rise, this could really transform your everyday life.
By being creative, and making the most of the services available to you, you can make some key savings that will benefit you later on.