10 ways to be more money savvy

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You may still be feeling the pinch from Christmas, payday may not have been that long ago but it seems to disappear far faster in December, and with payday so far away now you may be looking for ways to earn some money or keep hold of it this month.

Here are a few quick and easy ways to bring in a few extra pounds this month (and every month) – money-saving tips:

10 ways to be more money savvy

• Clothing sort out.
  You may have got new clothes for Christmas or even set resolutions to lose weight, eat better, etc. Now is a great time to pull everything from your wardrobe. Put back what you know you will wear, bag up those you won’t and those you aren’t sure about, and hang back in the wardrobe, but with the hangers the wrong way round, when you wear them turn the hangers the right way again. Check again in 6 months…those with the hangers facing the other way you’ve not worn in 6 months so probably aren’t likely to are you?
  The clothes you’ve bagged up…SELL. Try sites such as eBay, Facebook selling pages, Vinted, and Gumtree; there are also companies that buy them by the bag full.
• Toys sort out.
  If you are now inundated with toys sort out those which are old and broken throw-away, those which are still in good condition sell. Again eBay and Facebook selling pages as well as Gumtree are good places to start.
• Answer surveys.
  I’m a member of Swagbucks and this has been a great way of earning extra money. You can answer surveys, watch videos search the web and even get cashback on your shopping. For doing this you’ll earn points called Swagbucks (SB) which you can redeem for gift cards for some of your favourite stores (Amazon, M&S, John Lewis and you can even choose to exchange for cash into PayPal or Mastercard).
  Sign up before the end of the month and earn 300SB and you will automatically gain an extra 300SB. If you spend at least £25 via the Swagbucks shop* you will receive a bonus 200SB as well as your cashback earnt via shopping (bonus SB will be added in February; *shopping SB must be credited before 1st March) – you can join up here if you would like (do let me know if you do and if you would like help to make SB)
• Revise your utility bills.
  OK, technically this isn’t making money as such but you can end up saving hundreds by just spending half an hour comparing your options. Utility Warehouse and Money Supermarket are just a couple of options. Search around and compare your gas and electricity bill. Also, don’t just renew your house insurance, contents, car or pet insurance automatically when the renewal comes through by searching the market for even half an hour you could find you can usually save a fair bit (then take these quotes to your current company to see if they can match it!) I moved my Gas and Electricity supplier over to Octopus Energy and it has saved me so much money already – I have a referral code which will give you £50 into your account if you use – I also get £50 – here is the code https://share.octopus.energy/dusk-lark-88 
• Reward points.
  If you regularly spend money somewhere do make sure you are signed up to their loyalty schemes.  Tesco for example. I always shop in Tesco and we get our petrol here so save the points…remember to double them up when the exchange is available, personally I prefer to use them against days out or eating out (for every £2.50 in clubcard points you can get £10 to use towards meals out, trips or even experience days/magazine subscriptions.
  Also while shopping remember to use cashback sites as often as you can – they don’t cost anything to use and you’ll recieve money back on your purchases – I religiously use Topcashback and made £282 last year along just by shopping as I usually would do.
• Put your change into a jar when you’ve been shopping.
  Even if you just toss the coppers into a jar they soon mount up.  Don’t spend them, but count up in November or at the start of December, and you’ll be surprised at how much you have. Small change like this won’t be noticed….imagine how much you’d have if you did it with all change 50p and under?
• Set up a direct debit to your savings account.
  Do you always plan to save a little each month? Perhaps you start well, but keeping it in the house is all too tempting, isn’t it? You can grab it too quickly if you need a pint of milk or a night out perhaps. Why not set up a direct debit for £5 a week? You’ll not really notice it going and by the end of the year you could have saved £260
• Do you have a skill you can offer to others?
  Advertise your expertise. A dab hand at HTML and coding? There are people falling over themselves for help with this. Copywriters, artists, designers, etc. Fiverr may be a good place to start. Different skills? What about offering your skills on a local Facebook page? There is always a need for a man with a van, plasterers, decorators, etc.
• Save money on babysitters by forming a sharing circle with friends.
  You can babysit their children when they go out and they can return the favour when you go out. If you don’t have that many close friends, what about the parents of the children in your child’s class?
• Always look for discount codes before making a big purchase.
  Stores are always competing, so a quick 5-minute web search could bag you 10% off, free delivery, or more! It is always worth visiting a voucher code site too as you will find loads of up-to-date offers all in the same place. There are always discount codes floating around, so definitely look before making a purchase, no matter how big or small.

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