amelierosalyn.com

Jem's posts on how she's saving money inspired me to try and make some savings in my own life (maternity leave + new baby = no fancy stuff for us!), so I thought I'd share a few ways in which I plan to save (or have done already).

1. Switch supermarkets

   I've always done my weekly shop at the local Sainsbury's, because it's just round the corner from me and easy to nip to for a quick shop. I popped into Tesco a few weeks ago and did my weekly shop there instead, and found that I spent £20 less. Since then, I've been going back and forth between the two, and it seems that Tesco is winning at the moment. Last week's shopping was £10 less than the previous week's Sainsbury's offering (despite using loyalty card points).

2. Switch utilities and insurance providers

   I switch home and car insurance providers every year, because providers seem to like to play sneaky games where they penalise existing customers with a hefty price rise and/or change the product so that it's no longer suited to me. I chopped my car insurance in half this year just by going with a different provider. I haven't done this with my utilities yet, but it definitely needs doing - my current provider bumped the price up by 8% starting next month. Noooo thank you!

3. Turn down the heating

   Sounds obvious, but it's not something I've done before. I like my house at a constant 20°C but now that I'm here all day, every day, that's a lot of heating! 18° is a hardly noticeable change and my house tends to naturally stay at that temperature anyway.

4. Cashback

   I signed up for Top CashBack a couple of years ago, but I kept forgetting to actually use it. Earlier this year when buying all the baby supplies for D, I did actually remember to use it and got some nice results out of it. I just need to remember to use it for my Christmas shopping now (she says, having almost completed it and not used TCB... Oopsie)...

5. Make gifts instead of buying them

   This year, I'm planning to make a few of my Christmas gifts. They make for a great personal touch, and save money :) I'd say what I'm planning, but I know my family read this site, so probably not a great idea... It shall be wonderful though (I hope. Heh) :D