10 Saving Tips From A Lifetime Saver

Hi, I’ve always saved my money. I don’t know why but from a young age when I started getting money for my birthday I might have bought something small but the rest would go into my saving account. I should really thank my parents for setting me up a saving account in the first place. I have a thing for watching the numbers grow higher and higher, I get way more pleasure from that than spending it. I spend money, I'm just picky about what I spend my money on and I'm always looking for a bargain.

10 Tips For Saving Money

Get A Savings Account

Online banking makes saving so easy. Open up an account and simply move any money left over at the end of the month, this is a great way to build savings.

Budget

With bills and rent it can be quite easy to find your money disappearing. In order to save you need to budget your money to allow for there to be something left at the end of the month to put away.

Set Saving Goals

Motivation is the key to saving, having a goal amount and setting a time limit will help you reach your saving goals. You could use a visual saving chart to watch your money grow.

Have a Loose Change Tin

Having a special place to store cash is great as you'll appreciate and associate the physical act of saving as a positive action. The tin should preferably be one that you can't dip into easily.

Pay With Cash In Store

This is a great tip to stick to a budget while out shopping, by withdrawing your spending budget for the trip and having to physically hand over money you'll make better choices about your spending.

Always Look For Discounts

If you are making a purchase no matter how big or small always do a voucher check. I always check for in store vouchers if I know I'm heading on a shopping trip. Alternatively a quick look online normally reveals a code for shopping online even if it's only a free postage code it's still money saved.

Do You Need It?

One of my key saving tips is to think about a purchase and decide if you really need that item. Chances are you've got something very similar at home already. If you decide you must have it that's fine but make sure you are getting the best price possible.

Pay Outright

Anything that incurs a fee for paying in monthly installments I have always payed in full so I don't have to pay the added interest. When you look at something like car insurance this makes quite a big difference.

Bulk Buy On Offers

Buying expensive items like shampoo while they're on great deals saves lots of money in the long run. If something is half price I buy double the amount of product so it will last me twice as long. 

Use Store Loyalty Cards
Delay shopping for some items until you can get money back via bonus on loyalty cards. Around Christmas is a good time because you'll likely need to spend the money anyway but you can build rewards and get money back to spend at a later date.

I hope these tips are helpful and have inspired you to maybe set a saving goal. Small changes to your spending will all add up before you know it.

Do you enjoy saving? Do you have any tips you would add?

Sam

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10 Budget Friendly Christmas Tips | #BLOGMAS Day 11

Hi, It's no secret that I'm really frugal with my spending and if at all possible I will save money when making a purchase. I don't think Christmas should be any different and if anything it's a time when everyone needs to reassess what they really need as it's such an expensive time of year. Christmas shouldn't be about how lavish a gift you can buy or how many, it's a time for getting together with people we care about and being thankful for the things we already have, I think the commercial side of Christmas gets in the way a bit. Today I've got some tips for saving money over the Christmas period, some of these might be a little late for those of you who are really organised.

Budget Friendly Christmas Tips

Gift Budgets and Secret Santa
This year me, my friends and family have all agreed to have a spending limit on the gifts we buy so that things don't get out of hand. If you have a big family why not consider a Secret Santa system. You could still buy everyone a smaller token gift, but by doing the Secret Santa everyone still gets one special gift.

Hand Deliver Cards
Okay so this one might not be super doable depending on the distance your family and friends are spread around the country/world, but if possible popping into see those people is not only saving you the cost of a postage stamp but brightening someones day.

Buy Tickets In Advance
I personally don't need to travel but I do know that train tickets are expensive, if you plan ahead and pre-book tickets you can save loads of money. If possible why not get someone to give you a lift and pay for the petrol it's probably a lot cheaper, or look at other ways to travel like the Mega bus which has some crazily low prices.

Don't Buy Gift Sets
This one will probably split people because there's something nice about a preboxed gift which is easy to wrap and sometimes with deals they will work out cheaper but in other cases depending on the contents it's way cheaper to make your own hamper of goodies.

Offers and Loyalty Points
If gift sets are your thing make sure you're getting an offer, check for the best price and if possible take advantage of multi buy offers. Buying from stores with loyalty points means you're also getting something back, Tesco have a double up system on points already collected so you can buy even more.

Don't Over Look The Pound Shops
I recently did a £1 stocking filler gift guide and it just shows what amazing things you can pick up for as little as a pound, with a little shopping around sometimes even cheaper. No one said gifts had to be expensive to be good.

Give Homemade
So craft isn't always that cheap but homemade gifts do really show you care. It's the perfect excuse to do some festive baking, you could make some cookies. Alternatively learn to knit and make a scarf for someone.

Start Shopping in The Sales
I'm known for doing this, it helps if you've got the storage room but you can really make some great savings. I don't tend to keep the gifts until Christmas choosing to pick unfestive gifts to give out as Birthday presents during the year. If it's Christmas gifts you want look out for seasonal sales earlier in the year where you can pick up quirky items a lot cheaper. Don't buy items that have use by dates as these will end up being a waste of money rather than a saving.

Don't Pay Postage
This is my biggest annoyance with online shopping. Over the year if you add up how much you've spent on postage with the odd £3.99 here and there you'd be shocked. So when shopping online always do a quick voucher search, it's very rare that I don't find a code. If you're planning a trip into town anyway look at store collection options to see if they're free instead.

Get a Fake Tree
I've only ever had a real tree once and honestly I missed my fake tree. I know there are advantages to real trees but I hate to think of a tree being grown and then cut down and left to die (morbid thought sorry). In the long run fake trees are much better for the environment and a hell of a lot cheaper. Buy one in the sale to make an even bigger saving, along with decorations and lights, that way you're ready for next Christmas.

I hope this was helpful. Do you have any money saving tips?

Sam

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Fashion | H&M Sale Haul

Hi, Today I finally got around to photographing the bits I picked out from the H&M sale. I was really impressed with the pieces that I picked up and only sent two things back. I think most of these items are out of season for the hotter weather that has finally arrived, but the dress is a floaty dream.

 High Waist Jeans £10 | Pink Jumper £7 | Dress £12 | Ripped Jeans £12 | Loafers £6 | Bedding Set £10

Dress - I love it! the highlight of my picks and I'm so glad I dared to try it. It is a really light floaty material, but not see through because it's double lined with black fabric. It is a really flattering fit even on my small torso, it sits in all the right places giving curves where needed and the pattern is really slimming. The only thing that I'm not so keen on is the body length exposed zip down the back but I think I can forgive the dress that one fault. It's not horrid after all it could have been gold.

Ripped Jeans -  I've wanted a pair of ripped jeans but I always have the issue that the knee rips never fall in the right place as my legs are a little short. These fit and look really nice because of the random placement of the rips which means that I can get away with wearing them and can finally take part in the ripped jeans trend. I really like how light the blue wash on these jeans is, very summery.

High Waist Jeans - I bought these in dark blue and loved the look and feel of them, so when I saw this grey pair in the sale I couldn't help but buy them too. They are quite a light grey wash in comparison to all my other grey jeans which makes a nice change.

Black Loafers - These are different from any other pair of flats I own (and I own a few). I decided they are a classic piece that would last me a good while. They are suede and have loads of inbuilt foot support which is a nice added bonus. I think this style of shoe works best worn with trousers, so they are a more summery option to my Dr Martens.

Pink Jumper - I know it's the height of summer and I bought a jumper. It is Britain after all so jumpers are never redundant for very long. This is a really pretty weave of different textured wool, this to me means it will last longer as this texture hides any bobbles. It has cropped sleeves which makes it a little more spring friendly. It has detailing of a gold zip on the back of the neck.

Bedding Set - How pretty is that pattern. I'm a little bit addicted to the whole chevron trend and I hope it sticks around long enough that when I have my own place I can go mad with is. I love the pop of yellow against the pastel pink and grey hues, it such a refreshing piece for my room during the summer months, and it looks great as a blog photo backdrop.

What do you think to my picks? did you get anything nice in the sales?

Sam

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Book Haul | Amazon 3 for £10 Offer

Hi, where do you shop for your books? the first place I check when I want a book is Amazon. It has to be the best place for checking current prices. While searching for some titles for a previous post about my summer reading list (read it here) I found that Amazon have a three paper backs for £10 offer which I couldn't resist, as a result I now have plenty of reading material for the summer months. These are the books that I bough.

Ways to Live Forever - Sally Nicholls

Amazon - £6.29

Page Count: 224
This is quite a thin book and I'm pretty sure it's a children's book, it was the winner of the Waterstones children's book price. The book is made up of a selection of lists and diary entries. The story is about a boy with leukemia trying to make scene of everything, I image even though this is a kids book it's going to have some really sad parts.

A Flash of Blue - Maria Farrer

Amazon - £7.99
Page Count: 352

This is the book I'm most looking forward to reading and the one I will probably start with. The cover is really striking (the lines are shiny) and fits with the title perfectly. This book is about a girl who's brother dies in a car crash and she blames herself for his death, the story then leads into how she copes with his passing and her guilt.

The Broken - Tamar Cohen

Amazon - £5.24
Page Count: 400
The biggest of the books I purchased and the only one which featured on my summer reading list. This will be a good book for me to try out a new genre of story telling. This is a story about relationships, particularly those of married couples that are friends, and what happens when the truth comes out.

Because there was the three for £10 offer on I picked the most expensive books that I wanted to read to get the best saving. Now I can't wait for my little camping trip to York to get stuck into these. Once I've read them I will do a book review and let you know my thoughts.

Have you bought any books recently that you would recommend?

Sam

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Mini Clothing Haul | H&M

Hi, today I've got a small collection of items from H&M to share with you. I love discount codes and had been waiting for one to be added to the H&M website for a while, I save items in my basket and wait for a good discount deal to come along before placing my order. This time they offered a 20% discount if you spend over £80 with free delivery. This offer has ended but they do similar offers all the time. I saw this as my opportunity to pick up a few staple pieces I had saved to my basket. I sent quite a lot of my order back, but I kept some really nice pieces.

High Waist Jeans - £14.99  | Grey High Waist Shorts - £12.99
Blue High Waist Shorts - £12.99 | Cream Knitted Cropped Jumper £7.99
White Laser Cut Pumps - £9.99

High Waist Jeans: I decided to try something new with these high waist jeans, I'm not sure I suite them because I'm so short (all legs no body) but they looked really nice on. They are a really dark denim with a slight acid wash finish, skinny fit and a really soft material.

High Waist Shorts: Both pairs are almost the same cut but the blue ones have pockets at the front. Again trying something out of my comfort zone, but I love both of them, I think I suite these better than the jeans and they make my legs seem really long. It seems I just can't resist denim in an acid wash, no matter what colour.

Pumps: These are going to be my go too summer flats. White, laser cut and super cute. They are really comfortable and fit really snug on my feet which for a 3.5 is a surprise. They have a tan coloured sole and the holes in the shoes should keep my feet nice and cool in the warmer months.

Cropped Jumper: I bought this jumper in Karki a while ago and just love how the cropped length looks on me. I decided to opt for another one in more of a summer shade, so I bought this really nice cream one. It looks a totally different colour online, I only bought it because I'd seen the true colour in store before ordering. Hopefully this will look nice with the high waist jeans and will take me right through to the winter months.

Have you got any summer clothing from H&M?

Sam

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