Don't Smoke: Giving Up Saves Loads of Money

This is one of the mindless, stupid things you can do if you're on a budget. Even if you're not, the money you save from quitting the fags can be put to superb use virtually anywhere else. The case for giving up smoking gets more and more compelling every year, as the increase in tax on tobacco makes them more and more expensive in real terms.

Nowadays in the UK, it's very rare that 10 cigarettes will cost below £3, which is probably almost double the price things were 10 years ago. And the fact that you smoke more than one a day compounds this. The ease of which you can give up - although it seems difficult at the time - far outweighs any benefits. After a while, you pine for one but can give up, and then after that you rarely think of it, and when you do, you don't even want one and wonder why the hell you did it in the first place.

For me, I was lucky and perhaps only smoked 20 cigarettes in a week. Still, those costs add up fast as you can see here:

Difficulty: 6/10: Sure, giving up is not the easiest thing in the world, and it takes a hell of a lot of willpower. Get Allen Carrs book if you're unsure. Having said that, there are more difficult things.

Savings per week: £6, and that is a light smoker, a heavy smoker may be spending £50 a week on cigarettes.
Savings per year: Anywhere from £300 to £3,000.

Save Money; Don't Drink Starbucks or Other Premium Coffee

This is one thing that many people have wasted their cash on. A premium coffee from one of the stores offers the ultimate in utility, but at an amazing price. In my humble opinion, when you go to Starbucks and pay for a coffee, you're also paying for the surroundings as well. I don't mind paying the price to get a nice comfortable seat to site and chat for a while, but if you're doing takeaway then much of the value disappears.

For most people, this is not necessary. You can get a coffee or tea at the office or at home for pennies, and in the case of tea, there literally is no difference between a home-brewed cuppa and a cuppa bought in store, apart from the price tag. If your schedule allows, or if you really need that hit because you're out all day, consider getting a thermos flask. These easily fit inside a flask or briefcase and keep your drink hot all day.

If you cannot cut it out, at least consider the cheaper options. Starbucks do a card which allows you to get normal coffee for £1. Drink smaller drinks instead of large ones. Go to cheaper stores. Either way, I had spent too much money on coffee. We're not saying cut it down to zero, but to start cutting one drink a week out for this saving.

Difficulty: 1/10. Very easy. Often the craving just passes as soon as you pass up the coffee, and unlike hunger, it can wait till you get somewhere else or be replaced with water.

Savings per week: About £2, if you miss one or downgrade from more expensive items.
Savings per year: £100+.

Refinance: Make Use of 0% Credit Card Deals

This, depending on your circumstance can be one of the easiest or most difficult things to do. If you're in debt, chances are you're paying interest on that debt. By moving your debts across to a 0% debt, essentially you get to save all this money for yourself instead of paying it to the bank.

By debt, we mean stuff like credit cards, store cards - really, anything that attracts a high APR. I don't recommend at all using this type of thing to pay household bills. If this is what you're doing then you need to urgently reconsider other options. Fine for a stopgap, but you need to be earning more than what your bills are, otherwise this spells trouble in the long run.

On the downside, if you're already in financial difficultly, your credit rating may have already taken a hit and you may not be able to get the credit, or you may not qualify for the 0% deal. If you can't get this, there are few options for 0% finance - but pay off your cards with the highest interest rate first.

Difficulty: 4/10. Most of the difficultly here relies on you actually passing a credit check for the card itself.

Savings per week: Depends on your debt. A £2000 transfer may save you over £10 a week in interest.
Savings per year: £500+, depending on your level of debt and ability to get credit.

Save Cash: Stop Eating Junk Food (So often)

Cheap, tasty and satisfying - you may think it so at the time, but the reality is not so. For one, it's not THAT cheap in comparison and secondly, it's not healthy for you at all. Let's take McDonalds as the classic example (although there are numerous others). A meal has gotten into the region of £5; that's for one meal that might not leave you that fulfilled.

Take this into context, and your money into the nearest supermarket - how much food does that £5 get you? The components for several healthy meals, which are far more better for you than junk. The 'cheapness' of the junk doesn't seem as appealing anymore. Sometimes the pure moment of it all gets you - you're hungry - it's there and available, but this is part of the marketing allure and really, it's under your control to avoid such a situation happening.

I'm no saint, and I'm not asking anyone to live like a monk, but cutting your spend on junk food will be evident on the wallet. I've spent an average of £10 (or 2 junk meals) per week, so i'll be looking to trim that budget into £5.

Difficulty: 1/10. Not difficult. If you feel the craving, I suggest having some 'safe' foods at home which relieve hunger pangs.

Saving per week: £5, perhaps more if you're a heavy user.
Saving per year: £250. At least.

Raise Cash: Sell Five Items a Day On eBay

Although we often hear about how people can go through mad stints of listing stuff on Ebay, this isn't particularly for all of us. Genuinely, we don't have the time to be spending hours upon end at the computer, or emailing people all the time.

That said, Ebay is a good place to get rid of your stuff. By mandating the list to five items per day (which probably will take about 30 mins to list) we aren't going on overload, and this ensures a stream of stuff you can sell, and hence a stream of income, whilst not spectacular, can make a difference at the end of the day, particularly if you've got good items. And we reckon most people have good stuff. Myself, I think there is at least 1,000 things I can ebay, and that's just for starters.

Most people have many good candidates for auctions. Old books, CDs, toys, virtually anything that isn't too big or bulky can be sold (we'd recommend against the bigger items due to postage costs). As listing is now free for private listings (up to 100 per month) there is very little downside; anything that doesn't sell, put into a box and do a boot sale with it another time. Don't get too attached to the items now, they may have been worth more when they were bought, but that is not the value now. 5 a day should see you right.

Difficulty: 6/10 - Requires some time per day and also trips to the post office for larger items. Everyone has enough stuff, but it's just a matter of doing it.

Savings per day: You can easily get about £6 per day profits doing this average. Remember not to set your postage prices too low so you make a loss on the postage.
Savings per year: Anything over £1,000 is easily possible as long as you stick at it.

Use The Cycle To Replace Short Journeys.

If you've got a bike, then use it! If you haven't got a bike, then consider buying one. The cheapest ones start at around £50 and if you're willing to go second hand, even cheaper (I sold my old one for £20). And the best thing is, that they will pay for themselves in no time at all.

If you've got a car, you'll know that some of the worst culprits for bad fuel consumption is short, short journeys.
For longer motorway and highway driving the fuel consumption isn't too bad, but you ideally want to keep the shorter trips to a minimum. On these, your fuel consumption will be terrible - about 20-25 mpg, which is not so good.

So here's what to do. For any trip under about 3 miles, take the bike instead of the car. This is a distance which can be easily covered in under 30mins (probably going down to 15mins as you improve on the bike). We would have said over 5miles but don't forget you have to cycle back too. You'll save money, and get fit at the same time. Dual winner.

Difficulty: 4/10. You'll have to budget some extra time in, as you're probably more than used to the ease of getting around.

Savings per week: Assuming 25 miles not driven and cycled, that's 1 gallon of fuel. That is roughly 4.5 liters which equates to £6 at current prices.
Savings per year: Around £300.

Freeze It: Making the Most of Bread

The freezer can genuinely turn out to be your best friend, as it'll preserve food for long beyond it's sell-by date. Here, we'll cover just two ways you can save money on your food bill and not notice a thing. Bread is probably the most discarded item from the cupboards, particularly if you live on your own. With a limited shelf life of around four to five days, there is an incessant pressure to finish a loaf quickly, which you may not feel like.

With the cost of bread soaring beyond belief in some places - can a decent loaf of bread be over £1 nowadays, the savings can quickly add up. The decision to freeze is definitely a sensible one. You can put entire loafs of bread in the freezer, and simply toast what you want - therefore making a loaf last how long YOU want it to, not when it grows mould. You can underscore these savings by purchasing bread that's reduced at the supermarket - generally shops will reduce this with one day left to go. There is no difference in taste or quality.

Difficulty: 1/10. You'll need freezer space, which may compromise your requirements to store something else. You may also need to get lucky at the discount shop to bag cheap bread.

Savings per week: £0.25 on the quarter loaf that you'd throw away, and £0.75 on buying a loaf of bread if you get it discounted.
Savings per year: £50, which is amazing really on such a basic product.

Don't Pay For a Gym Membership

Not having a gym membership can be one of the biggest money saving things you can do. For the most part, many people start these terms with the best intentions, and go all the time. Then, you let it slip and you can easily go a week or so without doing any type of workout. Sound familiar? We'd estimate that over half of people go less than three times a week, and there is the over-riding feeling is that if you're paying for it, somehow you're going to be fitter.

Now, we're not saying that if you go to the gym, you will be fit, or if you don't go to the gym, you would be unfit. Neither of these will be correct. But just because you aren't a member, there are still things you can do. Assess your membership honestly - do you really need it?

Cardio: Bike and running machines can be easily replicated outdoors. We know there's a slight change from the comforts of doing this in the gym, but you'll get over it. Stuff like swimming or classes are a little different. If you're a user of these, assess how much it would cost to do these singly.

Weights: Of course, no one has a full set of weights at home, so if you use these, you'd also need to find some alternatives. Bodyweight is one of the best ways to get your workout going, and many exercises such as weighted chin-ups are just as tough as they can be in the gym. See a site such as http://www.bodyresults.com/e2nogym.asp for more information.

Difficulty: 1/10 - As easy as calling your gym and telling them you want to cancel. You may have to serve a month, and we'd suggest using it as much as you can until then.

Savings per week: About £10 on average, for fancier gyms, it will be more.
Savings per year: A whopping £520, which is enough to buy you several nice things.

Do Your Washing And Tumble Drying At Night

This is quite a common sense thing actually, and the only downside is that you'll have to either set your alarm or either leave your clothes in the drier until you get up. In the case of washing, that might be bad, in the case of drying not so bad as they'll be dry anyway.

The premise is simple: electricity companies work on supply and demand too, and they know that the demand for electricity is much, much less at night when most people are asleep. Therefore, electricity cost at night time is less to match this reduced demand and to encourage usage for this time. Typically off-peak use can be as much as half the cost of peak use.

Not all areas offer off-peak and on-peak usage so it's best to check with your company first before altering your lifestyle to accommodate this. Based on 2 washes and 2 tumble dries per week - for a family this could be more.

Difficulty: 1/10: Stay up a little later than usual, it's not that difficult.

Savings Per Week: c. £1
Savings Per Year: c.£50

Use The Toilets At Work

Using the toilets at work can save you a surprising amount of cash, considering that the main expense is toilet roll. Especially if you're a woman and go through half a roll of stuff per visit, or you happen to have especially active bowels. Toilet paper is expensive stuff these days - costing around £0.50p a roll (and we're talking about the average stuff, not the cheap stuff that makes you feel that you're wiping your bum with sandpaper).

Saving a 'download' for work-time can pay dividends in terms of the toilet paper saved, and we will even treat the saving of water as negligible.

Difficulty: 3/10. Sometimes you just can't control when you go, and it might be difficult to save it for the most opportune moments. And having a home without toilet paper in is walking a fine line.

Savings per week: About 50p
Savings per year: About £25