THE HUNTER

GOES ON THE HUNT FOR THE BEST OFFERS AND LIFESTYLE HACKS

BUY STOLEN GOODS - LEGALLY

You may have seen police auctions in American TV shows, but they’re a great way to save money in the UK, too.

When the police are unable to track down an item’s rightful owner, they’ll auction it off and give the proceeds to worthy causes. Bumblebeeauctions.co.uk, for instance, offers unclaimed stolen property from police stations around the UK.

Especially good for cheap digital cameras, bicycles and tools.

PLUMP UP YOUR PACKING WITH A PILLOW

If you’ve ever booked what you believed to be a bargain flight, only to discover your luggage will cost more than the flight itself, you’re not alone. One way to avoid paying over the odds is to pack an empty, zipped pillowcase to fill with extra clothing. Many airlines will allow you to bring a pillow aboard and, as long as the case is closed ‘like a bag’ and doesn’t contain banned items, it wouldn’t be a security concern. However, some airlines may count it as a personal item so check their rules beforehand.

BUY PAST ‘BEST BEFORE’ DATES

Unlike ‘use by’ dates, ‘best before’ dates are solely recommendations about food quality, not safety. The Approved Food website (approvedfood.co.uk) can help you cash in on this – they legally sell groceries close to (or past) their best before dates that are still safe to consume. With more than 2,000 products, the site claims customers typically save around £60 on their monthly shop compared to high street prices.

RATE YOUR SPENDING WITH THE 1-2-3 SYSTEM

To view your spending in a fresh light, go through your bank statement each week and give every purchase a rating of 1, 2, or 3.

For purchases that didn’t make you feel good, use a ‘1’, use a ‘2’ rating for things that felt ‘sort of good but indifferent’, and a ‘3’ for amounts that you would spend all over again in a heartbeat.

You might just be surprised at what you will learn about your habits.