How to save money

Find yourself frittering your cash away? Get some control back with the help of financial guru Bola Sol

if your bank balance is in the red the week before payday, we feel you. While it may not be easy to change your spending habits, studies show that 40% of 25-34-year-olds want to manage their money better as a result of the pandemic.* The good news? There are ways of doing this that won’t zap your social life altogether. Bola Sol, author of How To Save It: Fix Your Finances and founder of the blog Richgirlchronicles.com, advises making a few tweaks to reap the rewards. Here are her best saving hacks…

DO AN AUDIT

Most of us subscribe to different services – from TV streaming platforms and meditation apps to snack boxes – but when they start to add up, they can become a drain on your finances. Be honest with yourself – do you get bang for your buck out of each one? “Go through your bank statements and cancel anything you no longer use,” says Sol. It’s also easy to get caught out with free trial offers that automatically charge you after the free period ends, so put a reminder in your diary to cancel them. “If there are services you genuinely get value out of, save money with family or group subscriptions,” suggests Sol. “Spotify costs £14.99 for six people living under the same roof.”

BE LOYAL

Sign up for loyalty cards at all the stores you shop at regularly. “Over time, they can help – and if you shop there anyway, why not?” says Sol. “Tesco Clubcard, for example, gives members special prices on selected products which change weekly.” And don’t worry about stashing all those cards in your purse or downloading hundreds of apps – use Stocard (Stocardapp.com), an app that allows users to store all of their loyalty cards digitally, in one place.

DON’T DOUBLE UP

Do you often go to the shops and come back with something you already have? Yep, us too. “Before you shop, see what you have first, because constantly buying duplicate items is a waste of money,” advises Sol. Take a look at Lovefoodhatewaste.com for ideas on how to cut down on the food you buy. If you need a reminder of what you already have, the free Kitche app (Kitche.co) can help you keep track of the food you’ve got at home and suggest recipes using those ingredients.

START STASHING

Once you do have a bit of extra cash in the bank, make sure it’s in an account that pays interest. Rates aren’t great at the moment, but it’s still essentially free money. If one bank has a savings account that offers 0.1% interest, and another will give you 1% of your balance back, choose the latter. “Something is better than nothing,” says Sol. You can compare interest rates at Moneysupermarket.co.uk or Gocompare.com.