SIX WAYS TO BOOST YOUR SAVINGS

It may be tempting to splurge as lockdown eases, but there are innovative ways to boost your funds in case of a rainy day

FOR many of us, saving money has been much easier of late as most of our normal treats and vices have been off-limits while we’ve been in lockdown.

Only recently have we been able to head to pubs, restaurants and cinemas, and enjoy other forms of entertainment again.

As we venture out of our homes and start spending once more, it can be easy to get carried away. After all, there has never been a more tempting time to treat ourselves – we deserve a bit of fun after all of this, right?

Of course we should be able to embrace our newfound freedoms guilt-free, but what about our dwindling savings pots?

Despite the economic turmoil that lockdown has plunged the UK into, many people have still managed to squirrel away some cash while remaining indoors.

Research from comparison site Comparethemarket found that threequarters of households have managed to save an average £300 during lockdown. Most of these savings have come from not commuting and not going to restaurants, cinemas etc. One in five households has saved money through no longer paying for gym memberships and TV sports packages.

So what happens now? If you’ve been cultivating a small savings pot during lockdown, it would be a shame to go back to worrying about money once more.

Instead, why not try your hand at a post-lockdown saving challenge?

As the pandemic has brought home to us all just how important it is to have a financial safety net to fall back on, we’ve teamed up with Enjoystevie. com – the place to find restaurant offers and discounts – to bring you six fun challenges that could help you to save without even noticing it.

Simply choose the one you think you’re most likely to stick to and you’ll have a savings pot in no time.

1 The Weather Saving Challenge

For many, saving a steady amount per day/week/month is appealing, but others can get bored with this process and easily slip out of their routine. Instead, have a bit of fun with your savings habits and let chance lead the way.

The weather challenge is all about aligning how much you save with the temperature. Sounds a bit weird, right? But as we all know, the British weather is anything but predictable.

It’s up to you how you approach this. For example, you could monitor the highest temperature of the week (or perhaps take the highest temperature from the same day each week) and that equates to how many pennies or pounds you have to transfer to your savings account.

Simply check the weather forecast in your local city, and let the temperature lead the way.

You could try other subjects as your basis for saving, such as the number of steps you average over a week or month, or the scores from your favourite sports team, or how long your commute takes on a particular day – the possibilities are endless.

2 365-Day Money Challenge

This is about starting small and ending up big. The amount you save during this challenge will gradually increase day by day, but as you will have started with such a small amount, these savings will seem more manageable than you might think.

To try out this challenge, start by saving 1p on day one and add 1p more to that amount every day, so by day five you will have saved 15p. If you keep going for a year, you will have saved over £650.

And if you were to start saving 5p and add 5p extra each day, by the end of a year, you will have saved a whopping £3339.

You may, of course, find that as you head towards the end of the year, this becomes unaffordable, so just keep going as long as you can afford to.

3 The Budget Treats Challenge

This challenge is all about saving money without cutting out the fun stuff.

always It works a money-saving alternative or on the logic that there is a cheaper way to do something if you do a little research.

Within this challenge yourself, but to go out and enjoy yourself, but only if you find a deal or a discount to do so.

There are plenty of restaurant discounts, happy hours and two-forone cinema deals out there so make yourself the promise that you will only go out if you manage to shave a little off the cost. You can then save

the difference, or part of what you have saved, each time and watch your cash build up while still having a good time.

4 The Little Vices Challenge

Vices, we’ve all got them – whether it’s your daily flat white, an extra pint at the pub or buying another pair of shoes you probably don’t need.

Everyone has their own bad spending habits, and you’d be surprised how much these seemingly small spends set you back.

Before cutting out anything, calculate how much you could save for some motivation.

If you spend £2.50 on a takeaway coffee each day, for example, that comes to £912.50 over a year.

A small sacrifice each day could leave to some massive savings.

Even if you only cut out three coffees a week you could build up a pot worth £390.

5 The Spare Change Challenge

This one is as simple as it sounds – each time you make a purchase, save the change. Of course, with many people switching to contactless payments and rarely carrying cash any more, the spare change challenge might seem impossible.

However, there are a number of apps, such as Acorns, Monzo and Qoins, which can automatically save your change for you and allow it to build up in a separate pot of money.

Or you could make a note of things you buy and round up the figure to the nearest pound, then work out a weekly/ monthly amount you need to transfer into a savings account.

Or, if you use cash, literally pop any spare change you have at the end of each week into a money box and let it add up.

6 The 52-Week Savings Challenge

Works in a similar way to the 365-day challenge, but the amount you save with this one increases week by week rather than day by day. It’s pretty simple, which is probably why it’s one of the most popular savings challenges. On week one, you save £1, on week two, you save £2, and so on. By the end of the year, you’ll have to save £52 in one week, so it certainly gets a bit more expensive as you go along. But if you can stick to it, you will have saved £1378 in a year.

If you start by saving 5p and add 5p extra each day, you’ll save £3339 by the end of the year