Stop the Waste of Money

1. Have a budget - after you have allocated a specific sums of money for housing/mortgage, gas/electricity bills and all the other essentials, keep a firm hand on the rest of your spending.

2. Learn to haggle - you can do this in many shops now as they are more keen than ever to make a sale. It is your money you are spending so be careful with it and stop the waste of money. Do your homework on whatever you are buying and to put yourself in the best position to get a reduced price. Don't be shy - this is the thing to do now.

3. Don't fritter away your money on skinny lattes etc. Life will go on quite normally without them.

4. If you are a smoker take a look at our other page and Tip.1. With cigarettes rising in price and reaching nearly £6.00 per packet of 20, it does not take much mental arithmetic to see how much you can save each year. Plus the added benefits to your health and your family.

5. Don't buy ready-made sandwiches for lunch, make your own the evening before. Put them in the 'fridge ready for the next morning. Don't forget them in the morning!

6. Ditch the football season ticket, or at least share the cost with friends. Just how many mid-week fixtures can you realistically attend? Just stop the waste of money!

7. Cinema tickets - the large multiples - Vue, Odeon and Cineworld are offering cheap family tickets at the weekend.

8. Cancel your Sky subscription and get a Freeview box which offers most of the channels that you are likely to want to view. The Sky advertisements will say only £17.50 etc. per month. This amounts to £210 per year.

Also be wary of the new service that is replacing Setanta. You will be able to subscribe to each football fixture on an individual basis. Would you want to watch a football match, lasting 90 minutes on your laptop/computer screen? This will also put an end to viewing matches in your local pub.

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10. Don't spend money on expensive and unhealthy take-aways. A jacket potato with some cheese, or ham, or baked beans, or egg can be filling and sustaining. Cheap as well. Don't forget to take a look at our recipe page.

11. According to eBay most people have saleable, unwanted goods around their homes to the value of £335. Why not take a look around your flat or house and sell some items via eBay and raise some cash?.

12. If you are fortunate to have some unwanted antique items that you would be prepared to sell, either contact your local auctioneers or view one of the online auction houses, i.e. www.twgaze.com and www.luckners.com
Some old posters, records etc., have now achieved cult status. See if you can take advantage of this situation.

13. If you have a baby on the way www.freecycle.org is a good starting point for finding baby items such as pushchairs, prams etc. Charity shops are another good source of goods. Oxfam are now online at www.oxfam.org.uk/html

14. Probably most important of all – don’t bury your head in the sand and pretend debt is not happening. It will, and if so you will need to take drastic action. So why not act now?

15. When you buy something new try selling the old item and reclaim some money.

To make your life easier and keep more of a check on your spending take a look at Budgeting Advice. Here you will find ways of budgeting and hopefully stop the money slipping through your fingers.