Airtime's Top 10 Money Saving Tips

The cost of living is increasing more than ever so we asked you for your best money saving advice and boy, did you deliver.

We’ve rounded up our top 10 tips for saving money below: 

1. Make a Budget 

Create a budget spreadsheet or table to keep track of your incomings (what you earn) and outgoings (what you spend). This will help you work out what you’re currently spending money on and how much you will have remaining at the end of each month. You can then work out if you need to cut spending and work out how much you can put into savings each month. 

You can then set yourself realistic spending goals for different categories like food, rent, bills and clothes etc. 

Here’s a handy example of how you could layout a budget sheet:

2. Schedule a no spend day each week

Try and plan one day each week where you don’t buy or spend money on a single thing. This can be tricky at first, but if you carefully plan ahead it will eventually become second nature. Plus, it can have the long term benefit of you becoming more careful with money in general, helping you save even more! 

You could even have three no spend days a week if you’re feeling confident like Karen...

3. Try a new way of saving

The thought of setting money aside for savings can be daunting, but there are a few ways to make it easy and even fun! 

If you want to keep it simple you could try putting some money (e.g. £50) into your savings account every payday. Or if you’re up for something more challenging, why not try a saving challenge?

Popular challenges include the 52-week savings challenge in which you set aside £1 in the first week, £2 in the second week and so on. In total, you could save £1,378 a year! 

4. Don’t shop when you’re hungry! 

Okay, so you’ve probably heard this one before but it is actually a top tip to help avoid impulse buys when you’re at the supermarket. This tip goes hand in hand with writing a shopping list and sticking to it so you don’t overspend and get left with food waste. 

5. Think twice before you buy

If you’re tempted to spend, try waiting 24 hours before you buy. This will give you time to think about whether you actually need or want the item or if it’s just an impulse buy. And if you completely forget about the item, it’s a sign you definitely didn’t need it!

6. Make your own

Instead of going on a daily coffee run or buying lunch, why not make your own? It may seem like a big sacrifice, but those £3 coffees can add up (£15 a week = £780 a year!!), so cutting them out could save a lot more money than you think. And then if you do decide to go out for a coffee or buy lunch, it’s more of a treat.

7. Shop smarter, not cheaper 

You may think that buying the cheapest item is the smarter choice. However, it’s sometimes worth investing a bit more money into a higher quality product to avoid having to repurchase a lower quality product multiple times. It may cost more, to begin with, but will save you money in the long run.

8. Be on the lookout for discounts 

One of the easiest ways to save small amounts of money when you’re shopping is to use discount codes. Sign up to your favourite brand’s newsletters (including ours 😉) to be the first to hear about their latest offers and deals! Or you could just google discount codes like Alison.

9. Sell unwanted stuff 

If you overshopped over lockdown and haven’t ended up actually wearing any of your new wardrobe (guilty), you could make some extra cash by reselling on sites like eBay, Vinted and Depop. 

It’s also worth having a big clear-out of your wardrobe and other storage. The chances are that you’ll find a lot of old gems which you could sell, upcycle or keep for your own use (to save money on buying new things). 

10. Use Airtime Rewards 

Saving the best until last (not that we’re biased... 👀).

When you do shop, spend at an Airtime Rewards retailer! We have over 150 retailers you can earn rewards with when you shop to help save money on your mobile bill. Our retailers include Boots, Greggs, New Look, Argos and Wilko! And make sure you opt into the monthly challenge (in your wallet) to get a bonus each month.

If you haven’t already, download Airtime Rewards here and check out our blog on how to maximise your rewards.

Have you got any money saving tips? 

Let us know your best money saving advice on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!