Everyone wants to save a bit of money, especially so when you've got children to pay for too. Today I thought I'd share 10 things that we do as a family to help us save the pounds where we can. I've shared a video below also, so if you'd rather watch in video format, you can find the video embedded below or over on my youtube channel. :)
1. Use loyalty cards
We've all been there - in store, at the till rushing to pay as quickly as possible with our children around our legs. It's easy to say 'No thank you' and quickly brush off loyalty cards when they get offered to us, especially when we're in a rush. However, they really are worth having. Points can add up so quickly and those points turn into rewards or vouchers/money to spend in store. It's always a nice welcome surprise when you can end up paying for some new make-up with your Boots loyalty card or part of your food shopping with your grocery loyalty card.
2. Always, always check Vouchercloud when shopping online
Vouchercloud.com have so many different discount voucher codes for a huge range of retailers that they partner with. Their offers and codes change all the time, so it's always worth checking back every time that you are about to make an online purchase as you can pretty much always find a discount code to use to help you save some money on your online purchases. As an example, just recently Adam and I bought a microwave oven from AO.com (who we use for most of our appliances as we've always had such a great experience with them) and we managed to find a huge range of discount codes via Vouchercloud at vouchercloud.com/aocom-vouchers to go through and choose from which helped us to save some money on our purchase. It's so easy to use and you don't even need an account, so always, always check Vouchdercloud when online shopping.
3. Take your own coffee/tea out with you instead of buying it
Buying coffee and tea out may seem inexpensive but it adds up. Make up our own coffee or tea in a travel mug before you leave the house and take it with you to save money. If you do want to buy it whilst you're out then some places such as Pret will offer a discount on coffee/tea if you use your own travel mug instead of their paper takeaway cups, so ask them.
4. Leave your purse/wallet at home days
Enjoy a totally free day out by simply leaving your purse or wallet at home. There are so many things you can do for free such as visiting a museum or the library or going for a walk in the woods or around a lake. You could also go for a picnic and take a kite with you. Take your own food with you and leave your card/money at home for a totally free, but super fun day out with the family.
5. Make and take kids lunches with you when you go out
We started doing this initially because our boys are both quite fussy eaters but it's actually also worked out a lot cheaper than buying them food out. Of course, we still encourage them to try different things and if they want to try something then that's totally fine. But taking a packed lunch out for the boys has worked out not only easier for us but far cheaper too.
6. Paying for days out/meals out with your points
My Husband and I have been shopping with Tesco ever since we moved out together, it's definitely not the cheapest, but it's convenient, especially so as they deliver to our door and stock everything we like. For years now we've been using our club card points to pay for our family days out and meals out too. We've been to Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Legoland and so many more places with our club card vouchers. We'll actually be using them to go to Chessington World Of Adventures for Ethan's birthday next month. If you shop with Tesco it's so worth exchanging your vouchers for things like this - it will save you a HUGE chunk of money.
7. Don't forget about cashback sites
It can be easy to forget about using cashback sites but they are really worth using. Once you have an account it's as simple as just clicking on a link to track your purchase and whilst the cashback percentages can seem small, they do add up, especially if you shop online a lot. I'm signed up to a cashback site that has a browser extension which pops up and tells me instantly how much cashback I can get for shopping with certain sites, so I don't even have to think about it.
8. Don't just auto renew
When you next get your insurance renewal through, go online and compare your policy to other providers using a comparison site. Pretty much every time my Husband and I do this we find it to be cheaper elsewhere. Sometimes our provider will match the price, but if not then we will move to another provider to save money.
9. Check online before buying in-store and ask about price-match
We've saved quite a bit of money on in-store purchases before by checking online before going to the till. We tend to use either Amazon or the shopping tab on the Google homepage to see if things are cheaper online than they are in-store. Sometimes certain stores will price match against some online stores if you ask them. So it's always worth checking and asking.
10. Pick up things from your local charity shop or on eBay under the used but as good as new category
I've found so many items in our local charity shop that are as good as new but are a fraction of the price. Children's books seem to be my most usual good find along with toys and board games. I've also picked up quite a few bargains on eBay by searching for items that are 'Used' but 'As good as new'. So if you're looking to save a bit of money, try your local charity shop or the eBay used category.
I hope these have been helpful. Please feel free to share your tips and tricks for saving money below in the comment section to help out others. :)
Thanks for reading. Alex xo
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