Top 10 tips from my #MoneySavingYear so far

Small savings, big difference, #alladdsup

Last year, I made small changes each month to make the most of my family’s money.

(Previous post here)

You know the kind of thing – switching electricity supplier, getting cheaper broadband, opening an account paying higher interest. All that stuff on the ‘to do’ list that doesn’t necessarily get done.

When I added it up, for an article I wrote for the Sunday Times, it came to a massive £9,000. Holy cow.

I thought I was pretty thrifty anyway, so the total was a big surprise.

But it also made me think.

I don’t just do one thing a month to make the most of our cash. In fact most days I do something, however small, to spend less or earn more.  Since moving to the country, we’re living on a lower income, so I’m always trying to stretch the money we have. If you read my 5 Frugal Things posts each week, you’ll have an idea of the kind ofmoney saving measures I mean. Anyway, I wondered how much it would all mount up.

Tweeting about my #MoneySavingYear

So this year, I started tweeting every day with the hashtag #MoneySavingYear, to record the little things I do to live well on less.

(Do come over and follow me here on Twitter)

Sometimes things like comparing insurance or checking cash back can seem a pain, but I was hoping that doing something small each day could potentially make a big difference.

Now it’s the end of June, and I’m half way through my #MoneySavingYear. I had a look back over six months of #MoneySavingYear tweets, by seaching on the hashtag.

Partly it made me smile at a diary in financial form, from buying bargain gin for Mothering Sunday, to finding free activities in half term, outings on Fathers’ Day, a deal on Easter eggs and the fixed-price menu for a meal out on my birthday.

It’s also interesting to see which #MoneySavingYear ideas people liked the most.

Top 10 #MoneySavingYear Tweets

After 6 months’ of #MoneySavingYear tweets, here are the top 10 with the highest likes.

1. Using up leftovers proved popular in January:

#MoneySavingYear: Used up odds & ends for dinner, so kids had creamy ham & pea pasta & we had mushroom, bacon, tomato & pea pasta #foodwaste

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) January 16, 2017

2. My big yellow sticker haul from our local East of England Co-op: (tips on yellow sticker shopping)

#MoneySavingYear @EoECoop yellow stickers help with healthy eating on a budget.Salad, fruit, sandwich thins, ham, bread for £9.31 not £22.32 pic.twitter.com/aSAFcyARKV

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) January 17, 2017

3. Snapping up a charity shop dress for Valentine’s Day:

#MoneySavingYear Found a @bendelisi dress for £9.50 in an @EACH_hospices shop. Great for Valentine's Day & for a good cause #frugal #fashion

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) January 23, 2017

4. Winning a place on a half marathon (eek!): (post here)

#MoneySavingYear I won a place on #GreatEastRun, saving £30! Now just the small matter of actually running 13.1 miles. Eek. #frugal #fitness

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) February 4, 2017

5. Home-made soup for pennies not pounds:

#MoneySavingYear: Made soup from yellow-stickered cut price parsnips, bramley apple & stock cube. Surprisingly creamy! 3 portions, 20p each😀 pic.twitter.com/NyImKdB9tk

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) March 29, 2017

6. Bargain baking ingredients from Poundland: (coconut for New Zealand biscuits, more baking recipes here)

#MoneySavingYear: Bagged some bargain baking ingredients from @Poundland. £1 a pop for ground almonds, dessicated coconut & caster sugar. pic.twitter.com/jCVwtyejad

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) April 7, 2017

7. Earning extra interest from the Chip automatic savings app: (more in this post)

#MoneySavingYear Friend set up @Get_Chip savings app with my code, so we both get choice of £10 or extra 1% interest https://t.co/sAdGAOd76D pic.twitter.com/3voXgcIraB

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) May 5, 2017

8. Opening a new Vanguard account to invest for less: (article here)

#MoneySavingYear Opened a NEW #Vanguard account. Tiny 0.22% LifeStrategy fund charges, tinier 0.15% pa account fees. Why pay more to invest?

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) May 16, 2017

9. The leftovers vs take-away face off:

#MoneySavingYear So my husband refusing to go out in the rain for fish & chips is actually v. frugal. I made beef pie from leftovers instead pic.twitter.com/DTvw1AzNlR

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) May 18, 2017

10. Fending off demands for the vending machine!

#MoneySavingYear Packed snacks when taking the children for swimming lessons, to avoid the lure of the expensive vending machines #alladdsup

— Faith Archer (@MuchMore_Less) May 31, 2017

So it turns out saving on food is a big favourite, whether cutting costs with yellow-stickers and bargain shopping, or cutting food waste with leftovers and soup.

But it was also interesting to see the range of other areas – charity shop clothes shopping, frugal fitness, the Chip savings app and investing for less with Vanguard.

Now over to you – what’s been your own favourite #MoneySavingYear moment of 2017?

And if you might like the odd (and less odd!) idea for saving money, do swing by my Twitter account, give me a follow and look out for the #MoneySavingYear tweets.

And if you have any #MoneySavingYear successes to celebrate, do tweet me using the hashtag!