How to save money without too much effort

Times are tough for a lot of people right now. 

While inflation is starting to drop, the cost of living is still sky-high. Rent is astronomical (an average room in a shared house in London is £971 per month!), household staples are significantly more expensive than they were this time last year and even supermarket meal deals are no longer as cheap as they used to be.

But while the stats aren’t looking good, not everything is doom and gloom.

Before I tell you why, I should probably introduce myself. Hi! I’m Maggie. I graduated from the University of Exeter in July and, up until a few months ago, I was notoriously bad with money. 

When I moved to London this summer to train as a journalist, I had to get my act together. After doing a lot of internet research and talking to friends, I’ve discovered that there are plenty of small changes you can make in your day-to-day life which will reap huge rewards.

So here are my simple tips and tricks to help you save money without having to try too hard:

Track your spending 

Tracking your spending (something I avoided doing for a long time) is probably the most useful thing you can do if you want to take control of your finances. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an Excel wizard to do this - I certainly am not. Notion offers a “simple budget” template which I use, or you could make a simple spreadsheet on another free platform like Google Sheets. 

Being able to see exactly where your money is going every day is essential if you want to know where you can cut back. While some costs such as rent and transport are inevitable, can you justify “treating yourself” multiple times a day? Probably not. 

I also recommend going through all your monthly subscriptions and asking yourself whether you’re using them enough to justify their cost. If not, take the plunge and press cancel - you’ll be surprised by how much of a difference this can make to your monthly outgoings. 

Get savvy when food shopping 

My top tip for saving money on a food shop is to go to the supermarket an hour before it closes. Most supermarkets reduce their produce around this time and you can pick up some delicious or interesting items which you wouldn’t usually splurge on, for a fraction of the price. 

Just last week, I bought a packet of vegan sausage rolls for 99p (lunch for three days) and some stir-fry vegetables for 10p - a bargain!

Apps like Too Good To Go or Olio allow cafés and restaurants to sell their surplus food at a discounted price or give it away for free. Not only does this combat food waste but it’s also a fantastic way of trying different places in your area without breaking the bank. As a rule, you can’t choose what you get because it depends on what’s leftover at the end of the day, so there is a bit of potluck involved - but that’s all part of the fun. 

I love an oat flat white as much as the next person but I’ve saved so much money by making my coffee at home just in the last couple of weeks alone. I’ve crunched the numbers: as an average cup of takeaway coffee in the UK now costs £3.40, you could save almost £884 a year by making one at home each day.

Get from A to B for less 

Next up is transport. While the cost of getting from A to B is sometimes unavoidable, there are some hacks you can employ to make journeys a little bit cheaper. 

Firstly, don’t always take the quick and easy route. Buses tend to be a lot cheaper than trains; you could save more than £45 by taking an overnight bus from London to Edinburgh (£16.99) instead of the train (£63.30). It’s also worth trying to travel outside of peak hours (if you’re an early riser, the early morning trains leaving London tend to be some of the cheapest). Booking trains in advance is another steadfast way to save a few pennies. 

Websites such as Trainsplit save customers an average of £21.60 per journey by working out the cheapest combination of tickets for a trip. This might mean breaking up your journey into multiple legs - but you don’t even have to change trains.

It’s definitely worth having a look to see whether you’re eligible for any Railcards. I have a 16-25 one, which offers a third off all journeys. There’s also a 16-17 saver, a 26-30 Railcard, a Two Together card and a senior Railcard for over 60s. 

Culture without the cost 

Going out - whether that’s to an exhibition, a comedy night or a club - does not need to be expensive. In every major city, there are so many things you can do for free. 

I like to use Eventbrite to search my area and see what cool, cheap events are on offer - from things like clothes swaps to yoga classes. Subscribing to local email newsletters is another way of staying on top of the best things going on near you (Londoners might like Cheapskate London or Soft Launch London, which shares information about restaurants offering discounts). 

Remember that lots of museums are free to visit and many - such as the Tate (with galleries in London, Liverpool and Cornwall) - offer free memberships to 16 to 25-year-olds. This means that instead of paying £17 for an exhibition, you only pay £5 and you get a 20% discount in the café and a 10% discount in the shop. 

Clothes shopping can be really expensive, especially when you’re trying to avoid fast fashion. Visiting your local charity shop is a fun way to get your hands on some lovely pieces for a fraction of the cost. It’s also worth seeing what your friends and family are getting rid of - I practically live in older relatives’ clothes these days. 

Gym memberships can be pricey, but gyms often offer free trials or discounted memberships for the first three months. ClassPass has a free, month-long trial which is a thrifty way of trying out different classes and gyms at no cost. 

A final thought 

Before I go, I wanted to add that when you really can’t afford to do something, it’s important to just say no. Over the past few weeks, I’ve learned that there is no point in stressing myself out for the sake of a mediocre night or an average restaurant meal that I could have easily made for myself at home.

My parting pearl of wisdom is that, yes, putting into practice some of the tips listed above does take a little bit of effort - but your actions will pay off. I have no doubt that you’ll be surprised by just how much money you save without having to make any major life changes. I certainly have!