Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Lazy ways to save money on everything
Nadia Krige
9th Feb 2020
Saving money is important, we all know that. But it also just takes a lot of effort and hard work! However there are some lazy ways to save money.
Are you looking for a work-around, a way to not cheat the system, but tip the scales to your favour, but without exerting too much effort? Well there are various lazy ways we can save money, methods that anyone can take advantage of.
Here are some of our favourites:
- Standing orders for savings
- Direct debits
- Use Look After My Bills
- Don’t waste your groceries
- Learn to say ‘no’
- Borrow instead of buy
- Use your gift cards
- Do your Christmas shopping early
Set up standing orders for savings
Do you often the best of intentions to save a bit of money every month, but then never end up doing it? Consider setting up a standing order into a savings account every month.
This way, every time you get paid some of it will automatically get transferred. For the lazy streak in all of us, saving like this is easy – and forgettable. You’ll soon not notice the money going out of your account. The best way to do this is to set up a standing order to transfer out the day after you get paid – instead of waiting until the end of the month. Saving before you spend anything makes it much easier to get into the habit.
Even small amounts make a big difference over time, so start will a little bit and slowly increase your standing order amount as time goes on.
Direct debits
One pretty obvious lazy way to save money is to have direct debits set up for all your monthly expenses. By doing this, you avoid having to pay extra for late fees and/or interest on late payments. It also means you can control and know exactly how much you have left over once the direct debits have gone out.
Setting up direct debits for things like rent, insurance, loan repayments, etc, can really help streamline your monthly cash flow. Many people already live this way, but some don’t and would really benefit from doing so. A direct debit to pay off your credit card (ideally in full) also means your credit score will improve as you stop missing payments or only paying the minimum each month.
Take advantage of comparison sites
Comparison sites are everywhere in 2020. There’s one for nearly every imaginable utility or service.
Familiarise yourself with as many as you can, always be on the look out for a better deal. It’s staggering how many people just stick with one provider because it’s easy. There’s nearly always a better deal out there, so go and find it. It may only take 10 minutes but save you hundreds of pounds.
Check out sites like Look After My Bills, this is a service that will show you and help you switch to the best deals available, based on what you’re currently paying. It’s also completely free.
You can read more about it in this article.
Don’t waste your groceries
The UK wastes around £19 billion of food every year! Make an effort to only buy what you’re going to use when you go shopping.
Is this something you’re guilty of? Maybe buy less of these items, or use them for their intended purpose.
You can also save a lot of cash by switching some of your regular groceries to own-brand items. Try them out – you might be surprised!
Learn to say ‘no’
While we’re on the topic of lazy ways to save money, let’s quickly talk about saying ‘no, thank you’ to social engagements.
Naturally, we want to spend time with friends and family. However, next time your colleagues gather for ‘one drink’ after work, which we know turns into four or five, consider saying no. Think about the savings.
We’re not suggesting becoming reclusive and never going out for a drink with co-workers and friends, but try cutting down on such events. Even if it’s by one a month.
The money you save might surprise you!
Borrow instead of buy
Do you have a function to attend and need a new outfit? Do you also know your sizes and know that you could buy what you need online in a heartbeat?
We know the temptation to buy something pretty online is overwhelming, but how many more times are you likely to wear that one outfit?
If it’s only once and then it will gather dust in your wardrobe, then consider asking friends and family if they have something suitable for you to borrow. If you and they are similar sizes you could both help each other this way.
Use/sell your gift cards
Love them or hate them, gift cards are a pretty convenient cop-out for lazy gift givers.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that out of nearly half of Brits who receive gift cards every year, don’t end up using them. This leaves an estimated £300 million spent on gift cards wasted every year. People either forget they have them, or simply don’t care.
So, next time you receive a gift card, be sure to keep it somewhere close by, so you don’t forget about it. You never know when it might come in handy. It may also become something you can re-gift!
However if you’re sure it will never get used, then consider selling it on a platform like CardCash. Of course, you won’t be able to sell it for the value that’s on it. But it will be better than nothing. This online and mobile gift card marketplace provides a secure and easy way to sell unwanted vouchers and gift cards
While it may not be a lazy way to save, it’s effective!
Do your Christmas shopping early
Looking for the lazy way to save on Christmas shopping? We have one tip: start early. Really early.
In fact, you can start as early as Boxing Day with a lazy scroll through your favourite online stores. Or, take advantage of January sales and keep the gifts until the end of the year.
There are bound to be great deals shortly after Christmas. It’s also worth keeping an eye out for change-of-season sales. Plan for Christmas at the start of the year, then relax for the rest of it, as well as making some savings.
It’s not really a lazy way to save, but a rather clever one.
Read more about saving:
Standing orders and direct debits are great – if you have a regular income, but you do need to keep your eye on them and check that they have not made mistakes. They will tell you of a general price rise (or fall) but you still need to check. There are also times when people set up direct debits and ‘forget’ about them – when they were for free trials and the such. As someone who has an irregular income, I prefer to pay bill by bill as I can keep a close watch on things and negotiate in times… Read more »
Setting up a standing order for saving seems a very good idea.