Saving Money – What NOT to buy

When we think of ‘saving money’ we think of cutting back on luxuries and maybe going out less. Perhaps we think about buying some of the cheaper versions of things when we do the weekly shop, but here are five things I’d say don’t spend money on, and you could save yourself more than you might think every single month of the year.

1 – Books, Magazines & Newspapers
Whether you’re a book worm or just read the occasional book or magazine, you’re bound to spend some money on books, magazines and newspapers every month. Why not borrow books from the library or friends, and read your news and gossip online. Or if you can’t bear to be without a magazine to have a flick through, why not pool with a friend and buy just one magazine each and then swap when you’re done reading them.
Potential saving on 2 books @ £5 each, 6 magazines at £1 each and 10 newspapers at 35p each per month = £19.50

2 – Air freshener
Air fresheners cost an absolute bundle of money, and to be honest all they do is to cover up smells so rather than using things like this why not open all the doors and windows every morning for 15 minutes to let real ‘fresh’ air into your home. An aerosol can cost a couple of quid, or a plug in air freshener up to £5 – don’t forget these add to your electric bill as well!
Potential saving £5 per month

3 – Scratch cards & Lottery
The overall odds of winning something on the National Lotto are 1 in 42, in other words you are 41 times MORE likely to end up losing your £1 than winning anything at all. The odds for scratch cards are not brilliant either, so rather than spending £1 on each of these each week, why not save your money. That way you can guarantee to have a couple of quid every week.
Potential saving £8 per month

4 – Bottled Water
The water that comes out of our taps has been made fit to drink for us, and we pay for it already in our water bill, so why not make use of it and drink that rather than paying for expensive bottled water that really is virtually no different. If you’re going out, and want water to take with you, fill a bottle before you go, if you’re eating out and want water, you can ask for a glass of water rather than a bottle and normally pubs & restaurants etc. won’t charge for it.
Potential savings each month based on one 500ml bottle per day at 33p each is £10 per month

5 – Fabric Softner & Tumble Drier Sheets
Yes ok so it feels a bit indulgent to have clothes that are super soft and smell lovely, but honestly, if you forgot to put the fabric softener in, would you really notice it? If you like the smell of lavender on your clothes you can literally pop a drop of lavender essential oil in the fabric softner drawer of your washing machine instead and you’ll get the same scent, but at a fraction of a cost. Towels are more absorbent without fabric softener on them so will dry you off better too.
Potential saving each month around £2.50

So, by not buying these five simple things, you could by now have saved yourself a total of £45 after just one month. Do this all year round, and you’ve got a whopping £540 to spend towards Christmas, a holiday, or even paying off a bit of the mortgage!

by Vialdana