FOOL'S EYE VIEW
How To Be A Money Saving Maniac!

By Alison Hunt (TMFAlly)
July 5, 2005

I don't know about you, but I find that cash seems to disappear at a phenomenal rate each month – and even more so in the summer. I blame the sun – we Brits seem to go a bit crazy when we catch one of those rare glimpses of it!

But there are ways that we can hold onto a little more of our cash, without having to change our lifestyles too drastically – we simply have to aim to pay less for the things we buy. So here are some money saving tips to help you to save some cash!

Train Tickets

A recent survey from Abbey believes that working parents could spend, on average £50 per child each week, on childcare arrangements – £300 for the six week summer holiday, with a further £35 on average spent keeping each child entertained. So the summer holidays could cost a family with two children over £1,000 - and some parents admit to spending even more. Blimey!

Abbey suggests taking advantage of free entertainment – places such as the Natural History and Science Museums in London have free entry and as well as being educational they're also great fun. Unfortunately, many people living outside London wishing to travel in by train will be put off by the expense. However, planning ahead can save some cash:

For savings on the day, a number of train operators in the South East offer GroupSave tickets which allow up to four people (adults or children) to travel for the price of two adults in the South – and up to four more 5-15 year olds can travel for just £1 each! And a Family Railcard costs £20, but adults save 1/3 and kids save 60% on the price of most off-peak rail fares throughout Britain (and up to four adults and four children can travel on one card).

For those further afield the best savings for train tickets are usually made by booking as early as possible (at least a couple of weeks in advance); GNER, for example, offers tickets from Edinburgh to London from £25.

Entertainment

Did you know that there are thousands of people out there who never pay full price for theatre or cinema tickets, or to dine out? If you'd like to find out more, read our Top 5 Ways to Save Money on Entertainment to find out how to rent DVDs for free, get bargain theatre and cinema tickets and even save on hotel accommodation. And if you're planning a trip to London, don't forget to check out the Visit London website for information on what's on.

As for more luxurious leisure activities, many spas offer special rates for those choosing to use the facilities in the evening – and Lastminute often has some very good discounts and deals.

Travel

There is plenty of money to be saved for those off on holiday – check out our top tips for travellers to find out where to get the best deal for your holiday money, travel insurance and to find out about the new E111 form. And if you're booking a trip, don't forget to check out Lastminute, Expedia and Teletext for bargains and Hotelclub for some great deals for hotel rooms. 

Shopping

We all know that the best way to save money on those larger purchases is to haggle – and cash buyers can generally secure the best discounts. The trouble is, we Brits tend to shy away from intense negotiations as we find them too uncomfortable!

However, a new company known as 'Negotiant' promises to change all of this as it will take over the haggling for you. Of course, this comes at a price (35% of any saving it secures for you) but it has meant that one customer at least managed to get nearly a third off the price of a £3,890 Sony 42-inch plasma TV! But if you're happy to try your hand at haggling, why not follow our best ways to pay less?

You can save a lot of money by shopping for clothes in the sales and there are certainly plenty on at the moment. Remember the 'price per wear' theory: a £100 skirt worn 20x will cost £5 per wear – better value than a £20 skirt worn twice (£10 per wear).

Buying CDs, DVDs and games online can be far cheaper than on the High Street – companies such as Play and CDWOW offer great deals. And if you have an Egg credit card you can benefit from a further 10% cashback on everything you buy at CDWOW, plus you'll get 50p off every DVD and £1 off each game you purchase in July! You will also receive 5% cashback on anything you buy at Currys.co.uk.

And although it sounds dull, planning at least a few of your meals before embarking on your weekly shopping trip will save money as you won't need to 'duck to the corner shop' for those items you forgot. If you're anything like me you'll only have a limited number of recipes in your head anyway!  Speaking of recipes, you can save by not buying numerous cook books from TV chefs by using free online recipe sites – I regularly use those from Delia, the BBC, Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson.

You can apply for the Egg card in our Credit Card Centre.

Books

You can save money when buying books by using sites such as Bookbrain and Kelkoo to compare prices between retailers. Egg card holders will get 10% cashback on whatever they spend at WHSmith.co.uk. And for best selling paperbacks, Tesco is often surprisingly cheap.

If you spend a lot of money on books, why not try swapping with friends or colleagues on a regular basis. I do this with a number of friends and it gives great 'price per use' – and means that I can often effectively read five books for the price of buying one. And why not rediscover the library – you can rent DVDs and CDs very cheaply there too.

Loyalty Cards

If you regularly shop at a supermarket offering a loyalty scheme, consider signing up – after all, you're effectively paying for it anyway. And Foolish use of the points accrued can give free days out to theme parks, trips to the cinema or even RAC membership.

Incidentally, if you're a Barclaycard holder be warned –Barclaycard is no longer awarding Nectar points for spending. Instead, it will be offering free travel insurance – but only if you book your trip through the Barclaycard Travel Service. If you're a keen collector, ditch that Barclaycard and take out a Sainsbury's Bank Platinum card instead – if you choose the Nectar option you'll earn one point for every £2 spent and you'll get 0% for 12 months on all new spending. And if you can wait until September, American Express will be launching its "Nectar credit card" – giving two points for every £1 spent at a nectar retailer, or one point per £1 everywhere else.

Bills

Why not save money on your gas, electricity, water and phone bills by following our tips on how to kill your bills.

Switch provider in our Get Out Of Debt Centre.

Work

You'll probably find that your company offers more than one way to help you save money – here are details of seven great workplace perks (including life cover and cheap or free shares) that you should snap up if they're available to you.

Savings

If you have followed some of the above tips you'll probably have saved some cash already. But to be a true money saving maniac you need to make sure your savings are earning as much interest as possible. Tax payers should consider using their mini-cash ISA allowance – the National Counties BS Guaranteed ISA is currently paying 5.5% AER. And all of the savings accounts in the Moneyfacts Best Buy table pay over 5% AER – don't settle for anything less.

We have four accounts paying over 5% in our Savings Centre

Banking

And while you're at it, consider moving bank - not only could it secure you a better deal, it can be lucrative too. Banks such as Alliance & Leicester, Lloyds TSB and First Direct offer substantially higher interest rates than the 'big four' and you could receive up to £75  just for switching!

You can apply for the Alliance & Leicester and First Direct accounts in our Online Banking Centre.

Credit Cards

How long have you been with your credit card provider? If it's more than three years, think carefully about your reasons for staying put. There are now hundreds of cards on the market offering cashback, 0% deals and lifetime balance transfer rates – all with no annual fee. For those paying interest on a balance, consider switching to a 0% card balance transfer card.

And if you always pay your balance off in full each month - good for you! Reward yourself by switching to a cashback credit card: the American Express Blue Card will give 2% cashback for the first three months and up to 1% after this time. That's free money! But make sure you spend over £500 each year or you'll be charged a £15 servicing charge.

You could also consider taking out a 0% card for new purchases – if you squirrel away the money you owe each month into a savings account paying 5% or more you could earn a whole lot of free interest before having to pay off the balance when the deal expires.

You can apply for a number of 0% cards or the American Express Blue card in our Credit Card Centre.

Mortgage

And finally, although all of the above will save you pounds, re-mortgaging could save you thousands of pounds! If you're a homeowner paying your lender's Standard Variable Rate you are literally throwing money away! Find out how to re-mortgage in this article and discover the secret of overpaying here.

Apply for a cheaper mortgage in our Mortgage Centre.

So here are some of our tips on how to become a money saving maniac – why not give them a go and keep some more of that hard earned cash in your pocket!

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