Guest Post
Author Bio
Mel Trudgett lives in the UK on the beautiful Jurassic Coast, with her partner, 2 daughters and their very hairy, but adorable dog, Lola. She set up www.melsmoneymindset.com with the aim of helping people to change how they think and feel about money. She also gives practical tips on how to make money from home and how to save money.
5 Easy Money Saving Tips For The Summer
The long summer months can be bad news when you’re trying to stick to a budget, even more so when your children are home and want nothing more than to browse the internet! However with xfinity internet plans you can find a great deal that saves you money. In addition check out these 5 money saving tips will help you stick to your budget and still enable you to enjoy the weather, plus time with friends and family.
My money saving tips are always really easy ways to save money. I purposely keep things as simple as possible, as it’s so much easier to stick to a money saving plan when it doesn’t involve too much thinking.
As a parent, you probably realise that the best way to save money is to plan ahead. This is my top tip for saving money, and it applies to all of the tips that I am about to share.
Sure, being spontaneous is fun, and don’t we all miss those days of not having to plan ahead when we were child-free. Leaving the house at a moment’s notice, without a care of when we would be back.
But for the purpose of saving money, forget spontaneity and plan plan plan away!
Money Saving Tip #1 NEVER run out of ideas
Running out of summer activities is my worst nightmare during the school holidays. Last minute plans always cost more, so I have a list of free or cheap family events or activities in my local area.
Use Facebook events pages or sites like wherecanwego.com as they will make it very easy to put together a varied list very quickly.
It takes an hour or so to put a decent size list together and once I have made the list, I keep it where I can see in on my desk. Make sure you know exactly where it is, so that you know where to find it when you fancy doing something with the family.
If you don’t get a list of cheap or free events and activities together, the temptation will be to do something at one of the major local attractions such as the local zoo or theme park and that will cost you big bucks.
#2 Money off codes
If you are planning to visit a local attraction, take a few minutes to find a money off code. Look for the company’s website or social media pages (Facebook and Twitter are the best for finding promotional codes) and search ‘money off code’ ‘special offer’ ‘summer offer’ or ‘voucher’.
It is rare to not be able to find some kind of offer, you may not get it at half price, but you should be able to find some kind of money off code.
Also, ask on Facebook selling groups if anybody has any spare codes or vouchers. If they are not planning to use them, most people are delighted to pass them on to somebody that does want to use them.
#3 Unwanted tickets
If you are hoping to visit a popular (read: expensive) attraction such as a theme park, look on Ebay for tickets that other people are selling.
People plan to go to these attractions months in advance, but because of holidays, family weddings or work commitments, their plans change and the nearer it gets to the event date or use by date, the tickets are at risk of being wasted.
If you can buy cheap tickets to a popular attraction, it could easily save you over £100 for a family of 4.
This also applies to one-off events such as family festivals, theatre tickets, even holidays (as long as flights are not involved, it will save you money).
If you check regularly and you spot a bargain, this could save you a LOT of cash.
#4 Money saving ideas for summer BBQ’s
Summer is a great excuse to get together with friends, family and neighbours for the traditional summer BBQ. But have you ever been to a BBQ where the host has run out of food? No, because it just does not happen!
People not only cook too much food, they also buy lots of extras to go with the main BBQ food.
If you are hosting a BBQ, the temptation is to feed the 5000, even when there are only 5 people due to turn up.
But there is a way to ensure that your costs don’t get out of hand.
You could simply ask each person to bring one specific thing with them. Some people are reluctant to ask, but I have no idea why they think it will offend people.
Think of it from their point of view. If you have ever been to somebody’s house for a meal, you want to take something with you and when you don’t know what to take, it makes you feel useless, or even rude.
By asking somebody to bring a specific item like coleslaw or a cheesecake, you are making them feel like they are contributing, without putting any pressure on them.
They will be happy to do it.
There are a couple of rules for doing this.
Don’t ask too much of them. Even if they are renowned for being a great baker or fabulous at making a summer salad, it’s unfair to expect them to make it from scratch as they may not have the time on this occasion. Just ask them to bring a specific item and it’s up to them if they want to buy it or make it.
Be Specific. If you don’t tell them what to bring, they won’t have a clue what you need and everyone will turn up with dessert, but you won’t have any coleslaw!
Keep it small. Ask them to bring a small contribution, something that isn’t going to cost them a lot of money. Feel free to ask them to ‘bring a bottle’, nobody could take offence at that, but don’t expect them to supply a full crate of beer.
If your grocery bills are getting out of hand, check out my other post how to save money on groceries if you want some more ideas.
#5 Find your perfect holiday for less
Skimping on the price of a holiday, does not have to mean skimping on the quality. You shouldn’t have to tolerate below par holiday accommodation. Always aim to get luxury accommodation at budget prices.
At this point, you’re probably asking how can I save money if I buy a luxury holiday, and once again the answer comes back to planning.
Over the years I have developed systems to ensure that I get the best possible deals for hotels and for flights.
This starts with me writing down what we want (the countries or cities we would consider visiting, dates we are available, and the type of hotel we want to stay in such as a beach hotel with a pool, or a city hotel with air con).
Once we have a clearer picture of what we are looking for, I then spend a few minutes a day for about 2 weeks, checking numerous websites to get a feel for what options are available and to see if we can get the holiday we want, at the price we are willing to pay.
This system has saved us thousands of pounds over the years by checking various website to get the cheapest price – for exactly the same holiday.
Tip: If you check a holiday website, make sure you change your browser settings to stealth mode, so that the website gives you the best price.
Believe it or not, holiday companies not only bump the prices up during the school holidays, they also bump the online prices up when they know we are looking at a certain holiday, hotel or flight.
Stealth mode disables their ability to do this, and you will get the very best price available.
I hope that you have found these quick and easy money saving tips useful in your quest to save some pennies over the summer months.
If you have any tips that you would like to add, feel free to comment below.
