Money Saving Guide for Millennials

Saving money is tough for millennials. Particularly when most of your income is eaten up by your monthly rent and bills. The problem is, if you want to save enough money for a deposit on your own place, you’re going to need to make some clever changes regarding how you spend your money.

Money Saving Tips for Millennials

To help you get your mortgage pot started, here are five of our top tips to save yourself extra money every month:

1: Know Your Budget

To save money, it’s essential that you know your monthly budget and everything that you’re paying. Get started by writing down all your bills and expenses – such as your rent, phone bill, commuting cost etc. and see where your income is going every month.

You might find there are some glaring overspends, such as your morning coffee or expensive nights out. Then you can make some money-saving changes and start putting some of your income away as savings.

If that sounds like too much work, there are plenty of budgeting apps on the market that can help you budget your income more effectively.

2: Get a Savings Account

If you haven’t got a savings account, then now is the time to get one! Not only does a savings account help you build interest on your saved money – which is effectively free money for you – but by transferring the money out of your account and into savings, it removes the temptation of spending it.

There are numerous savings accounts on the market. So, to make sure you get the best rates for you, research and look at best buy tables to compare account access, provider and interest rate.

An alternative option would be to consider investing in shares, although that can be risky if they lose value. You can even buy part of an expensive share using fractional shares.

3: Be Money Aware on Nights Out

A night on the town doesn’t need to be an expensive one – especially if you’re willing to try something new. Many bars offer free comedy or quiz nights, which can be great fun for a group of friends. You could even save money by having an alcohol-free night.

For food, apps like Munch offer discounts on restaurants in big cities like London and Manchester. Ideal for a birthday meal with friends!

4: Make a DIY Takeaway from Home

Even the thriftiest of us have one major downfall – takeaways! No matter how well you manage your food-shopping bill, when it comes to a Friday night after a long week of work, many of us cave in and order a delicious takeaway.

The problem with takeaways, though, is that they tend to cost from £15 upwards, depending on how many people are ordering. When you add this price tag up over the year, you might be shocked to discover that £15 a week adds up to nearly £800 a year on food that you could have made at home for a fraction of the cost.

Instead, why not start a ‘fakeaway club’ with your friends or flatmates, where every week you take it in turns to create your own DIY takeaway. There are lots of easy and affordable recipes online for popular takeaway foods like curries and kebabs. You might even find that your cooking is even tastier than your favourite restaurant.

5: Make Use of Coupons and Discounts

There are numerous websites and Facebook groups that are dedicated to finding all the best offers and discounts available. This can really help save you money on monthly expenditures like food shopping and for finding bargain presents for family and friends.

Always keep in mind, though, just because something is discounted or on sale, it doesn’t mean you should buy it. People can spend money unnecessarily on buying discounted items that they don’t actually need, which eats into your monthly savings.