A money-savvy mum has been saving hundreds of pounds a month on her shopping with easy tips and hacks that anyone can do.
Coffee shop manager Annie Ley was able to pull in her purse strings by planning for special occasions months in advance, deleting apps from her phone and sticking to a 'three-day' shopping rule.
Her wallet-friendly tips meant she was able to save around £300 a month - adding up to around £3,600 over a year.
Her easy hacks also involve buying everything through cashback sites, entering online competitions and regularly checking out freebie sites, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The 24-year-old has already won things like a camera bundle worth over £1,000 to luxury skincare and makeup by using her savvy shopping tricks.
Annie said: "This year I’m on a mission to spend far less and save much more in order to go towards a house deposit, so I decided to make a list of my biggest money-saving tips to help others."
Supermarket tips
A weekly food shop can soon build up in cost, which is why the coffee shop manager's first tip is to make a shopping list before you go with a budget.
She also advises to be careful about supermarket offers, and try not to get sucked into marketing gimmicks when you don't necessarily need the item.
"Sometimes it isn’t always the best deal, even though the supermarkets try to portray it as one with their bright colourful signs," she said.
"That way you only buy what you need when you need it."
After some reduced supermarket goods? Annie says to head to supermarkets for around 7pm, but it's only worth it if you're going to use them or freeze them.
"Although the price is really good - sometimes between 70% and 90% off - if it ends up going off before it can be used, it’s just wasted money and wasted food," explains Annie.
Another top tip from the savvy shopper is to sign up to all of the loyalty schemes you can, such as the Tesco Clubcard, Morrisons More Card, Iceland bonus card, Lidl Plus, Nectar card, Boots advantage card and so on.
She said: “Sometimes they will send you double points vouchers or money off vouchers for products you regularly buy.
"But again, if you were not planning on buying an item, don’t get sucked in with a 50p off coupon."
A common mistake nearly every shopper makes is forgetting to bring carrier bags to the supermarket.
Annie said: "I know this isn’t a massive money-saving tip, but the number of times I have forgotten a bag and have to pay for one adds up.
"Most stores only sell the bags for life now or the more expensive material ones, and these can add up when they are up to £1 for a bag. I always keep a few rolled up in an elastic band in my handbag."
Consider deleting apps
Shopping and takeaway apps should be deleted from your phone to save money too.
Annie says "it's easy" to pick up your phone and have everything at your fingertips but explains that by deleting shopping apps such as Amazon, eBay, Wowcher, Boohoo and ASOS, she's saved so much money by not even looking.
“Sometimes I’d just scroll through and end up buying stuff I didn’t even need, just for something to do during the lockdowns," she said.
Look out for offers
"If you do want something quick and easy as a treat, then try out TooGoodToGo, as you can get some real bargains on there. Occasionally I will get a Greggs magic bag for £2.59 and the contents will cover lunches or snacks for a few days."
Annie says her local Morrisons used to do massive boxes of surplus food for £3.09, but now they donate it to local charities and food banks instead, which you can’t really argue with, but other stores may still offer them.
"I remember one box in the summer of 2020 would have cost £68 full price, and came with punnets and punnets of fresh berries, tangerines, potatoes, vegetables and stir fry mixes," said Annie.
“Another thing is don’t get sucked in by newsletter and email offers - a lot of the time I sign up to a website's email as they offer you so much off your first purchase, but then you get multiple emails a week with them pushing new products, so-called deals and promotions.
"If you can, unsubscribe to them, so there are no temptations to buy when you didn’t plan on it."
Another of the shopper's top tips is to delete your card details from your phone and online accounts - that way you have to get up and get your card to pay with it.
“This really makes you think about the purchase before buying - it is just too easy to spend online now, with Apple Pay and PayPal," she said.
Be wise with online shopping
Annie Ley swears by promo codes, and insists that she "rarely buys anything without a promo code now."
“There are some great apps and Facebook groups out there where people can share discount codes with one another, and some can be up to 25% off.
“Also, there are some great desktop browser extensions such as Honey and Pouch which automatically search for discount codes."
Taking advantage of free click and collect services or delivery passes is also a sure-way of saving money.
Most online retailers have a charge for delivery if it’s under a certain spend, but then they offer free click and collect service instead, so always weigh up the option, and if you can collect it yourself, do it.
This can save £3 or £4 a time in delivery fees, especially if you are only buying one item.
However, if you do regularly buy from one particular retailer, it might be worth investing in a yearly or monthly delivery pass if they offer it, providing you know you will save more than you would have spent on the delivery fees.
Using cashback websites if you can't get a discount code is also useful - for example with insurance or websites that don’t offer promo codes.
Annie said: "Last year I received £50 cashback on my car insurance through Quidco - which then covered the cost of the breakdown service for that year.
"Always read the terms and conditions though, as sometimes it’s only on certain products, and always compare cashback websites for the best rate.
"Over the past year, I have had over £200 back from cashback websites."
Check your subscriptions
Consider entertainment family plans - these are a great money saver if there are multiple people contributing towards the plan so you can get it slightly cheaper, whether it's family or housemates you share with.
“Always weigh up the cost of sharing a plan rather than each paying individually: I believe Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple Music and Spotify all offer family plans," said Annie.
Checking your cupboards before buying is also worth it too, for the following.
“Over the last week I have been having a good sort out of all my products, and I was shocked at how many “spares” I had in my cupboards and drawers - the amount of toothpaste, hand wash, and bubble bath I have was a big surprise," said Annie.
"At least now I know not to buy any more until I actually need it.
"This can be the same for food: take an inventory of what you have actually got in the freezer, especially if you have more than one, as it can be easy to lose track of what you have bought."
Plan gifts in advance
Planning ahead when it comes to gift-giving and buying early if you can is also useful.
Annie said: "If you know you have a lot of birthdays or anniversaries you like to buy gifts for through the year, try and plan ahead and grab some bargains in the sales, particularly after Christmas.
"I tend to stock up on a few gift sets and stocking fillers which make huge savings throughout the year - things like beauty gift sets, puzzles, games and more.
“These can be put away and gifted later on in the year, If you plan on doing this with foodie gift sets, always check the use-by dates before buying."
There are also sites that give out freebies including apps that Annie uses such as CheckoutSmart, GreenJinn, Shopmium and ClickSnap which allow you to try new products for free.
"In the past six months, I have had over £200 of freebies from these apps alone (I wish I knew about these sooner!)," said Annie.
Phone rewards
"Another great one to sign up to is phone rewards programs like O2 Priority and Vodafone Veryme - you can often get some great freebies like free coffee or a treat from Greggs and cafe Nero.
“So many brands also offer competitions and giveaways on their social media pages.
“When I had the time during the first lockdown, I used to enter so many and I won thousands of pounds in prizes, from a camera bundle worth over £1,000 to luxury skincare or makeup prizes, electronics, toys, games, clothing, cash and gift cards."
Annie has also saved money by cutting down her phone bill.
She said: "I am lucky enough to be able to buy my phone outright - I’ve had it for about five years now and have no plans to upgrade it as it does everything I need it to, so instead I looked into my usage and it turned out I hardly used what I was paying for.
“I always have WiFi when I’m at home and when I’m at work, so I rarely use my data, I rarely make phone calls and tend to use online messaging instead of SMS.
"I was paying £18 for a SIM-only deal, but I knocked it right back to £6 a month. This is almost a £300 saving since I switched it, and I’ve never looked back!"
Annie says she also sticks to a three-day rule - if there is something she sees that she really likes the look of but isn’t essential, she takes a photograph or screenshot of it.
“If I still really want the item after three days then I will go back to get it.
“This stops impulse purchases and makes you really think about the price and if you really need it that much or if it will end up dumped in a drawer or cupboard.
“Using these tips, I estimate I save around £300 a month!”
Annie shared her tips via LatestDeals.co.uk.
