A single mum has revealed how she managed to save £18,000 over a three-year period by reining in her spending - with the help of two free apps. Nasreen Brittain, from Maidenhead, who is in her 50s and works as a PA with the NHS, turned to Snoop and Plum to monitor her spending, the Mirror reports.
Snoop will analyse your bank accounts and determine how much you're spending at certain retailers each month, and will also remind you when subscriptions are due for renewal. Meanwhile Plum suggests amounts to save by balancing earnings and outgoings.
Nasreen admitted she was shocked to find she had spent £2,500 on Amazon in just a year, and she also cancelled phone contracts and found a cheaper deal with Netflix. She says Snoop has saved her £6,000 since she downloaded it two years ago.
She said: "My bills have dropped by thousands of pounds a year. Snoop breaks my spending down into categories, which can be really surprising. I cancelled phone contracts. I was paying £79 a month and switched to a £10 a month SIM only deal.
“I cancelled Sky which was £105 a month - that’s over £1,200 a year that I was spending. I spent £2,500 on Amazon in one year. I thought this was disgraceful - how on earth have I spent that much? The other thing I have done is reduce my Netflix subscription. Snoop informed me that Netflix was upping my deal to £15.99, so I reduced this package to £6.99.”
Meanwhile, Nasreen says she has saved up more than £12,000 thanks to Plum - a big help as the cost-of-living crisis bites. She said: "I’ve gone from paying £70 to £207 for my gas and electricity. It is going up again to £325. I bought a brand new Fiat 500 in March and to fill it up then, was £35 - it now costs £80.”
Nasreen says she also took on board lifestyle tips suggested by the apps. She said: "I take four minute showers. I saw that tip on Snoop, about how to reduce your costs. I’m getting ready quicker but it also means water and electricity is much less. In terms of car travel, I have thought more carefully about journeys. I’ve turned down going somewhere because of the petrol costs.
“I’ve always cooked but we don’t get takeaways anymore. I’ve knocked all that on the head. I went through my bank statements and I was spending £100 a month on takeaways. If I make a curry, I make a bigger portion so we can freeze it. It might take longer but you’re using less energy compared to cooking it all from scratch. I look out for yellow stickers as well and I buy more tinned stuff.”
The Mirror previously spoke to another mum who said ditching Amazon with the help of Snoop helped her clear £17,000 debt.
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