TRIED AND TESTED SIDE HUSTLES AND SAVERS
Posted on February 25 2021
This blog is for our frugal followers.. ahead of the restock of our Budget Planner here are a few of my tried and tested side hustle and saving ideas.
ONLINE MARKETPLACES - Facebook, Ebay, Shpock, Gumtree etc.
I love a second hand bargain; especially when it comes to the plastic tat all children seem to love. They grow out of thing so quickly that second hand toys are nearly always brand new anyway and I always try to sell them on, or gift them on to someone else who could use them, meaning less waste.
My most recent Facebook marketplace sale was a children's art easel that I sold for £5 - now you might think 'What's the point for a fiver?' but every little helps. We're also trying to teach Harper (age 5) about money and encourage her to de-clutter too. We made a thing of explaining to her that we're selling the easel because she doesn't use it anymore and that she has to earn money to spend money. We gave her the £5 which then went towards one of those god-awful magazines [eyeroll] BUT it was £5 I didn't spend on a magazine and hopefully one step in teaching her a healthy relationship with money and it's value.
REMEMBER - one person's trash is another person's treasure.
TORY PRELOVED (@tory_preloved)
Similarly, to the toys, every now and again I'll have a cleanse of the children's wardrobes (and my own too - though my usual rule is getting rid of anything I've not worn in 6 months. That would be my entire wardrobe at the minute! Please tell me I'm not the only one that lives in lounge wear and leggings for the last year?). But again, it is a really good way of earning a little bit of money back that you may put towards your next purchase!
AIRTIME REWARDS
I love this app, it does all the hard work for you. It's completely free and once you've signed up and linked your debit or cards you can forget about it. It's a type of cashback app which rewards you a % of the transactions you make with listed brands via your VISA and MasterCard. It then pays you the rewards in the form of free credits or direct money off your mobile phone bills. For something that works in the background it's great - again not HUGE amounts of money but I've had the app for nearly a year and I've redeemed over £46 off my phone bill.
TOP TIP - Ask your husbands if you can link their cards too!]
You can also refer your friends to get extra credit. I have popped my code above to get your first £1.50 credit.
SHOPMIUM
This is another great App where you can get cashback on items in return for a small review. The App lists items which are available for cashback and you simply buy the item and then scan your receipt into the App, along with the barcode of the item and it refunds you the offer amount. There often FREEBIES on there too like Pepsi and McVities biscuits that I have redeemed in the past! You can also get FREE Pringles when signing up with a referral code, I've popped mine here.
TOPCASHBACK
Now I find this app a little bit more of a faff because I never remember to use it. You have to click into the app, find the brand/shop and visit the website you're purchasing from via the app. I rarely remember but when I first found the app it was Christmas time, I was buying lots of presents and I think I got about £60 cashback - that was a few years back and I think I've got about £2.59 that's been sat there ever since. BUT if you remember to use it and you're already making the purchase then there's some free monies to be had.
SWITCHING BANK ACCOUNTS
Again, something I don't do as often as I could (creature of habit) but it's worthwhile switching up your current accounts every now and again - it's super easy and generally speaking they do all the hard work for you - I think HSBC were recently offering £125 to switch to them. Martin Lewis and his website Money Saving Expert, often have some really great info and recommendations on this. I have linked his website here.
DISCOUNT CODES/REFERRAL CODES
I always google a discount code before I buy something.. technically I'm still spending BUT saving if I've already committed to making the purchase. Almost every company offers new customer welcome codes - if you're new to F&M you're welcome to use ours, WELCOME for 10% off or returning customer codes etc. For the sake of a quick Google, you could save yourself a few pennies - Oh and if you remember to check the cashback site too - well then, you're quid's in.
Some referral codes I can share with you that get you some discounts too:
Get £20 off your first Hello Fresh Box with code HS-M6QPJHBH8. (I get £20 credit off my next box if you use this code)!
Pasta Evangelists (Fresh Pasta by post - perfect for date night) £10 off your first order here (I get £5 towards my next order)!
Naked Wines - Wine delivery - £80 off your first case of wine here (I get £10 wine credit)!
REVIEWING UTILITY SUPPLIERS
Remember to check in with your gas and electricity suppliers every now and again, it's so easy to stick with what you know - but the truth is they're all selling the same thing, like EXACTLY the same thing. Make sure you're on the best tariff for what you use - you can save £££ if you spend a little bit of time shopping around. The Money Saving Expert website also has a good resource for this called The Cheap Energy Club.
I try to make a note of all the 'extra' money in my budget planner so that I can keep track of what I've saved/gained; that way I make sure it goes towards something - be that a 'new clothes' savings pot or an extra payment towards debt.
Anyway, that's enough to think about - I'm not perfect, I've got debts and I have bad spending habits that I have to consciously control - after all that is why I created the budget planner in the first place.
Just a few of ideas to consider if you're trying to tighten the purse strings, good luck with your budgeting journey and let me know if you have any more ideas, pop them in the comments below.
Tory x
P.S. All parents out there, don't forget to check out your Childcare Choices. I have linked the Gov Website here to help see what you may be eligible for.
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