Live your best (and cheapest) life: 11 top tips from money-saving influencers (2024)

1

Reduce your weekly food shop

Mimi Harrison started Beat the Budget at university, where she found herself barely subsisting on late-night chips. She’s since shared 400 budget recipes with 260,000 Instagram followers, for everything from caramelised shallot pasta to peanut butter chicken satay curry (now arranged on her website by dietary needs or meal type). She never spends more than £20 on her weekly shop. A Beat the Budget book is due out in June. Many recipes cost £1 a portion or less.

Top tip “It’s all about the planning.” Harrison shares her weekly shop receipts, and keeps her spending down by sticking rigidly to a meal plan and shopping list, even grouping items together on the list to mimic the supermarket’s layout so she won’t get distracted and buy things she doesn’t need. Each week’s dishes are carefully chosen to make use of overlapping ingredients such as halloumi or butternut squash, so nothing goes to waste.

2

Travel on a budget

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Budget Traveller Kash Bhattacharya has been staying in cool hostels and other budget places to stay since 2009 (his book, The Grand Hostels: Luxury Hostels of the World, was published in 2018). He also flags up good-looking co-working spaces and cheap transport, particularly train and bus, on Twitter and Instagram.

Top tip Save money on your travels by using buses rather than planes or trains; eat out at lunchtime, when restaurants are more likely to offer deals and set menus; head to lesser-known places such as Vilnius, Riga, Brno or Gdańsk, and get a bank card that doesn’t charge for overseas transactions.

Flora Collingwood-Norris’s Visible Creative Mending will teach you how to darn your socks beautifully. She is a designer-maker based in the Scottish Borders who works with yarn and thread, and has knitted for Christopher Kane and House of Holland. She’s part of the visible mending movement, which is about restoring clothes and soft furnishings by making the repairs obvious, often using contrasting colours to patch, embroider or darn. Cuffs are speckled with a rainbow of tiny stitches. Worn-out elbows are recreated using a lattice of multicoloured thread. Moth holes are disguised using tiny hand-sewn flowers. Follow her for inspiring transformations, or sign up to her online workshops to get involved yourself.

Top tip “It costs almost nothing but time to start mending your clothing. No matter what your skill level, mending that is visible looks intentional, and people will assume you meant it to look just like it does.”

4

Batch cook several meals at once

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Three years ago, former time-management trainer Suzanne Mulholland, AKA The Batch Lady, gave a group of friends an impromptu lesson in batch cooking and meal planning; they were so impressed they convinced her to put it online. Three cookbooks and nearly 162,000 followers later, she now covers anything to do with food and money, including how to save cash at the fishmonger by buying lesser-known species.

Top Tip How to shop for and batch-prep 10 (yes, 10) meals in an hour. Sounds terrifying; actually works. The technique is based on her “grab and cook” meals method, which just means sticking prepped (sometimes partly cooked) ingredients in a reusable zip-lock bag and freezing until needed, then cooking straight from the bag – think different beef-based meals like meatballs, fajitas, chilli, bolognese and burgers all ready to be quickly cooked or finished straight from a freezer bag. Get carried away and you may need a bigger freezer, though.

5

Get out of debt

In 2019, Clare Seal started My Frugal Year anonymously, charting her plan to pay off a £27,000 debt she had built up on credit and store cards in her 20s. By then a parent, she realised she had to change her relationship with money. A year later, she outed herself. Now out of debt and newly a homeowner, she retrained as a financial coach and founded the Financial Wellbeing Forum. She’s brutally honest – she called last September’s budget an “unashamed slap in the face for anyone who isn’t super wealthy”, and says: “You can’t manifest your way out of a cost-of-living crisis.” But she is also empathic, practical and helpful.

Top tip Build a digital toolkit to keep track of your spending and encourage saving. Seal recommends the Snoop app for budgeting, Chip for saving, Sprive for mortgage overpayments, and TopCashback for money back on purchases (she made £250 last year).

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Anna Kilpatrick set up not.needing.new after divorce meant losing her four-bedroom house and garden and having to move to a small flat with her two children. But living with less made her much happier, as did kitting out her flat with skip-diving finds and charity shop treasures. Kilpatrick hasn’t bought new clothes for a decade. She says: “You don’t need money or youth to be sustainably stylish. Actually, age helps, as you care less about opinions that are shared with the sole intention of trying to squash you.” Her advice is often coupled with information about how to keep warm when you can’t afford the heating, how to make your own makeup from shea butter and how to curb impulse-buying tendencies.

Top tip “Get a secondhand or preloved cashmere jumper or cardie to wear as a vest through winter. You feel so warm and save money on heating. It’s unbelievable the difference it makes.”

7

Learn to do DIY

The Carpenter’s Daughter Vikkie Lee teaches followers about upcycling and building anything from wood, whether that’s a garden table made from an old cable reel or a bird table and planter from scratch. She’s also handy with fitting kitchens, laying patios, gravelling driveways, reviewing tools and inventing £1.50 DIY-able wooden gifts. Her aim is to help people save on home improvements, leaving enough cash for, as she puts it: “When you need to pay professionals who know about gas and electrics.” And it works: after renovating a bungalow in southern England, she and her partner now live back up north, mortgage-free, and are restoring a narrowboat.

Top tip Always save your offcuts. Lee has turned a worktop into a workbench with staircase spindles to hold it up; transformed a bookcase into a chest of drawers; and used Jenga blocks as shelf supports; and turned a CD holder into a drill rack for her shed.

8

Pick up holiday bargains

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Cheap Holiday Expert Chelsea Dickenson’s TikTok is jammed with ways to save money when taking a holiday. They’re mostly sensible, like how to avoid paying expensive ‘excess insurance’ offered at airport car-hire companies by taking out a third-party policy for just a few quid before your trip, but often very funny, too. A cool 1.4 million people have enjoyed watching her swagger on to a low-cost flight wearing a fisher’s gilet, side pockets stuffed with gym kit and bikini, back pocket holding her laptop, to avoid paying for hold luggage.

Top tip “Ask for a hotel room upgrade. Simply email ahead, tell them why you’re excited for your stay and that you’d love to be considered for any upgrades on the day. You’ll be surprised how often it works – I had five people tell me my free upgrade email template worked just today!”

9

Learn cheap eco-home hacks

Nancy Birtwhistle is a GP practice manager turned Great British Bake Off winner turned eco-home and garden influencer. Learn how to re-waterproof your old boots using a candle, find 17 uses for 75p-a-kilo washing soda (unblocking sinks, removing stains and cleaning the dishwasher filter, to name but a few), and learn to make laundry soap from conkers. Naturally, her feed is also full of pavlovas, puff pastry and 46p-a-jar homemade marmalade.

Top tip Make an inexpensive household cleaner by mixing together 200g of citric acid, 150ml of boiling water, 20ml of eco-friendly washing-up liquid and 10 drops of essential oil – Birtwhistle uses it to clean her house, remove limescale and get mould off windows.

10

Shop for vintage clothes

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Aja Barber is known for lifting the lid on fast fashion, while pointing out that buying huge amounts of cheap clothing isn’t a great way to save. In one post, she notes, powerfully, that saying fast fashion is good for people living in poverty neglects the poverty-stricken people who make fast fashion itself. Her GRWM (Get Ready With Me) posts are an antidote to those who constantly show off new outfits. She wears (and loves) what she already has, fearlessly calls out very big brands for greenwashing, has turned down lots of social-media partnerships that don’t align with her values, and shows that you can care about what you wear while spending less and making more ethical choices.

Top tip “You never have to buy new denim. With Vestiaire, eBay and Vinted we have so many places to look. Even if you’re plus-size, as I am, it’s easy. For adolescents, look for high-end markdowns of things like sportswear in small adult sizes because – surprise! – very few women are a UK size 4.”

11

Parent on a budget

Unlike many rather glossy parenting bloggers, Jamie Rose, AKA Savvy Jamie, is very transparent about her means and money. She posts on TikTok and her own site about cheap and free days out for kids, mindful spending, creating cost-free family traditions and how to buy and sell secondhand children’s gear.

Top tip Her post on how presents for children don’t have to be new was one of the most popular in her Christmas-on-a-Budget series. “Preloved stuff is a fraction of the new price, whether from charity shops, Facebook Marketplace or Vinted. You can even pick up brand-new products secondhand, meaning you get more bang for your buck.”

Live your best (and cheapest) life: 11 top tips from money-saving influencers (2024)

FAQs

Live your best (and cheapest) life: 11 top tips from money-saving influencers? ›

Achieving Financial Goals: Saving money is instrumental in achieving both short-term and long-term financial goals. Whether you're saving for a down payment on a home, a dream vacation, or your child's education, setting aside funds regularly accelerates your progress towards these milestones.

How to live your best life on a budget? ›

10 Tips to Help You Live Within Your Means
  1. Set Your Budget. ...
  2. Track Your Spending. ...
  3. Save Before Spending. ...
  4. Pay Down Debt. ...
  5. Pay with Cash or Debit. ...
  6. Plan Large Purchases to Avoid Impulse Spending. ...
  7. Wait for Sales. ...
  8. Ask for a Lower Price.

Is saving money worth it? ›

Achieving Financial Goals: Saving money is instrumental in achieving both short-term and long-term financial goals. Whether you're saving for a down payment on a home, a dream vacation, or your child's education, setting aside funds regularly accelerates your progress towards these milestones.

How to save as much money as possible? ›

10 Best Ways to Save Money
  1. Eliminate Your Debt. If you're trying to save money through budgeting but still carrying a large debt burden, start with your debt. ...
  2. Set Savings Goals. ...
  3. Pay Yourself First. ...
  4. Stop Smoking. ...
  5. Take a Staycation. ...
  6. Spend to Save. ...
  7. Utility Savings. ...
  8. Pack Your Lunch.

How to live off very little money? ›

Tips to help you live below your means
  1. Create a plan for your money. The act of assigning a job for every dollar can be empowering. ...
  2. Automate your savings. ...
  3. Pay yourself. ...
  4. Live off one income if possible. ...
  5. Look for ways to lower your discretionary expenses. ...
  6. Reflect on your financial habits. ...
  7. Drive used. ...
  8. Pay less interest.
Jul 10, 2024

How can I live a simple life financially? ›

12 Tips for Frugal Living
  1. Choose quality over quantity. ...
  2. Prioritize value over price. ...
  3. Use credit wisely. ...
  4. Declutter regularly. ...
  5. Use a budget to guide your spending. ...
  6. Know the difference between wants and needs. ...
  7. Be a savvy consumer. ...
  8. Prioritize your values.
Oct 17, 2023

How to live the cheapest way? ›

I should note that I do most, but not all, of these tips.
  1. Go with one car. Many families have two or more cars. ...
  2. Go with a smaller house. ...
  3. Go with a smaller car. ...
  4. Rent rather than own. ...
  5. Look for used first. ...
  6. Eat out less. ...
  7. Eat out frugally. ...
  8. Brown bag it to work.

How much money do I need to invest to make $3,000 a month? ›

Imagine you wish to amass $3000 monthly from your investments, amounting to $36,000 annually. If you park your funds in a savings account offering a 2% annual interest rate, you'd need to inject roughly $1.8 million into the account.

Is saving $500 a month good? ›

The short answer to what happens if you invest $500 a month is that you'll almost certainly build wealth over time. In fact, if you keep investing that $500 every month for 40 years, you could become a millionaire. More than a millionaire, in fact.

What is the 50 20 30 rule? ›

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings.

How can I save money if I barely make anything? ›

SHARE:
  1. Focus on small changes in various budget categories.
  2. Automate your savings into a high-yield savings account.
  3. Earn interest on your checking account.
  4. Use those three-payday months to save more.
  5. Keep a budget.
  6. Shop around for insurance rates.
  7. Refinance your mortgage.
  8. Find a way to save on rent.
Oct 19, 2023

What is the best savings strategy? ›

One rule of thumb is to save 10% to 15% of your paycheck each pay period. Another savings strategy is the “50/20/30” Rule: set aside 50% of your paycheck for your needs, 20% for your savings & debt, and 30% for your wants. Keep in mind these savings strategies could be too challenging for a student budget.

How to enjoy life without money? ›

Whatever your situation, here are 13 fun things to do that don't cost money with friends and family:
  1. Go on a picnic. ...
  2. Go to no-cost museum and zoo days. ...
  3. Give geocaching a try. ...
  4. Leverage your chamber of commerce. ...
  5. Take a historical city tour. ...
  6. Visit a farmers market. ...
  7. Go camping. ...
  8. Do a photography challenge.
Feb 14, 2024

Can you live on $1200 a month? ›

Living on a budget of $1,200 is doable but a bit difficult. It would depend on where you live (touristy beach areas tend to be more expensive overall), how much your rent is, and what your lifestyle is. If you shop and eat out like a local, you can live cheaply.

How to be extremely cheap? ›

What are some tips for being frugal?
  1. Create a budget and stick to it. Being frugal begins with this tip. ...
  2. Shop around for the best deals. Buy what you need from the first store you see, but don't just go to the first one you see. ...
  3. Buy used instead of new. ...
  4. Make your own stuff. ...
  5. Repurpose and recycle. ...
  6. Be patient.
Aug 22, 2023

How much money do you need to live your best life? ›

That means the sweet spot in India could be about R24 lakh per annum or R2 lakh a month. That could go up every year with inflation. You cannot use all of the money for living life and spending. Even when you get to that stage, you must continue investing to counter inflation.

How can I live my best life financially? ›

Make a budget to cover all your financial needs and stick to it. Pay off credit cards in full, carry as little debt as possible, and keep an eye on your credit score. Create automatic savings by setting up an emergency fund and contributing to your employer's retirement plan.

How can I improve my quality of life without money? ›

Healthy relationships, adequate sleep, and regular physical activity can all contribute to an improved quality of life. A person can also improve life quality by finding meaning in their work, resolving energy drains, and making time for things they like to do.

How to live on an extremely tight budget? ›

The best way to save money on a tight budget is to make small changes. Turn off lights when you're not using them, avoid impulse purchases, cancel subscriptions you don't use and eat in more often. You can also look for discounts by couponing or shopping sales or consider low-income assistance programs.

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