Shopping (excluding food): Crosslight’s money-saving tips
Use a voucher-finder extension to your browser to show you money-off deals whilst browsing online e.g. Honey or Coupert
Sign up for a cashback service such as TopCashback to make your purchases through, and you’ll get a little bit of money back each time – ensure you actually need to purchase the item first though!
‘Sleep on it’ if you’re thinking of making a big purchase (Do you really need it? Can you afford it?), as well as shopping around for the best price and using comparison websites where possible
If shopping online, register / log in to the site, and leave the item you want to buy in your basket for a day or two – this helps you to have time to reflect on the purchase, rather than buying on impulse, but will also often trigger a ‘money off’ email from the company, who want you to complete your transaction!
Leave bank cards at home and use cash (just the amount you can afford) - that way you can’t spend more than you have with you that day!
Pick up free items: use Freecycle or Facebook Marketplace as well as sites such as Freegle; Preloved also has a ‘freeloved’ section which is worth checking out, and Olio has branched out into non-food items recently too.
Think second-hand to find bargains instead of buying new:
Check out Vinted, Depop, Thrift Plus, eBay, Nextdoor and Gumtree, online.
E-Bay tips: use MSE’s local mapper tool to find items which can only be collected within the geographical area you set; and check out Fatfingers: a website which allows you to search by item type to find things listed on eBay with spelling mistakes, meaning no-one finds them and they often get no bids - leading to a bargain to be had!
You could also look for local Facebook community groups (often entitled Buy & Sell + the area name if you want to search & join).
And don’t forget your local charity shops, where you can pick up a bargain at the same time as supporting a good cause.
Shopping on Amazon? Use Money Saving Expert’s tool which checks prices for returned / mildly damaged products on Amazon Warehouse as well as brand new items on their main site and shows the best deals for comparison.
Shopping for books? Consider using your local library instead, or try charity shops (some even have dedicated second-hand bookshops e.g. Oxfam)