By Lewis Dickson

In 2024 saving money is hard, especially with the rising costs of groceries, electricity and petrol. The average price for a grocery shop for someone to last one week in shops like Tesco, Asda and Morrisons is an astonishing £167, while the price per litre of petrol is 141p.

So, here are some easy hacks to help keep your money in your pocket.

TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT

One of the most well-known ways to save money is to start walking and taking public transport.

Walking is not only beneficial for your health but also your wallet; it helps to relieve stress, reduces carbon emissions and saves you from wasting that extra bit of petrol.

BATH OR SHOWER?

Having a bath rather than a shower uses less energy than you think.

Contrary to popular belief, heating an 80-litre bath would use 2.4kWH (Kilowatt per hour), as opposed to heating a shower for 10 minutes, which has a rate of 3.6kWH. That’s 58 pence for a bath compared to 88 pence per shower.

Less takeaway…

Eating less takeaway food is another brilliant way to save yourself some money. Cutting takeaways out of your life is a bummer but try to limit it to only one per week and you’ll see how much you save.

Adults, under 25, spend £43 a week on takeaways. If that is you, that’s an extra £43 that could go towards your savings, bills or groceries.

Cooking at home is a significantly cheaper option with many things like Asda and Sainsbury’s savers range to help you out.

Switching your shop

Switching your usual shop from places like M&S and Tesco to Aldi or Lidl can help save a significant amount of money.

On average, both shops are 11% cheaper than their competitors and have a lower price per 62 items. Lidl was £112.23, while Tesco scored £125.09. That’s £13 saved, which could be spent on a little treat like a takeaway - if you feel like it!

Downgrade your subscriptions

Downgrade your subscriptions.

Netflix and Prime Video both have cheaper, budget-friendly options, priced at just as little as £6.99 for Netflix and £8.99 for Prime Video per month. The original prices are both £10.99, meaning that Netflix is the best bang for your buck in this scenario.

Secondly, try only to have one subscription rather than two.

A third option is to not pay for any subscription at all and rely on things like YouTube, which is completely free for your entertainment.

Freebie promotions

By Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images

Take advantage of promotions that food sellers like to put out. Many places allow you to have a freebie if you download their app and register an account.

KFC awards you with a free sharer bucket of hot wings, Taco Bell gives you a free taco and Burger King gives you a free burger. There are plenty of options here to fill your stomach on a £0 budget.

Taste Card is another brilliant option to save money while eating out as it has hundreds of deals to save money.

Too Good To Go

On the topic of food, a great app which helps you save money is Too Good To Go.

Before they close, food chains will pack their unsold food into bundles and sell it on the app. They guarantee that the items in the bag will always have a higher value than what you paid.

You save money and help stop food waste as well. It’s a no-brainer!

Quit bad habits

Vaping is one of the worst habits in the UK. It is unhealthy, expensive and contributes to emissions which worsen climate change.

The average Brit who vapes spends an average of £792.64 a year with the most common brand being JUUL.

Swapping to an alternative like nicotine plasters and nicotine gum is cheaper and healthier.

The 8 best ways to save money that are easy and effective