SAVING money can be hard, especially when life is expensive and the costs of going out, buying food and paying your bills add up.
But one young woman and her husband have managed to save a whopping £20,000 in ten months and have shared their top tips on how you can do this too.
Of course everyone earns differently and monthly outgoings can differ massively, but Abby Dunsmure has shared her simple tips on changing your lifestyle that can help you save money every month.
Self-confessed “former impulse buyer”, Abby and her husband are saving up to buy their forever home and so have made some simple changes to their lifestyles in order to save money.
Abby uploaded the video to her TikTok account and detailed how she has managed to save so much money in such a short space of time.
She said: “Here is how we’ve saved £20,000 in ten months.
“We’re aiming to save £90,000 over the course of three years and I’m going to tell you how we’re doing it.
“Let’s do this.
“These are just a few tips that have helped us over the ten months – it will not work for everybody but this is just what has helped us for the entire time we have been saving so these are just a few of my little tips to help you get started.
“The first thing we did was open a savings account because the last thing you want to do is have your money all together, it’s easy just to separate it and that way you cannot dip into it as easy.
“So my advice would be to open a savings account and keep all your bills and savings separate.
“Budget, budget, budget.
“Lists are your best friend.
“You need to sit down and set yourself a budget to what you can realistically afford to save each month.
“Switch to own brand products.
“Food, cleaning products, you name it, you can get everything cheap and you will not know the difference.
“Spaghetti hoops and salad cream – they taste the exact same.
“Some things you can notice a difference in taste – 9 times out of 10 you cannot and you save a lot of money.”
Another of Abby’s tips relates well to those that are commuting to work and often find themselves stopping at a coffee shop for their morning caffeine fix.
Abby suggested: “Instead of spending a fortune on Costa or Starbucks coffees, get yourself down to Lidl, 80p for a box of ten little own-brand coffees.
“Take a little flask and do it yourself.
“It saves you a tonne of money.
“Pumpkin spice lattes? Honey, do it yourself!
“Pumpkin spice syrup – TkMaxx, and it was £3.99.
“Huge bottle as well, that will do you a million cups of coffee on the go on your cute little autumnal walks.
“Do not go to Costa and spend a fortune, you can get them quite cheap from TkMaxx.
“Instead of grabbing lunch on the go while at work, take a little packed lunch – it will save you a lot of time, a lot of money it’s unnecessary spending that you can easily do and prep the night before.”
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This next tip might be harder for some to take on board…
Abby said: “I cannot tell you the last time I had a takeaway.
“We don’t really eat takeaways anyway but we budget probably once every three or four months for a takeaway.
“There is no need to be having a takeaway, or two or three every week.
“Save the money.”
This next tip is a good one for changing your money mind-set.
Abby said: “Think about money in terms of working hours.
“For example, if a handbag costs £80 then it took you, for example, 8 hours to earn £80.
“Do you really want to spend £80 on a bag that took you 8 hours to earn?
“Personally I wouldn’t want to get up at 6am and work an eight hour shift for an £80 bag.
“I have better uses for my money.”
Abby’s final tip is all about wants vs needs.
Abby said: “Ask yourself, do you really need it or do you just want it?
“There’s a difference between need and want – learn the difference.
“As a former impulse buyer, I now know the difference between needs and wants and it has changed my life completely.
“Do overtime wherever possible.”
Clearly Abby’s money-saving tips have impressed numerous people as the video has racked up over 67.5k views, in just two days.
It has 3,203 likes, 91 comments and 171 shares.
One person said: “Thanks for the tips, I’m an impulsive buyer. Need to listen to your advice.”
Another added: “I love this because it’s so realistic.”
A third commented: “Love the thing of the hours it takes to earn the money, this is something I used to do and fell away from! Deffo getting this mindset back.”
One TikTok user said: “Smart thinking..but my bad shopping habits can really take over sometimes” to which Abby responded “So did mine honey! Then I had something to aim for when we decided to buy! You can do it! You just need to find your why.”
Many had lots of questions for Abby, about just how much she earns, if she rents and if saving this much money has an impact on her social life.
For reference, Abby said: “We have no car, debts we don’t drink or smoke.”
One person asked: “20k in ten months, jesus what do you do for work?” to which Abby replied “Me and my husband are care workers.”
Many assumed that Abby was living at home with her parents rent-free, and that was how she had managed to save so much money.
But Abby corrected this assumption by saying: “No I left home 7 years ago when I was 1. I rent. This year has been hard, unexpected job change due to a contract change but we do a lot of overtime.”
Another asked: “Can I ask, has it affected your social life?” to which Abby confirmed “Not at all. I’ve done my partying. Over it! I budget for going out! But not at all! I enjoy saving and seeing how far I’ve come.”
When asked how much she earns, Abby confirmed: “Me and my husband both work in the care sector. We earn about £3k a month and save £2k of that a month! We do a lot of overtime.”
Meanwhile, a couple saved over £5k creating their own DIY movie wall and it’s the perfect space for cosy nights in.
Also, a woman saved hundreds after she transformed a tatty old IKEA cabinet into a swanky new one for just £15.
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