In our May post, we discussed some little-known ways to save cash. When doing our research, it was incredible to see how creative and resourceful people are with money hacks. Today, we’re following up with more ideas to help you save.

1. Take a water bottle with you on holiday

This sounds trivial, but you can take an empty water bottle with you through airport security and avoid paying over the odds for water at the airport. Similarly, once you’re away it’s handy to have a sturdy water bottle to take on days out and you’ll be less inclined to pay for multiple plastic bottles throughout your trip.

2. Purchase own-brand medicines

Your gut reaction to ‘cheaper medicine’ may not be positive. Our health is priceless, so you have every right to be sceptical. However, when you look at the active ingredient and its quantity, a branded and own-brand product are identical. There are multiple factors in making branded products more expensive, including advertising costs.

3. Keep an open mind with own-brand food and drinks

There is not one rule-fits-all when it comes to evaluating the quality of brand vs non-branded food and drink. Branded items may use better ingredients on some occasions, but they also may generate a ‘better’ tasting product through additional salt, sugar and other additives.

This means that at times own-brand products can be cheaper and healthier. However, the same is often true the other way around, with own-brand lines packed with additives to make up for the disparity in quality ingredients.

So read the labels, see what’s what and keep an open mind.

4. Download Uber or Bolt before you go on holiday

I can vouch for this personally. Arriving as a naive - and frankly unprepared - 22-year-old at Delhi airport, my phone had run out of juice on the flight. After being ripped off by the taxi driver, I’ve used transport apps abroad ever since.

Another useful tip is to check out the price of a lift from the airport to your accommodation across Uber, Bolt and any other new ride apps. This way, you can instantly gauge which app is the best value in the area.

5. Be aware of additional perks from your memberships

If you’re a football fan paying for Amazon Prime, make a note of the fixtures that take your fancy that Prime is streaming and add them to your calendar. It could save you from that sigh of disappointment after buying a £30 round with your mates and watching the back of someone’s head at the local only to realise you could have watched for free at home.

Many platforms have evolved to offer greater value than their initial product or service, so keep an eye on what’s included in your subscriptions and cull any that you aren’t using.

6. Utilise free education

It’s not just the local library where you can access great free learning resources. Platforms such as edX are home to an abundance of free educational courses from some of the World’s leading universities. Courses at the time of writing include Computer Science from Harvard and Mindfulness and Resilience to Stress at Work from Berkeley.

You may have to pay for the course certificate in some instances, so watch out for that and decide if that’s something you’re concerned about.

7. Keep your tires inflated

This sounds obvious, but it’s so easy to let it slip if you run a car. In fact, you can save around 3% on your annual petrol costs by having consistently inflated tyres.

8. Stay in the know

Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert is a great example of a digital newsletter you can follow to receive regular tips.

Or perhaps you prefer to follow a specific money-saving guru on YouTube. Either way, it can be really helpful to consume regular tips for saving.

9. Cool down your clothes wash (even just a little)

You don’t need to switch to a 5-minute cold rinse to save money when it comes to your washing machine. Even dropping from a 40 to 30-degree wash will save you £40 per year. It’s a classic example of a small hack that adds up.

10. Create a list of things that are free or inexpensive that you enjoy doing

The enjoy part is massive here.

There’s no point doing free YouTube yoga lessons if you hate it. You won’t stick to it - much like a diet you detest - and will be more inclined to divert to costlier alternatives. So write a list of things you enjoy doing that tie in with your growth.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, this post has put at least one new idea on your radar when it comes to saving. The idea that spending less has to always equate to huge sacrifice just isn’t the case, and there are convenient and stress-free ways to save.

Money-saving hacks