How to save in 2021 - Top 16 tips

How to save in 2023 – Top 16 tips by leading UK Money Bloggers

3360 1890 Great Deals Made Easy

Happy New Year! With most of the planet pleased to see the back of 2022, why not make 2023 a year to be happy and save up for your future?

After the popularity of my post on how to save money in 2020, to keep things fresh, I’ve reached out to some top UK money bloggers to bring you new money-saving tips for 2022. Even if you are low on funds or furloughed, there are ways to save money on a tight budget.

Use these “how-to” save money tips for 2022 from the leading UK Money Bloggers. They each provide their best tip for 2023 for you to follow below, so you can save money the easy way:

Do an account tidy each day

Nicola from thefrugalcottage.com recommends transferring the odd amount from your current account to online savings accounts. This can add up surprisingly quickly. GreatDealsMadeEasy Tip: Round down your current account to the nearest £10. So, if the amount left was £202.98, transfer over the £2.98 so then £200 was left. That £2.98 can go into savings accounts, like Plum.

Try Zero-based budgeting (ZBB)

This is a method of budgeting in which all expenses must be justified for each new period. Steph from fundingherfreedom.com encourages you to “dictate where your money goes, rather than having your money (or lack off) dictate your life. By ensuring every single one of your hard-earned pennies has a role throughout the month, you can not only make it to the end of the month with spare change but also identify areas you might be able to cut back on.”

Use money savings Apps

Sara from Debtcamel.co.uk explains that even if you normally have no money left in your account at the end of each month, you can build an emergency fund with Apps like Chip and Plum. For more information on starting an emergency fund online, read my article on starting an emergency fund.

Expect the unexpected with an emergency plan

Emma from beeemoneysavvy.com plans ahead for the unexpected by building an emergency plan. An emergency is a financial buffer in the case of any financial hiccups (such as loss of income or major car/boiler repair) and will prevent you from getting into debt. GreatDealsMadeEasy Tip: Various research says at least three months’ salary should be the baseline for your emergency fund. But this does not mean you need to stop putting aside savings after three months. The more you put in, the more prepared you are for a rainy day.

Automate your savings

Collette from cashbackcollette.co.uk says to “activate the ‘save the change’ feature on your online banking to automate and round up savings without you even thinking about it”. She also uses supermarket cashback apps like Shopmium and receipt scanning apps like Shoppix to save money at the supermarket and on all essential purchases. Dan from thefinancialwilderness.com suggests “setting up an automatic transfer on payday to your choice of savings, be that top-paying savings account or investment fund. It’s much easier mentally too than budgeting as you’ve already accounted for saving at the start, rather than what you have left.

Don’t let any contracts automatically renew

Pete from householdmoneysaving.com doesn’t let his contracts be new automatically. he advises “when a deal ends, negotiate a better deal or look for a cheaper alternative. This ranges from TV, energy or any kind of insurance. An hour of work would save you £100s each year”. GreatDealsMadeEasy Tip: If you have finished your contract with an energy provider, consider Octopus Energy, a popular renewable energy company. Read my Octopus Energy review here.

Start with saving small amounts

Katie from the-twenty-per-cent.com treasures the small change. She recommends “If you only feel you can afford £1 or £2 a week, it’s still worth doing. If you build the habit with small amounts, it will stick when you feel able to put aside more money. As Tesco say ‘every penny helps’. Apps like Plum mentioned above can facilitate this.

Rename your savings account to something fun

Eileen from yourmoneysorted.co.uk has fun when saving money. How? By changing the names of her accounts, “Imagine having an account called “We’re going to Disney” instead of “Savings account”. A name like that is purposeful and can be really inspiring and motivating. Opening your bank account feels more exciting and seeing withdrawals that say “transfer to We’re going to Disney” is motivating.

Do you need this purchase?

Kemi from finestewards.com always asks herself “Do I really need this?” and “is it worth it?” (worth taking away from my retirement fund) whenever she is shopping. For unplanned shopping. outings, simply checking in on and engaging with yourself in this way makes you think again about buying things you don’t need. Wise words Kemi!

January no spend month

January is the perfect time to start a money-saving challenge. Claire from moneysavingcentral.co.uk always does a no-spend month in January and will also be partaking in the spare change challenge throughout 2021. It’s a really easy way to save cash throughout the year.

Use a cashback site

Amandeep from comparism.com has noticed “we buy more and more online, thanks to the surge and habitual changes due to the pandemic. Make sure to sign up to cashback sites (Topcashback or Quidco)”. There is also the newish My Money Pocket cashback site, attempting to compete with the big two. For ideas on how to earn free money when you are buying things, check out my article.

The 1p challenge

The popular 1p challenge and reviser 1p challenge are still popular with money bloggers like Halimah from Koody.co. For the 1p challenge, you start at the beginning of the year and save 1p on day 1, 2p on day 2, 3p on day 3 and so on. After 365 days, you could end up saving over £650. The reverse 1p challenge is the same thing in reverse. She uses Monzo to automate this and you can start at any point during the year, ideally, the start is the best.

£5,000 savings challenge

Maria from Brokegirlinthecity loves this cashless savings challenge. How does it work? If you save £13.70 a day for 365 days, you will save £5,000 by the end of the year. It does mean that you will need to save £400+ a month. She recommends only committing to this challenge if you have this money to spare each month. It’s a tough savings challenge, but you will end up with this lump sum at the end of 2021. It is good for you those who want to visualise a lump sum at the end of the year, especially for something like a deposit for a house or something else that you need.

Be a conscious spender

Jane from shoestringcottage recommends starting a year of conscious spending. She advises to “really think about each and every purchase. Then, to save even more money, consider whether you could pick it up second-hand or even for free. She is doing a year of buying only second-hand and has a post about it here.

Get the most from your bank

Money saver Andy from Becleverwithyourcash gets the most from his back. Andy mentions “switching bonuses to cashback bonuses to cashback on bills to 0% overdrafts, it can pay to move your current account”.

Check for promo codes when shopping online

When shopping online Hayley from Missmanypennies always checks for a promo code or discount. The Honey browser extension is great for this, as it automatically searches for you to find the best discounts.

Hope these savings tips were useful. For even more tips, read the top 20 saving tips for 2020. Other useful posts include  how to start an emergency fund online in the UK, ideas on how to earn money from home in the UK, a guide to ethical shopping in the UK

If you are keen on lowering your Broadband monthly contract, check out GreatDealsMadeEasy’s comparison sites for Broadband. Finally have a free coffee, free beer and free pizza on me!

For more saving articles, keep on GreatDealsMadeEasy

Other referral joining codes

*Enjoy a free coffeefree beer and almost a free pizza on me with some free codes to enter.
*Feast on £20 off your first Hellofresh order, tasty ingredients delivered to your door for fine meals. 
*Earn an impressive £50 joining bonus with ethical energy company Octopus Energy in the review article.
*Rent out your spare space with Stashbee and get £50.
*Grab a free share (up to the value of £200) when joining up to FreeTrade.
*Remortgaging or looking at a first-time mortgage? Enjoy a £100 amazon voucher when using the Trussle mortgage site.

William Pointing

I enjoy watching comedy, learning about new digital marketing trends, helping people generally (including saving money) and completing sport challenges (This year I plan on cycling to Paris from London).

All stories by:William Pointing
2 comments
  • Amazing points here, William. Huge fan of checking promo codes for everything! I had never heard of the zero-based budgeting approach before, will definitely check this out!

    Something that has saved my partner and me around £60 a month alone was by unsubscribing from take away emails. Too often would one of us see an email come through from the likes of UberEats or JustEat offering us 25% off of our next order “limited time only” and we’d jump right on it.

    By doing this, it has also forced us both to stop working those extra (unpaid) hours whilst working from home and actually cook. It’s great!

    • Glad you found it useful James. I’m the same, all too often those take away promo emails come into my inbox, good idea to unsubscribe!

Leave a Reply

William Pointing

I enjoy watching comedy, learning about new digital marketing trends, helping people generally (including saving money) and completing sport challenges (This year I plan on cycling to Paris from London).

All stories by:William Pointing
Follow Me
Privacy Preferences

When you visit our website, it may store information through your browser from specific services, usually in the form of cookies. Here you can change your Privacy preferences. It is worth noting that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our website and the services we are able to offer.

Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking code.
Click to enable/disable Google Fonts.
Click to enable/disable Google Maps.
Click to enable/disable video embeds.
Our website uses cookies, mainly from 3rd party services. Define your Privacy Preferences and/or agree to our use of cookies.