If you’re looking to get the year off to a better financial start, then you may want to consider these easy tips for saving money in the home and garden.  if you're always trying to save for something, but never quite manage it, then you probably need to find out where you can save money in the house.

The first thing to consider when looking to save money, however, is that you don’t need to save money everywhere.  Sometimes its about being frugal and making cuts in one area of our lives that we don't mind so much, so as we can afford something that we need or that gives us more pleasure in another area of our lives.

For instance, let’s say you save £100 on your heating bill in the next few months because of following the advice below, that could mean you can splash out on those garden fencing ideas in the spring that you've been longing to do.   Or it's so we can create some savings as an emergency fund, deposit or special occasion.

Many people live frugally by saving money on food, but I have a different view.  I like to invest in organic companies and farming methods which does currently provide a food that is more expensive to buy.  I'm passionate about healthy living and the environment and this is a cause important to me that I am prepared to invest in for both my health, the environment and the animals.

I make other cutbacks, such as having a zero-spend year on clothing for instance or less days out and holidays to make this possible.  Whereas other people might rather buy the cheapest foods possible as they'd rather spend their money on clothes or days out.  Saving money is about making cut-backs, but they can be cut-backs where you want to make them (and therefore you'll stick to them) or where you might be spending more than you need to, such as on energy.

Also, rather than penny-pinching on all aspects of home and garden life, it’s important to consider the time investment required.

For instance, some people go a little coupon crazy to the point they will spend hours and hours cutting out coupons to save a few pennies here and a few pennies there, when it would make much more financial sense to have just invested that extra hour into paid work.  It's the same with making money on low-paying survey sites - could you invest that hour better elsewhere for a better profit?

Luckily there are some ways that will definitely save you money in the home and garden.  The below tips are going to be practically suited to most people’s lives.

3 easy ways to save money around the home:

1. Use less energy

When it comes to reducing your energy costs, there are some obvious tips, such as to increase the insulation in your home - everywhere from loft insulation to carpet underlay, triple glazed windows, draft excluders and the like… but, the most significant way you will save on your energy bills is to heat only a few rooms of your home, such as your living room and dining room - the rooms you are actually in, and then use more personal sources of heat to keep warm in places like bed, for instance a hot water bottle or electric blanket.

2. Grow your own fruit and veg

Growing your own vegetables, in your garden, is not only a healthy way to provide wholesome food to your family but it’s environmentally friendly, pesticide free, and an incredibly cheap way to cater for hungry mouths.  In fact, in the summer, if you have a decent sized vegetable patch you can provide most of the vegetables and salads from your own garden.  Plus, you can grow them organically.

Fruit trees are also brilliant as they require little maintenance.  Many can just be planted and left to grow.  Once they are ready to produce fruit (or you might buy them already at this stage) then you should get a good crop of fruit every year for years to come.

3.  Compare and switch providers

You’ll be amazed by how much money you can save by simply switching providers, particularly when it comes to things such as broadband and TV packages, yet it only takes five minutes.  You might want to head to a comparison site like moneysupermarket.com in order to check out the best deals for you.  We switched to Bulb last year and saved £264 compared to our last energy provider as well as getting £50 cash back on top of that!

Final word

In summary, you want to try to focus on the larger expenses - for instance, if you can reduce your food shopping bill by growing your own vegetables, that can save a small fortune, and similarly, you can save a heap of money by insulating your home and being more mindful in terms of energy efficiency.  Don’t forget to look into switching providers.  There are some ways that you can save money each year that take very little time and effort at all such as planting a fruit tree or switching energy providers.

 

 

Want to save more money or get free money?

Check out my massive money-saving tips section and find some great deals on my voucher codes and how to get free money UK pages!

Learn how to get free food and heavily discounted food.

Check out my list of UK apps that turn receipts into cash and also this list of UK cashback sites to maximise your free cashback and savings.

 

Want to manage your finances better? 

Here are loads of family finance tips and helpful debt articles.