If you’re anything like me, you’re terrible at saving money each month. You get paid at the end of the month and half of it goes immediately on rent and bills, some on your Netflix/Amazon Prime/Spotify subscriptions, some on food, and the rest just disappears somehow?!

So how can you possibly save when you live in an expensive city? Well, you might want to take another look at what you’re actually spending your money on each month, and you’ll probably be surprised how much we end up spending on everyday items which we can definitely do without!

Here are just a few things we should stop spending money on this month…

1.    Coffee

Coffee is an essential right? For some of us, yes, but a recent poll states that coffee costs the average person £303 per year. That’s an awful lot of money on something that we could definitely get for free from home or at work.

If you buy coffee every day, you should invest in a portable travel cup (they’re also way better for the environment) and make your morning coffee to go before you leave the house. It also saves time in the morning– a win-win situation really!

 2.    Buying lunch at work

Okay, so everyone’s guilty of this one every once in a while, but if you’re a serial lunch buyer, cutting this out could save you an awful lot of money. For example, the Co-op lunchtime meal deal is £3.50, so if you got that every working day you would be spending £17.50 per week- up to £850 a year! (not to mention you’d probably get bored of them pretty quickly!).

 It’s easier said than done though, especially when you’re in a rush to leave in the morning and don’t get much time to yourself in the evenings! The best way to make sure you prep for the week is to make time for it on Sunday evening (when you’d probably just be watching TV anyway) and bulk make your meals for the week. It’ll save you lots of money and you’ll feel super productive. Just make sure to take it out of the fridge in the morning!

 3.    Stop buying bottled water

Yes, we know that Fiji water is filtered through volcanic rock and contains loads of vitamins and minerals etc. but when it’s costing you £1.20 for a 500ml bottle from the supermarket, is it really worth it? 

 Alternatively get yourself a metal water bottle and get as much water as you want, whenever you want, for free.

4.    Amazon (or any other website you impulse buy from)

Online shopping is a blessing and a curse (a blessing for you, but a curse for your bank account). It’s just a bit too convenient being able to order whatever you want, at any time of day, and for it to arrive on your doorstop the next day. The pop up ads on websites don’t help with this.

 Next time you’re about to mindlessly order something you don’t really need, stop yourself, and see how much more money you’ll have at the end of the month.

5.    Alcohol

This one’s an obvious one yes, but even slightly cutting down on the amount of alcohol you buy in clubs, pubs and bars each month will save you an enormous amount of money, especially in cities like London, where a double G&T at a bar can cost around £10!

Head to the Mocktail menu if you feel like there is a social stigma around not ordering alcohol- no one else has to know!

6.    Unused subscriptions

There is bound to be at least one direct debit you set up a bazillion years ago, which is still taking your hard-earned money out of your account. This might be a gym membership you no longer use, a Netflix subscription (which you no longer need because you’re using your housemate’s), an Apple Music subscription, Amazon Prime subscription… the list is infinite.

Downloading an app like Truebill can help you keep track of all of your subscription in one place, making it easier to know where your money is going.

Written by Chloe Lane