My Thoughts On Money-Saving Tips

'Burn Your Tumble Dryer'

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'Never Turn Your Lights On'

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'Use The Rain Instead Of Showering'

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'Move Into a Shed'

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'Don't Cook Your Food'

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'Burn Your Tumble Dryer' - 'Never Turn Your Lights On' - 'Use The Rain Instead Of Showering' - 'Move Into a Shed' - 'Don't Cook Your Food' -

If the sliding banner does not accurately reflect my views on these so-called ‘money-saving tips’ then I don’t know what else will.

Since I started as a personal finance journalist, of the most common questions I get asked is, ‘what’s your best money-saving tip?’, but if I were to answer that honestly, I’d tell you I haven’t got a bloody clue.

During one of the worst cost of living crises that my generation has seen to date, this one is hitting me the hardest. Not because I’m particularly struggling financially, but because writing ‘during the cost of living crisis’ has become second nature to me.

There’s not a single area of our lives that isn’t impacted by this, and everyone I know has taken a hit in some way or another, but even though I’m a financial journalist, I don’t really know what I’m doing here. 

I recently wrote a big myth-buster piece on the most common actions households are taking to reduce their energy consumption and in turn their rising bills, and I was genuinely shocked to see just how many were falsely misleading.

The biggest one was spouted by a mommy blogger who suggested you could save energy by switching from an oven to a slow cooker, something that I since worked out could cost you more than double the amount of energy a conventional oven uses.

It’s truly frightening to see so many people stressed about their bills and taking the advice of unqualified individuals, which could ultimately be causing more harm than good.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t try out a range of ‘money-saving hacks’. Instead, I think it's worth treating them as though you are a scientist, testing different ways to cut back on consumption, and ultimately save you time, effort, and money.

Take your dishwasher, for example. 

My myth-busting article on ‘money-saving tips’ for This is Money

There are a lot of people suggesting you cut back on your usage of large appliances to save on water and energy, when in fact, studies show that using your dishwasher instead of washing by hand can be more effective and cheaper to do.

The Energy Saving Trust worked out that washing your dishes by hand after each meal uses around four times as much water as one cycle of a dishwasher, which uses about 10 liters per cycle, which is a large enough difference to be reflected in your bills.

So, if you’re smart about stacking your dishwasher and getting the most out of your cycle, then there’s no reason why you should slave away over your sink if you don’t need to.

On the other hand, tips such as cutting back on subscriptions will save you money, but the sentiment is somewhat disingenuous.

If everything in life was simply about cutting down on your consumption and cutting back all unnecessary spending, you’d find yourself pretty bored, pretty quickly.

“The only financially sensible decision is the one you don’t make”

Now, I’m not advocating you stay subscribed to every streaming service if you only ever watch Netflix, but as long as you are getting YOUR money’s worth, then the advice is not personally applicable to you.

I’m so happy to see people finding smart ways to cut back on their bills, but you shouldn’t feel pressured into giving up everything you love, just because it saves you a tenner.

For me, I know I could easily cut down on my coffee spending, but I recently decided to cancel my Pret subscription in favor of grabbing the delicious iced pistachio latte from Caffe Nero. 

Yes, it costs me double the amount for my coffee, but I found I wasn’t enjoying my Pret subscription and was actually spending more getting sweet treats or lunches at the same time.

Unfortunately, there is no blanket, one-size-fits-all solution to cut back on money, because our finances are so personal to us, and we all have different tastes. 

And, as those in the personal finance community say, the only financially sensible decision is the one you don’t make, and that’s not the way to live your life. 

My best ‘money-saving tip’? Only spend your cash on the things that bring you happiness, or the essentials, and forget about what everyone else is doing.