Time is Money for Britain’s savviest savers

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17 September 2021 - We’re big fans of savvy saving here at Utility Warehouse. Switching your energy, broadband and mobile to UW is guaranteed to save you at least £50 in the first year, as well as a whole load of hassle dealing with multiple bills.

But how else do Brits save? We asked 2,000 people across the UK about the creative ways they save on the pennies and pounds, with some surprising results…

As a nation, we’re masters of saving the pennies - quite literally a third of us collect pennies in a jar.  But when it comes to saving the pounds, we could do with some help. 

More than one in 10 (12%) of us reuse tea bags, a quarter (25%) cut our own hair to try and cut down on costs and 12% flush the loo just once a day.

9% of cheeky Brits try to eat at other people’s homes as often as possible to help save, while one in four (25%) are happy to pull together random concoctions from the freezer to avoid shopping.

On average, savvy savers reckon all that time and energy spent on tricks and hacks add up around £423 saved every year. Yet when it comes to big impact, easy wins, almost a fifth of us (18%) admit we’d rather pay more than spending time hunting around for the best value option. 

40% of us suspect we could have lower energy bills if only we could be bothered to make the switch, with nearly three quarters (71%) admitting to being surprised at the size of their bills.

In light of the research we created this Time is Money guide to explore the big and small things we can do to save time and money quickly and easily.

Here’s a sneak peak - with essential home utilities making up between 5-10% of our household spend, switching suppliers may not be the most creative way to save money, but it’s among the most impactful, and the quickest.

Check out the guide for other quick and simple wins that could help you save the pounds, not just the pennies.

BRITS’ TOP 35 MONEY SAVING HACKS

 

1.  Making sure lights are always turned off

2.  Wear a jumper instead of turning on the heating

3.  Using discount vouchers

4.  Using comparison websites

5.  Walk or cycle more

6.  Making packed lunches

7.  Shop around for the cheapest utilities provider

8.  Switching utility providers

9.  Turning off all the plugs before leaving the house

10. Checking for two-for-one deals

11. Buying second-hand or refurbished items

12. Exercise at home

13. Saving pennies in a jar

14. Using cashback websites

15. Bulk buy items in advance

16. Grow your own fruit and veg

17. Cut your own hair

18. Ordering groceries online

19. Eat random concoctions from the freezer until food runs out

20. Selling anything you possibly can on an online marketplace

21. Washing hair every other day

22. Checking ISA rates

23. Collecting coupons from newspapers

24. Continuously enter competitions

25. Squeezing old soap bars together

26. Renting books from a library

27. Getting quarterly haircuts

28. Transferring credit card balances

29. Sign-up for free cinema tickets websites

30. Flushing the toilet once a day

31. Reuse teabags

32. Sewing/knitting your own clothes

33. Driving through countries to avoid costs of flying

34. Car share

35. Invite yourself round friend’s and family’s houses for dinner regularly

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