Making your money go further

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Hello, and welcome to Kick Start.

I’m Alice from Christians Against Poverty

and in this session, we’re going to talk

about making your money go further.

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It’s important that we manage our money well

and reduce the spending where we can, giving us more

to spend on the things that are important.

Here at CAP, we specialise in an award-winning service

that teaches people how to better manage their money.

In this session, we’ll be looking at ways that we can reduce

our spending and give you some really practical tips

for when you’re out shopping later on.

The first thing that we recommend you do is to sit down

and work out where you are spending your money.

Then, for each area of your spending, see if you are able

to cut costs, cut back or cut out.

Cut costs means to buy the same thing, but cheaper.

For example, next time that you’re

in the supermarket buying cereal,

maybe you could buy the cheaper brand at a lower price.

Cut back means to buy something less often.

Having a takeaway once a month instead of once a fortnight

will halve the cost.

Cut out means that you stop buying it completely.

For example, you may be paying for a subscription

that you could go without, like a TV package

or a magazine delivery.

Taking the time to apply the cut costs, cut back

and cut out principles, will reduce your outgoings

and help you to take control of your finances,

rather than letting them control you.

Making changes and wise spending decisions may feel

difficult at first, but it will be worth it in the long run.

For example, a major benefit of reducing costs is

that you can save the money that you haven’t spent,

then when unexpected costs come along,

such as a car breakdown, you have the money ready

to handle it.

Have a go now at identifying areas where you could cut costs

and buy it cheaper, cut back and buy less,

or cut out altogether.

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The most critical time for managing our money

is when we’re out in the supermarket.

It’s so easy to be tempted by all that’s on offer

or to throw an extra treat in the trolley.

Here are five top tips for spending less while shopping.

One, plan your meals before you leave the house.

Check what you’ve already got in the cupboards.

What do you need to add to make meals?

How many people are you feeding?

This will help you to reduce wasting food

that you’ve already bought.

Two, make a shopping list and take it with you.

Supermarkets are set up to make us buy things

that we don’t need with tactics such as putting offers

at the end of the aisles, placing magazines,

sweets and other goodies near the checkouts

or placing the items that we buy regularly like milk

and bread at the back of the shop, to make sure

that you walk further and impulse buy on the way.

During the coronavirus, many shops are also

using one way systems, which means that we have

to weave our way up and down more aisles to get the products

that we need.

So, it’s even more important to make sure that you know what

it is that you’re going in to buy.

Three, don’t go food shopping when you’re hungry.

You’re likely to make decisions based on your wants

and not your needs.

Four, shop late at night to get reduced prices

on fresh food.

Many shops sell food that’s close to its use-by date

at reduced prices.

And five, if you have a few options

for supermarkets near you, choose to shop

in the cheaper budget supermarkets.

Take some time to think about how you can put these

into practise when you next go shopping.

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