Compare prices
One of the first things you need to do is to try and establish whether or not you are receiving the best deal from your gas and electricity suppliers. If you aren’t then you are likely to be paying a lot more money than you need to, as much £200 per year in some cases, so shop around. Perhaps use the internet to compare prices, a helpful website is energylinx.co.uk.

Don’t’ use standby
When you have finished using a particular electrical appliance such as a television or radio don’t leave it on standby as it will still be using power, thus costing you needless money. Plus it will increase the strain of ware and tear on the appliance in question, meaning you’ll probably have to replace it quicker.

Switch off lights
This money saving tip sounds obvious but not many people seem to adhere to it. When you have finished using a room make sure you turn off the lights after you. If you don’t do this already just think of all those accumulative hours your lights have been left on for over a course of a year and then correlate it to the excess money you are paying out for this lack of judgment. Yeah, you’re right; it is a lot of money.

Energy saving light bulbs
Over the past 5 years or so energy saving light bulbs have increased, both in popularity and effectiveness. They may cost you a little bit more than the traditional light bulb but they are economically on a different level. The initial cost will be very well compensated by the fact that they will last you longer as well as using less energy, which will give comfort to, both your pocket and the environment.

Insulation
Insulating your home can save you large amounts of money on your energy bills; types of insulation include loft or cavity insulation. Local councils run schemes where they will pay for your home to be insulated or they will offer subsidies to help cover costs.

Other forms of insulating your home may include buying thick carpets, a lot of homes these days are fitted with laminate flooring, the energy bills in these homes are significantly larger than ones which are fitted with carpets as they so much harder to heat. Net and standard curtains rather than blinds can also help.

Take as shower
Taking a shower as apposed to having a bath will significantly reduce the amount of water you use as well as using less energy to heat the said amount of water. A five minute shower will take up 135 % less water than a bath. Not only will you save money on your energy bills, but you’ll make savings on your water rates.

Use washing machine efficiently
When washing your clothes make sure you wash them when you have a full load. Washing machines use a relatively large amount of energy so wasted loads equate to wasted money and over the course of year can add up considerably.

Lower thermostat
This is a very good money saving tip. If you lower the setting on your thermostat by just a couple of degrees then you may benefit from significant savings on your fuel bill. It is generally said that if you turn your thermostat down by 1 degree then you can make a 1% saving on your fuel bill, turn it down by 2 degrees and save 2% and so on.

Secondly when you are not at home switch the thermostat right down, you are not at home so there is no point in wasting unnecessary fuel, you should apply this rule for the night time when you are sleeping.

Overfilling the kettle
When you are making a hot drink don’t fill the kettle up too much, only use as much water as you need. For example, if you need to boil ½ a liter of water and you put in 1 ½ liters you will waste about 100 kilowatts of power. If you did this every day for a year you would be wasting more than 35,000 kilowatts of energy.

Don’t use the hob to boil water
This money saving tip is simple yet effective. When you need to boil water before commencing cooking don’t use the hob to boil water, this may be the naturally instinctive thing to do, but it’s for more efficient to boil the water in the kettle first, not only is it faster but it will save you money.

Shopping list
Before you embark on your food shopping trip make a list of all the items you need, perhaps make a menu for the week and work out which items you’ll need. When you get to the supermarket make sure you stick to the list and not deviate from it. Impulse buys mount up and don’t necessarily add value to your shopping.

Packed lunch
When thinking about what to have for dinner whilst you are at work why not make sandwiches to take with you? Buying pre-packaged sandwiches can be expensive, not to mention fattening. With pre- packaged sandwiches you are paying for the labour, packaging, ingredients and the mark-up.

Economy brands
This is really a double edged sword, some economy brands such as washing-up liquid may prove to be a false economy, on the other hand other items such as baked beans can be more beneficial than branded varieties.

Washing powder and washing-up liquid can be a false economy, for example they may cost 1/3 of the price of branded varieties but they may not be as effective in “getting the job done” and they may run out four times quicker which means the 1/3 saving has been cancelled out. To decide whether economy is better than branded why not buy the economy one week and the branded the next and then you’ll find yourself in a position to decide.

Secondly, in general, branded food and economy food is produced in the same factory using the same ingredients, having worked in production I have witnessed this first hand. The only difference is the level of quality control involved, slightly more attention will be paid to the quality levels of the branded foods, because the factory “don’t want to lose” that order. With most branded products you are paying for the packaging and the name so be careful not to be sucked into paying more than you need to.

Green grocers
When buying your fruit and vegetables it can be more beneficial to go to your local green grocers, the quality and prices are usually better. The added quality means that the produce will last longer.

Cancel out convenience foods
Convenience meals or “ready meals” really aren’t value for money, like pre-packaged sandwiches you are paying for the labour and packaging, so just don’t buy them.

Coupons
We can get bombarded with coupons and “money off” vouchers; they come with magazines, newspapers and through the letter box. Some people can get annoyed by them, don’t, just use them to your advantage. Collect them and use them to reduce the overall cost of your weekly shop.

Cook in bulk
This money saving tip will help you save you money and time. When making certain meals why not make a lot more than you need. You can make the extra meals and then freeze them. If you do this you’ll save time in the preparation of meals in the future, and you will, use less ingredients saving you money.

Don’t shop when you are hungry
Studies have shown that people who go food shopping when they are hungry are significantly more likely to overspend. Impulse buys come into this section. The saying “your eyes are bigger than your belly” come in here, you will end up over-compensating.

Now that you've checked our money saving tips on food and shopping, why not check out our general shopping tips?

Tyre pressure
When you are about to embark on a long journey check the tyre pressure on your car. If the pressure is low then you’ll waste quite a lot of money in petrol. When the pressure is low the car moves less efficiently, using more energy and more fuel. You really should check the pressure quite often anyway, say, every 6 weeks; you’ll use less fuel and cause less damage to the environment if you do.

Take a packed lunch
When you are going on a day out with the kids why not take a packed lunch? It’ll work out a lot cheaper than buying take-away food when on your travels. This way you’ll save money with the added bonus of monitoring the nutritional values of the items you feed you family, because as we know most fast-food is packed full of sugar, salt and fat.

Stay in
Did you know that staying in is the new going out? Staying in these days can be as much fun as going out and it’s a lot cheaper. Hire a DVD get some nibbles, put you feet up and relax in the comfort of your own home. Invite friends around to make it that little bit more authentic.

Buy tickets early
If you are taking a journey by train try and get your tickets early. Some routes have a limited amount of tickets which they will sell for a fraction of the price of standard tickets.

You may also find it cheaper to get a train to a station situated near your original destination. This is because there is less demand to go to these secondary stations and where there is less demand you’ll generally pay less.

Go out earlier
If you are going out for a meal why not go out earlier and take advantage of lower prices. Many restaurants have promotions on to boost takings during the traditionally slow early evening sessions. It may be an idea to keep your ear to the ground so to speak to found out which restaurants in your area have these promotions.

Some restaurants allow you to take your own beverages onto the premises these restaurants can prove to be cheaper too.

Walk
If where you are going is in walking distance it maybe a good idea for you to walk. This will have two added bonuses; it’ll save you money in fuel or taxi fares and a brisk walk is good exercise. If it’s not in walking distance, depending on the circumstances, why not catch the bus?

Picnics
I like this money saving tip. Billions of pounds are spent ever year by families going to theme parks and the like, but growing up I always loved going on family picnics to the beach or local parks. This is a really cheap day out in which hours of fun can be had, building sand castles feeding the ducks etc. so why not give it at try?

Auction sites
Everyday thousands of tickets to theme parks, concerts, plays are put on auction sites such as eBay. If you scout around these there are great bargains for you and your family to enjoy. Check them out and be very pleasantly surprised.