Four top tricks to save money

The queen of the discounts reveals how to secure a bargain. Britain's high street has stepped up its battle to tempt you to spend – with serious price cuts on clothing, footwear and electrical goods. 

Inflation – the rising cost of food, clothing and other goods or services – eased back from 1.7 per cent in February to 1.6 per cent in March, according to official figures.

And a similarly themed index from the British Retail Consortium and Nielsen, a global market research company, recently published figures showing a fall in shop prices thanks to large discounts on clothes and electrical goods.

Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at Nielsen, says: ‘Savvy shopping and looking for savings by buying on promotion is the way that most shoppers now look to save money and the continued fall in shop prices will also be helping households to keep to their budget.’ 

No one takes the job of family budgeting more seriously than Sandra Purser – a stay-at-home mum from Wymondham, Norfolk, for whom money-saving is a year-round job in itself.

She is married to George, 49, a self-employed agricultural engineer, and they have two children Lorna, 15, and Clare, 13. Sandra, 44, is a qualified accountant and she often helps her husband run his small business. 

An incredibly thrifty mum, she is always looking for ways to put pounds back in her pocket. Sandra shares a few of her money-saving tricks with The Mail on Sunday.

1. PROFIT FROM THE CASHBACK WEBSITES

Sandra is an avid user of cashback websites, such as Quidco and TopCashBack – and over the past three years she has received back into her bank account £1,500 for online purchases from well-known brands.

To take advantage, customers need to visit and register with the cashback website, and then click on links that take you through to well-known retailers, such as Amazon, Debenhams and Boots.

When you make a purchase, the website refunds a small percentage back into your cashback account some weeks later and it profits by directing customers towards these big brands. Users can then transfer any cashback earned into their bank or PayPal account. 

They can also take the money as an Amazon gift certificate (both Quidco and TopCashBack) while TopCashBack will pay out in the form of either Tesco Clubcard points or Love2shop gift cards that can be spent at many high street shops. 

Many people have cottoned on to such money-spinning websites, but millions more have yet to sign up. Sandra warns: ‘It’s only worth doing if the price of the product is cheaper in the first place.’

Otherwise, she adds, you will get a small discount on something that could have been bought far cheaper elsewhere. 

2. SAVE ON INTERNET AND MOBILE PHONE BILLS

Giffgaff is a no-contract, online only, pay-as-you-go mobile network – and it has won Sandra’s custom for the past three years. It promises ‘no big network nonsense’ and all you need to join is an unlocked mobile (one that can accept a SIM card from any network) and a SIM card, which you can order for free.

It offers a range of ‘goodybag’ plans priced from £5 to £20 a month and if you do not like what you have got you can change it the following month.  And if you can bear to watch some adverts in return for free internet on your tablet or laptop, consider Samba Mobile.

For every advert you view, you earn 3.5MB of credit, which is worth roughly enough to view 10 web pages and send 33 emails. ‘I’ve never had to pay a penny for internet data,’ says Sandra. 

3. FIND THE BEST APPS TO SAVE MONEY

As well as saving money on the cost of a mobile phone, you can then use the mobile to cut other bills. There is a range of apps that can help you to shave pounds from shopping and leisure. The Shopitize app sends supermarket offers to your mobile so you can get discounts off weekly groceries ranging from cereals and crackers to cheese and soap. 

You send a picture of your receipt and the discount is deposited into your bank or PayPal account.  You can find out if good deals are on offer at nearby stores, or if a product is cheaper elsewhere with the Red Laser smartphone app. Sandra also uses the VoucherCloud app, which can find deals and discounts at places nearby.  You can get both virtual and print-off vouchers for discounts on anything from meals or days out to shopping and overseas travel. 

4. GET A REDUCTION ON RAIL FARES

Train fares are often expensive while the experience is underwhelming. Getting from one location to the next may be essential but never overpay for the ticket.  You can cut pounds from fares with websites such as redspottedhanky, another favourite of Sandra’s, which offers savings of up to 80 per cent on standard prices. 

There are no additional booking or card fees and you can earn loyalty points for further discounts on future travel. Earn one point per £1 spent and two points per £1 spent on hotels or car hire. Each point is worth a penny.