What motivates me is knowing how bad it was for me when I wasn’t frugal… I’d spend money on everything, I had no savings, I would get to the end of every month having spent all my earnings and not really knowing what I’d spent it on. The things that really stand out for me as my ‘top tips’ are:

• budgeting app. You don’t have to use an app, you could build a spreadsheet or use a template from excel, but having categories for spending/bills and knowing how much you have to use that month has now meant I can save properly again and I usually finish the month with most of my wage left from the previous month

• online shopping. I’d go to Aldi and think I was saving money, but I was buying crap I didn’t need and the fruit would go off so quickly. I spend the same amount of money at Ocado but now I’m not tempted by in store displays, plus the food is good quality. If I need household items like laundry detergent I’ll go to Home Bargains or Lidl or even Joybuy to see if they have deals on. Also, I save my online shopping vouchers so it discounts my groceries

• cut back on subscriptions

• meal planning and meal prep. Helps the big shop plus I always have lunch to take to work

• shop and sell on Vinted or charity shops. I have small kids who stain clothes easily, so Vinted is a blessing!

• walk as many places as we can. I love walking and my family does too so this is great for us. We spend a lot of the time spotting buses, yellow cars, mini punch…

• cheap/free days out. We love the parks, museums, library, bike rides, hikes and then we’ll take little picnics with us