Are you broke? Of course you are. You work long hours for no money because the bankers took it all and you're never going to be able to afford a house. Or something.
Long story short; you're short on cash money. And could do with saving a bit. Even if it's for no reason other than to prove to your parents you're a together human being.
The trouble is, saving's hard. Especially when you don't know how to go about it. Luckily, there's a few tricks you can use to trick yourself into accidentally saving £100 without even noticing. Here's how to do it....
1. The old £2 trick
How often do you get a £2 coin falling neatly into your purse? Rarely right? Like maybe once a week. At best. So, next time you get one, take it out of your normal coin purse slot and pop it into another pouch you purchased for this very purpose (this one's a fiver. And cute). Once the £2 is in this pouch it's OFF LIMITS. When you've got a couple, transfer your £2 coins to an old school piggy bank in your room. This lady in America practised the same method of saving with $5 bills and saved $3335 in a year.
Time to £100 - 1 year
2. The secret bank account trick
My mum did this for me. Because I'm shit at money. But by gum it worked. Set up a savings account (just call your bank, they're not scary I promise. In fact, if you've got online banking, there's probably an option to set one up a savings account online without even speaking to someone) then, set up a direct debit for £20 a month ONE DAY AFTER you get paid. Then, by the time you look at your bank account to assess how much you've got to live on this month, that £20 is already gone, safe in your new savings account. Look at you adulting all over the shop.
Time to £100 - 5 months
3. The collect your change trick
This is SO obvious but almost no-one ever does it. In your local supermarket (the big one) there's probably a money changing machine. One that you see little old ladies pouring all their coins into and walking away from with big wads of cash. That could be you mate. THAT COULD BE YOU. Just collect up all the bits of loose change from around your house and from in those big jars and booze bottles you've been stashing one and two penny pieces and take them down to your nearest Coinstar machine to exchange them for cash - find you nearest one here.
Time to £100 - Depends on how messy you are in your house. But probably like an hour.
4.The get yourself a damn coffee machine trick
Stop making fun of the so called 'Clooney Effect' and the Nespresso wankers, they're actually the smart ones in this situation. At the moment, if you're buying your coffee every morning like a chump you're spending, wait for it.... £543.95 on coffee (this is based on a £2.15 coffee with milk from Pret over 253 working days). Spend £35 on a Lavazza coffee machine and £64 on 7 boxes of 36 pods (enough for 253 days) and your yearly spend on coffee drops to £99 - a saving of £444.95. Keep the coffee machine at work so you're not tempted to 'pop out for a coffee'.
Time to £100 - Roughly 3 months.
5. The 'tip yourself' trick
Going out for dinner is a luxury. Something that you probably spend far more money on than you really should. So, put a tax on it. Whatever the tip is from the meal for the server, put the same amount aside for you into your little pouch that we talked about earlier. A quick poll of Team Debrief shows they go out for dinner an average of 8 times a month. If you're tipping 12.5% to your server on a £25 meal that's £3.12 per meal or £24.96 per month.
Time to £100 - Roughly 4 months.
6. The old free delivery trick
Getting free delivery on something feels super great. But it ususally means that you've ordered a little more to get yourself over the threshold. Like if your ASOS basket is on £94 (naughty) you're going to add the extra £6 on top to get that free shipping. Ditto for onion bhajis when the threshold to get free takeaway delivery is £15 and your korma-and-rice-and-naan only comes in at £13. Every time you get free delivery, again, tax yourself whatever you should have paid. Take the money you've saved and PUT IT IN THE DAMN POUCH.
Time to £100 - Depends how much shopping you do. Delivery costs are like what, a fiver? Do it 20 times and you're golden.
Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
Money And Friendship Get Even More Complicated In Your Late 20s
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Follow Jess on Twitter @Jess_Commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.