The ‘great money saving tips’ that are practically useless

You could save £600 a year cutting out that daily latte! Quit the gym and go for a run outside instead and save £480 a year! Take a packed lunch to work and save… well, you get the picture.

There’s no end to the articles offering tips that could add up to save you a fortune. In fact, I once read one that offered to save me more than I actually earned in a year.

And while the advice may be good and the writers may be in earnest, I’ve started to wonder how realistic it is. We’ve been in a downturn for five long years and most struggling people have already cut back on their discretionary spending.

Yet still we’re told to tighten our belts by leaving the car at home, when many people have had to give up their car because of the running costs.

I decided to give myself a spending audit to see if I could still save money by following any of these tips – and how much…

Cut your daily latte – save £600

This is a favourite of money-saving articles. If you’re drinking a £2.50 coffee five days a week, 48 weeks a year – say, on the way to work – then you’ll spend £600 in 12 months.

I have two problems with this gem of advice. One is that I no longer spend £2.50 a day on a pricey coffee and haven’t in years. The other is that, even if I did spend less on coffee, I’m unlikely to have £600 more at the end of the year.

My experience suggests that unless you specifically set that money aside, it gets sucked up into other expenses like extra groceries.

But if you’re flat broke and wondering why, it probably is time to look at your coffee habit and invest in a thermos.

Potential saving: £600. My saving: £0

Make a packed lunch – save £1,200

If you spend £5 on your lunch, five days a week for 48 weeks then you’ll pay £1,200 a year. That’s quite a hefty sum when you could make your own sandwiches at home for just a few quid a week – or eat up leftovers and cut back on food waste.

Going by the number of meal deals for sale in supermarkets and on the high street, there must be plenty of people still buying their lunches while at work.

However, I stopped doing this a long time ago and most people on a tight budget aren’t paying £3-£5 for a daily sarnie and drink.

Having said that, I do find it quite tempting to meet friends for lunch on Fridays and usually spend at least a fiver. If we arranged to meet at each other’s homes instead, we could each save over £200 a year.

Potential saving: £1,200. My saving: £200

Spend £1,750 less on shopping

Many people can’t cut back on their household bills because they need the heating on, or have to have an internet connection for work. So it’s often the food bill that gets squeezed, but that doesn’t mean you have to buy less nutritious food.

There are many ways to save on food shopping; buying supermarket-own or economy brands; shopping online so you don’t give in to temptation; and even giving up on supermarkets entirely and using your local market for fruit and veg.

[How supermarkets get you to spend more]

The website Moneysavingexpert reckons that dropping a brand level (ie from big brands to supermarket-own or from supermarket-own to budget) will help a family cut their food bill by 30% - or an average of £1,750 a year.

While tips like these can really help cut your food bill, many people will already have downgraded their shop to the cheaper option – food prices are rising faster than average inflation and it’s put a real strain on bills.

If, like me, you’ve already experimented with cheaper brands then there are still ways to save. I’m a big fan of mySupermarket.

The website allows you to compare the cost of your weekly shop from several of the leading supermarkets. It also flags up bargains and offers, allowing you to find genuine savings.

According to mySupermarket customers save an average of £17 a shop. I think I probably save between £5 and £10 a week. Over 48 weekly shops a year, that’s between £240 and £480.

It’s also often suggested that the average family throws away £50-worth of food a month, adding up to £600 a year. In January this year, my resolution was to waste less food and I think this is already saving me around £520 a year. That means I’d struggle to cut my bill any further.

Potential saving: £2,350. My saving: c£360

Drive more efficiently - £500 a year

Car sharing, walking, cycling, these are all great ways to save money on fuel and cut your environmental impact. But I’d really struggle to give up the car; I have a toddler and a baby to transport and am constantly grateful I don’t have to wrestle them onto public transport.

But learning to drive more efficiently can be another great way to save. In fact, petrochemicals giant Shell reckons the average driver could shave £500 a year off their fuel bill through smarter driving.

I frequently forget to make sure I am driving efficiently, so this tip is always a good reminder for me. However, I don’t actually cover that many miles. When I looked into this, I found I could save around £72 a year – but then I only do a few thousand miles on average.

The average motorist covers 12,000 miles a year according to Santander, and so the savings could be substantially higher.

Potential saving: £500. My saving: £72

How much could I save?

So with these few tips, it’s possible to save £4,650 a year – assuming you haven’t already done them. If you’ve already cut back then you’ll save less; I reckon I can reduce my bills by around £632 over 12 months.

That would be a pretty good cut to my flexible spending. If I had the discipline to keep that money in savings rather than let it get absorbed, I could really add to my rainy day fund.

Yet it really shows that after five years of economic downturn, the money saving articles are often mistaken about the easy wins readers can make.

But budgets are brilliant

That’s not to say that planning your weekly budget and spending won’t help you rein in your costs.

While cutting back on your daily coffee shop trip is unlikely to mean you have £600 in your hand at the end of the year, planning your weekly and monthly budgeting will help you keep control and mean you naturally limit your discretionary spending over a year.

This can help avoid debt and set money aside for more important things like a rainy day fund or Christmas.

I’m a big fan of the Money Advice Service budget planner tool. It’s very easy to use and lists almost every household bill you can think of.

[How to draw up your own budget]

What do you think? Are there many expenses you could cut back on? Have you already made these savings? Share your experiences in the comments below.