10 Great ways to save money while achieving your goals

I think its fair to say that earning money, or saving money, and having fun often don’t go hand in hand in this modern world. But what if you could find ways that you could actually save money whilst achieving those goals that you’d been reaching for? Here’s a few ideas to get you started down this hallowed road.

1. Tailor your job to suit your dreams

Dream of travelling all over the world? Want to sail the oceans on a yacht but fear you’ll never be able to afford it? Make your job work for you! One of the quickest, and potentially easiest ways to follow your dreams is to find a job that allows you to do them. These jobs are often not greatly paid because so many people want to apply but jobs like cabin crew, roadies, yacht crew and promotional staff could all be a way of kick starting your adventures.

2. Volunteer at festivals

Music Junkie? Want to attend a plethora of festivals every summer but simply can’t afford it? What better way to get your festival kicks than raising money for charity. Oxfam work with a variety of festivals within the UK providing stewards who work for free in return for their ticket while Oxfam get a donation from the festival organisers for all the staffing provided. Hours may vary but on the whole stewards work three 8 hour shifts over the festival duration. Oxfam also provide campaigners and shop workers. Festivals include Glastonbury, Boomtown and Shamballa at the time of writing. Full information can be found here.

3. Be a hair model

Want gorgeous, fabulously styled hair? Need a new cut or colour but simply struggle to afford it? Struggle no more! You can look stylish without breaking the bank. Many salons regularly look for hair models at discount prices and larger brands such as Vidal Sassoon, Wella and Toni and Guy run hairdressing academies where you can get your locks tended too for a fraction of the price. Think £5 for a cut and colour supervised by some of the best in the industry. If you develop a good rapport with the students and staff this can even become free for future cuts/colours. There is some paid work out there but this can be harder to find. Don’t think you can argue with looking fabulous for a fiver though!

4. Get paid while getting fit

New year, new you? There are many apps and schemes out there to help you earn money for doing relatively menial tasks. Things like surveys and testing groups can offer benefits for your time but I have found them to be unreliable and overly selective, often after you have put enough time into them to be annoyed! If your goal is to get out and walk more this year then Job Spotter by Indeed could be the answer for you. Download the app and every time you spot a job offer sign in a window take a couple of photos and Indeed will pay you! Quick, simple and easy. Payment does vary per spot (the more it has been snapped the less it pays) and comes in the form of an Amazon voucher but with a bit of luck and a keen eye you can get fit and buy something nice for next to no extra effort.

5. Use cashback and benefit schemes offered by banks, shops and websites

Most of us are familiar with shop loyalty cards such as the Boots Advantage card, Nectar card or Tesco Clubcard and probably most of us are familiar with the American Express range of credit cards and what they have to offer. Utilising your shopping skills to get the most out of them is an art form in itself but, if done properly, not only can you make some excellent savings on your normal shop but in some cases you can earn experiences that you might not be able to afford normally such as First class flights.

6. Reuse, recycle, reinvent!

New year, new you? I know, I know. We’ve heard this one before but it’s that time of year, right!! Get rid of those old, unwanted clothes and spruce up you wardrobe. Several major UK high street clothes stores (think H&M, New Look and M&S) are currently running clothes recycling schemes. Not only do these schemes offer money off vouchers in return for a bag of donated goods but you can also hold your head up high knowing that your old items are being donated to charity and kept out of landfill. Totally skint? There are a plethora of clothing swap sites out there and events being organised all around the county.

7. Write a Kindle eBook

Always wanted to write a novel? Have a passion for a specialist subject? Did you know that you can publish an eBook on Amazon for free? Publishing takes less than 5 minutes and your book appears on Kindle stores worldwide within 24-48 hours. Anyone can publish on Amazon and you could earn up to 70% royalties on your sales to customers. That’s money that can roll into your bank on a regular basis for no extra work once your book is written. Time to get those creative juices flowing!

8. Sell your photos

Budding photographer? Or just someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time? Selling your photos could be a way to boost those piggy bank pennies. Although some photos could fetch megabucks if you really are right place, right time its more realistic to look at the stock photo market. Some people say its a great additional earner, some that they struggle to earn a penny. In general, stock photos earn approximately 20-30 pence per image, per month.  This obviously depends on many factors, including which agencies you use, your skill in hash-tagging and the uniqueness of the images.

9. Join theatre and cinema clubs

There are lots of seat filling clubs in the UK now. These offer hugely discounted tickets to shows that have not sold as many tickets as they would like and bolster the numbers to make it more busy. You can get tickets to theatre, movies and even gigs for around £3.50 upwards. Tickets often go quickly so you need to be fast (sign up to regular emails) and if you are available last minute all the better. One of the rules of these clubs is often that you can not promote them so…. you better try and Google them for yourselves!!