30 practical ways to save money (with numbers)

The short answer

The biggest savings come from decisions you make once: the thermostat, your contracts (insurance, phone, broadband) and your bank account.
In Great Britain, turning the thermostat down from 22°C to 21°C saves about £120 a year (Energy Saving Trust). In the US, setting it back 7–10°F for 8 hours a day saves up to 10% a year on heating and cooling (Department of Energy).
An out-of-network ATM withdrawal costs $4.86 on average in fees, and an overdraft $26.77 (Bankrate, 2025). Both are avoidable.
A saving only counts if the money moves to savings the same day. Otherwise it gets spent somewhere else.

This article builds on our guide How to save money, which covers the method: pay yourself first, build an emergency fund, name your goals. Here we get practical: 30 tips grouped by where the money goes. When a figure is given, its source is listed at the end. When it’s a worked example, we say so.

title: Three numbers to decide where to start
stat: £1,000 | of food wasted a year by an average UK household of four | WRAP, 2026
stat: $4.86 | average total fee for an out-of-network ATM withdrawal | Bankrate, 2025
stat: 15–30% | lower gas mileage from aggressive driving at highway speeds | FuelEconomy.gov

Home and energy: 6 tips

1. Turn the thermostat down one degree. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that going from 22°C to 21°C saves about £120 a year in Great Britain (£80 in Northern Ireland). Most people are comfortable between 18°C and 21°C.

2. Program a setback. The US Department of Energy says turning your thermostat back 7–10°F for 8 hours a day from its normal setting can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling. Night and working hours are the easy windows. In the UK, the Energy Saving Trust puts the saving from installing heating controls (programmer, room thermostat, radiator valves) at about £100 a year.

3. Switch appliances off standby. Worth about £45 a year in Great Britain, according to the Energy Saving Trust. A switched power strip for the TV, console and computer makes it one click.

4. Wash at 30°C, and skip the tumble dryer. Washing at 30°C and running one fewer load a week saves about £26 a year; drying clothes on a rack or line instead of the tumble dryer saves about £50 (Energy Saving Trust). Running the dishwasher only when full adds about £10.

5. Keep showers to four minutes. That alone is worth about £45 a year in Great Britain (Energy Saving Trust), because you pay for the water and the energy to heat it. In the US, Department of Energy guidance says 120°F is the right water heater setting for most homes; check yours isn’t set higher.

6. Block the draughts. Draught-proofing windows and doors saves around £55 a year in Great Britain (Energy Saving Trust). Self-adhesive strips and a draught excluder under the door cost little.

Food: 6 tips

7. Shop your fridge first. Check the fridge and cupboards, then write the list. WRAP estimates that an average UK household of four wastes £1,000 of edible food a year. In the US, the USDA estimates households could save about $370 per person a year by cutting food waste.

8. Read the date label properly. In the UK, a “use by” date is about safety: don’t eat food after it unless it was cooked or frozen in time. “Best before” is about quality: the food is safe after it but may not be at its best (Food Standards Agency). In the US, the USDA says “Best if Used By” is not a safety date, except on infant formula.

9. Freeze the usual suspects. WRAP’s 2026 data shows bread, potatoes and carrots are wasted more than expensive items like pork or fresh chicken. Slice and freeze bread; store potatoes somewhere cool and dark.

10. Compare the unit price. The shelf label shows a price per kilo, per 100 g or per ounce. It’s the only fair way to compare a big pack, a small pack and a “deal”.

11. Pack lunch twice a week. Worked example: swapping two $12 lunches for a $3 packed lunch saves $18 a week, or $810 over 45 working weeks.

12. Make coffee at work. Worked example: a $3.50 coffee every working day, over 220 days, costs $770 a year. It’s not a sin, it’s a choice: make it knowing the number.

Transport: 5 tips

13. Drive smoothly. Speeding, hard acceleration and hard braking lower gas mileage by roughly 15% to 30% at highway speeds and 10% to 40% in stop-and-go traffic (FuelEconomy.gov, run by the US Department of Energy and EPA).

14. Slow down on the motorway. FuelEconomy.gov puts it this way: each 5 mph you drive over 50 mph is like paying an extra $0.30 per gallon.

15. Check tyre pressure monthly. Correct inflation improves mileage by 0.6% on average and up to 3%; under-inflation costs about 0.2% for every 1 psi drop (FuelEconomy.gov). Correctly inflated tyres also last longer.

16. Take the roof box off. A large roof-top cargo box can cut fuel economy by 6% to 17% on the highway and 10% to 25% at 65–75 mph. Every extra 100 pounds in the car costs about 1% (FuelEconomy.gov).

17. Don’t idle. Idling burns a quarter to half a gallon of fuel per hour, depending on engine size and air conditioning (FuelEconomy.gov). If you’re parked and waiting, turn the engine off.

Subscriptions and contracts: 4 tips

18. Audit your recurring payments. Go through three months of statements, list every recurring charge and multiply it by 12. Three services at $9.99 a month cost $359.64 a year. Keep what you use weekly; pause the rest and rotate them one at a time.

My 30-minute contract audit

List every recurring payment from the last three months
Multiply each one by 12
Cancel what I no longer use
Note the renewal date of each insurance policy
Check when my phone and broadband contracts end
Compare my bank’s fees with an account that waives them
Set a reminder to redo this audit in six months

Finding the payments takes the longest. Cancelling often takes minutes.

19. Put a reminder on every free trial. The day you start a trial, set a reminder for the day before it converts to paid. Decide then, not after the first charge.

20. Renegotiate phone and broadband at the end of the contract. In the UK, Ofcom requires providers to tell you 10 to 40 days before your minimum contract period ends and to show you their best deals. Once your handset is paid off, a SIM-only plan with the same data usually costs less than staying on the old tariff: compare.

21. Shop around at every insurance renewal. Since 1 January 2022, UK insurers can’t charge you more to renew home or motor insurance than they would charge you as a new customer (FCA). That removes the loyalty penalty, but another insurer may still be cheaper. In the US, where rules vary by state, comparing quotes at renewal is the simplest check.

Bank fees: 4 tips

22. Stop paying ATM fees. Bankrate’s 2025 study found the average out-of-network withdrawal costs $4.86: a $3.22 surcharge from the ATM owner plus $1.64 from your own bank. Use your bank’s network, or ask for cash back at the till.

23. Take control of overdraft fees. The average overdraft fee is $26.77, charged by 94% of accounts Bankrate surveyed. The CFPB found large banks typically charge $35, while most debit card overdrafts are for less than $26. Keep a small buffer in your checking account, and ask your bank to decline ATM and one-time debit card transactions rather than overdraw. In the UK, since April 2020 overdrafts are priced with a single interest rate and no fixed fees (FCA); arranged overdraft rates are high, so treat it as a last resort.

24. Don’t pay a monthly maintenance fee. Bankrate found that 47% of non-interest checking accounts are free, and many others waive the fee with a direct deposit. If yours charges, meet the waiver or move.

25. Switch in seven working days (UK). The Current Account Switch Service moves your balance, salary, Direct Debits and standing orders to the new bank and redirects payments. If something goes wrong, the guarantee refunds any interest or charges caused by the error.

Impulse buying: 3 tips

26. Keep a waiting list. For any unplanned purchase over a threshold you choose ($50 or £40, say), write down the item and the date, and wait seven days. It’s a rule of thumb, not a law of nature: it separates the urge from the decision.

27. Add friction. Delete saved cards from shopping sites, unsubscribe from promotional emails, move shopping apps off your home screen. Every extra step is a chance to reconsider.

28. Know your return rights. In the UK, you get a 14-day cooling-off period for most things bought online or by phone, starting the day after delivery (Citizens Advice). In the US, there’s no general federal right to return; the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule gives three days to cancel certain sales made at your home ($25 or more) or at temporary locations ($130 or more). Otherwise, the store’s return policy decides, so read it before you pay.

Big purchases: 2 tips

29. Count the total cost, not the sticker price. For an appliance, add the energy: yearly kWh from the energy label × your price per kWh × years of use. Worked example at $0.17 per kWh: a 100 kWh yearly difference is $17 a year, or $170 over 10 years. The slightly pricier model can be the cheaper one.

30. Save first, then buy; and get three quotes. For a cost you can see coming (a car, a fridge, repairs), a monthly sinking fund avoids expensive financing. For home work, three itemised quotes let you compare line by line.

Turn these savings into actual savings

A tip that saves $30 a month only makes you richer if that $30 leaves your checking account. Otherwise it dissolves into the month’s spending. The rule: every saving you find becomes a transfer. Cancelled a $35 subscription? Set up a $35 standing transfer to savings the same day.

Start with the one-time tips (contracts, bank account, thermostat, power strip): they pay every month without effort. Then add two or three habits (shopping your fridge, packed lunch), no more. Beyond that, people burn out. Need money fast? The contract audit, the ATM and overdraft fixes and a no-spend week are the quickest wins.

Try it with Binome360

My assistantBinome360

Cancelled the gym, $35 a month. Put it towards the Mexico City trip

Ready: +$35 to “Mexico City trip”, plus a reminder on the 5th of each month to make that deposit again. Save it?

Goal · Mexico City trip$735 / $1,50049% thereConfirmEdit

Monthly reminder · Deposit $355th of every monthrecurringConfirmEdit

Nothing is saved until you confirm.

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To see where these tips hit hardest, track your spending category by category with a monthly budget.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to save money?

Cut recurring costs first, because they save every month without effort: unused subscriptions, bank fees, an out-of-contract phone plan. Then run a short no-spend challenge. Move whatever you save to a separate account straight away.

How can I save $100 a month?

Stack small savings: one unused subscription cancelled ($10–15), two packed lunches a week (about $68 a month in our worked example), one insurance policy renegotiated. Then transfer that $100 on payday.

Is it safe to eat food after the best-before date?

In the UK, yes: “best before” is about quality, not safety. “Use by” is about safety, so don’t eat food after it. In the US, “Best if Used By” is not a safety date except on infant formula; check that the food shows no signs of spoilage.

Should I switch banks to avoid fees?

Not necessarily. First ask your bank how to get the monthly fee waived and compare with fee-free accounts. If the gap stays large, switching is straightforward, and in the UK the switching service does the paperwork for you.

In short

The best tips for saving money are the ones you apply once and that pay every month: heating, standby, contracts and bank fees. Habits come next, and every dollar or pound you save should go straight to savings. First action: tonight, list the recurring payments on your last three statements and multiply each by 12.

Sources

Energy Saving Trust, “Heating controls”: energysavingtrust.org.uk; “Energy saving tips for your budget” (standby, laundry, tumble dryer, showers, dishwasher, draught-proofing): energysavingtrust.org.uk.
US Department of Energy, Energy Saver, “Programmable thermostats”: energy.gov.
US Department of Energy, “Purchasing energy-efficient residential water heaters” (120°F setting): energy.gov.
WRAP, “By Sunday 15 March, an average UK household of four will have already wasted £200 of edible food this year”, 9 March 2026: wrap.ngo.
USDA, “Why should we care about food waste?”: usda.gov.
Food Standards Agency, “Best before and use-by dates”: food.gov.uk.
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, “Food product dating”: fsis.usda.gov.
FuelEconomy.gov (US DOE and EPA), “Driving more efficiently”: fueleconomy.gov; “Keeping your vehicle in shape”: fueleconomy.gov.
Ofcom, “Companies must tell customers about their best deals”: ofcom.org.uk.
Financial Conduct Authority, “New year delivers fairer home and motor insurance renewals”: fca.org.uk; “FCA confirms biggest shake-up to the overdraft market for a generation”: fca.org.uk.
Bankrate, “ATM fees hit record high for third straight year while average overdraft fee dips”, 10 September 2025: bankrate.com.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “Overdraft and NSF practices at very large financial institutions”, January 2024: consumerfinance.gov.
Current Account Switch Service, “Common questions”: currentaccountswitch.co.uk.
Citizens Advice, “Changing your mind about something you’ve bought”: citizensadvice.org.uk.
Federal Trade Commission, “Buyer’s remorse: the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule may help”: consumer.ftc.gov.

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