Kia: Hey, Kia here. The cost of living has made everything
Kia: so much more expensive. Not just the price of things
Kia: that we buy regularly, but our more significant outgoings too.
Kia: Energy bills, rent and mortgages have seen some huge increases.
Kia: With everything seemingly on the rise, knowing how you can
Kia: cut back to make your money stretch even further is
Kia: something that we all need to know. Welcome to another
Kia: episode of a Little Bit Richer, brought to you by
Kia: my friends at Legal & General. Here to help us with
Kia: the top tips to trim your spending is Charlotte Jessop.
Kia: Charlotte is a financial educator, writer and vlogger, and the woman
Kia: behind the Looking After your Pennies platform. While working as
Kia: a maths teacher, Charlotte noticed a gap in the education
Kia: system around personal finance skills. She shared her own experiences
Kia: with money online, which led to a recognition that poor
Kia: financial education is a national, even global problem. Welcome, Charlotte.
Charlotte: Hello. Thank you for having me.
Kia: Thank you for coming on. I'm really excited to delve
Kia: deeper into how we can trim back our spending. So
Kia: first things first, let's touch on day- to- day spending.
Kia: So, can you share some ideas on trimming your spending
Kia: when it comes to food?
Charlotte: I don't think there's any other part of our lives
Charlotte: where you get this intersection where you are dealing with
Charlotte: your finances, your health, and also your time management as
Charlotte: well. Because when you go food shopping, you're looking for
Charlotte: things that are going to nourish your body, but they
Charlotte: also have to stay in budget and they also have
Charlotte: to not take too long to cook because you're busy.
Charlotte: Then yes, it is one of those things that we
Charlotte: can control a little bit more with our spending. We
Charlotte: have a choice about how much it costs, but also
Charlotte: it is a mammoth task. So, some of the things
Charlotte: that I recommend people do are things like meal planning.
Charlotte: So, sit down and decide what you want to eat
Charlotte: for the week, and sometimes that restriction, that can be
Charlotte: a little bit controlling for some people. Actually for me,
Charlotte: I just like the freedom of going, " What we're having
Charlotte: today? Oh look, we're having chicken nuggets and chips," or
Charlotte: whatever it is. And the benefit of doing this is
Charlotte: you can think about what you need to buy. You
Charlotte: can also think about what time constraints you might have.
Charlotte: So, if I go out to the shops and I
Charlotte: buy something that's going to take two hours to prepare,
Charlotte: that's going to sit in the fridge and go to
Charlotte: waste. Whereas if I go, actually this needs to be
Charlotte: a quick in the oven, 15 minute (inaudible) , then
Charlotte: I know I've got that on the menu. So, that
Charlotte: really helps reduce things like food waste and keeps the
Charlotte: cost down. Other things like just choosing your supermarket wisely.
Charlotte: Some supermarkets are cheaper than others and this is widely
Charlotte: acknowledged. Do a little bit of shopping around. I also
Charlotte: do want to acknowledge that I live in Norfolk and
Charlotte: sometimes you don't get a choice about what supermarket you
Charlotte: can shop. But yeah, I think just being a little
Charlotte: bit of aware of things like the pricing. All the
Charlotte: tickets these days have to have how much it costs
Charlotte: per kilo or per hundred mil, or whatever it is.
Charlotte: So, you can make a little bit of a comparison
Charlotte: when you're in the shops itself. The things on the
Charlotte: end aisles might look cheaper, but they're not necessarily, they're
Charlotte: just the promotions. So, take your time with some of
Charlotte: these things. I'm a big fan of having my shopping
Charlotte: delivered, and this is mostly because I then have the
Charlotte: freedom to shop around and compare prices. And one trick
Charlotte: that I really like, and I use this when I'm
Charlotte: doing my meal planning, is I will go online and
Charlotte: look at the supermarket's pricing and go, " Oh actually, what's
Charlotte: on offer?" Because sometimes chicken might be on offer that
Charlotte: week and that's a really good price, whereas I was
Charlotte: thinking about having pork chops or something, but actually the
Charlotte: chicken might be cheaper. So, I can combine the two things
Charlotte: and create meals around what's cheaper that week. So, just
Charlotte: tweaking some of these things can help shave off a
Charlotte: few pounds off your food bill each week.
Kia: Absolutely. I think one big thing that my dad got
Kia: me into before I went to university and that I still
Kia: do today, and that he loves to do is the
Kia: yellow stickers. Because it does feel like sometimes everything's always
Kia: on the rise, but there are so many different ways
Kia: that you can bring down that spending.
Charlotte: Absolutely.
Kia: When it comes to treat spending, because I think this is
Kia: a big thing, as people life is very stressful. You
Kia: want to spend some money and treat yourself, but what
Kia: are some ways that we can make sure that we're
Kia: not just splashing the cash, but we're actually being a
Kia: bit more measured with our treat spending?
Charlotte: So I think one of the things that I love
Charlotte: to do here is actually pre- determine what I want
Charlotte: my treats to be, because we can get caught up
Charlotte: in the moment. So, I like to set a list
Charlotte: of things that actually mean something to me. So, I
Charlotte: have various hobbies like paddleboarding and I like eating out,
Charlotte: and I like travel. So, I'm trying to make sure
Charlotte: that if I'm going to treat myself, it's on something
Charlotte: that actually is meaningful to me and I'm not just
Charlotte: trying to fill in a gap and an emotional splurge,
Charlotte: but also budgeting that in, allowing that to be part
Charlotte: of your spending. So many people that I see when
Charlotte: they are preparing a budget or they're sitting down there,
Charlotte: they've got a spreadsheet or they've got an app, and
Charlotte: they've planned out what they want to spend their money
Charlotte: on, they remove all of the fun, and that makes
Charlotte: it hard work to stick to a budget, instead if
Charlotte: you allow some of those things to be in your
Charlotte: budget. So, if you want to takeaway, put a little
Charlotte: bit of a takeaway buffer in there. The point of
Charlotte: life isn't just to sit in your house bored.
Kia: No, it's not. I completely agree. I've had a treat
Kia: yourself fund, that's what I call it, for ages now. So, when I
Kia: see something I don't feel bad. I can spend and say, "
Kia: Okay, it's within my budget. I've got X amount set
Kia: aside. I can buy this." So, let's talk more about
Kia: budgeting then. What can people do when it comes to
Kia: making more significant cutbacks to their spending and their budgets?
Charlotte: Yeah, so we've talked about things like food shopping. We've
Charlotte: talked about those treats and reducing those things, but actually
Charlotte: these are smaller tweaks. What we want to do is
Charlotte: look at some of the more significant purchases we are
Charlotte: making in our lives and see what changes we can
Charlotte: make there. So, I have a budget spreadsheet, I have
Charlotte: all my outgoings, all my income. And what I do
Charlotte: is I look, and I'll highlight maybe a category on there.
Charlotte: So, it might be like my electricity bill and I'll
Charlotte: be like, I'm coming for you electricity bill, and that
Charlotte: month I'll work on how I can reduce that. And
Charlotte: that might mean I switch my provider or it might
Charlotte: mean that I look at ways that I can reduce my
Charlotte: spending around the house. Look at those big expenses that
Charlotte: we have in our lives, rent, mortgage, all of our
Charlotte: utilities. Here is where we can make the big difference.
Charlotte: So, things like if your mortgage is out of your
Charlotte: fixed deal, go speak to a mortgage advisor, speak to
Charlotte: them and try and get a deal that maybe lowers
Charlotte: some of those payments. All of these things are very
Charlotte: much worth looking at and trying to reduce. Because ultimately,
Charlotte: if my mortgage costs me less, I still get the
Charlotte: same quality of life. I'm still living in the same
Charlotte: house, it's just my mortgage is costing me less. Same
Charlotte: with my electricity. So, these are less about lifestyle choices
Charlotte: and just significant financial changes, and they can make a
Charlotte: real difference to your budget.
Kia: I think there's a key thing that you said there,
Kia: is that to speak to someone. So, I drive and
Kia: I have my car. Every year, I do not renew
Kia: my insurance or go over new insurer without picking up
Kia: the phone and see if I can get the best
Kia: deal. I think that is a very key one that you mentioned
Kia: there. Just pick up the phone and speak to someone.
Kia: And if they don't give you one, you're no worse off.
Charlotte: Yeah, absolutely.
Kia: And I think often a lot of people have this
Kia: consensus that, oh, I'm just bad with money, because they
Kia: feel as though they have no control over how they
Kia: spend their money. So, what would be some of your
Kia: tips when it comes to actually controlling how much you spend?
Charlotte: I think you need to start with an awareness of
Charlotte: what you're spending. A lot of people jump straight in
Charlotte: with trying to just cut out all unnecessary expenditure. And
Charlotte: what there needs to be is a period of reflection.
Charlotte: What are you currently spending your money on? And I
Charlotte: can speak to this, because a couple of months ago
Charlotte: I realized that there was certain areas I was like,
Charlotte: how is this costing me this much? And so, I
Charlotte: reflected a little bit on where my money was going
Charlotte: and I'm shifting in my seat, because there was some
Charlotte: almost embarrassing, there was some online shopping that came in
Charlotte: to 400 pounds. It wasn't like I was like, " Oh,
Charlotte: I have 400 quid's worth of stuff." Off the back of
Charlotte: it, it was, " Oh, well where did that go?" And
Charlotte: there were little trips down to the local shop for top-
Charlotte: up shops. This was not my grocery shopping, this was
Charlotte: just the odd, we'll need a pint of milk and
Charlotte: a chocolate bar, and this and that. So, I needed
Charlotte: to start from the point of, this is where my
Charlotte: money is going and why is that happening? What am
Charlotte: I not doing? So, things like those top- up shops,
Charlotte: I was like, well, what is it that I'm getting?
Charlotte: What is it that I'm not getting on my weekly
Charlotte: shop that I feel the need to go down to
Charlotte: little Tesco for in order to get every couple of
Charlotte: days? And then, I was able to make a change
Charlotte: to my habits. I wasn't able to make a change to
Charlotte: my grocery shopping and go, " Oh, okay, I need to
Charlotte: buy more milk." I was like, I'm running out of milk,
Charlotte: but if I just got six pints a week rather
Charlotte: than four, that's going to fix my problem and then
Charlotte: I don't have to go down the shop. So, control
Charlotte: and spending isn't about completely eliminating some of these things
Charlotte: that you're doing. It's about just having an awareness of
Charlotte: why, and that's when you start feeling a little bit
Charlotte: more in control. So, I don't recommend that anybody goes
Charlotte: cold turkey on changing their financial habits around their spending.
Charlotte: Instead just reflect, go through this period of understanding where
Charlotte: you're at now and looking for areas where you can
Charlotte: make improvements. And it might be that I allowed myself,
Charlotte: for example, one trip down to the shop and then
Charlotte: that change was enough to let me go, "Well actually, I
Charlotte: don't need to go anyway." It was just a little
Charlotte: outing. And making those smaller steps is much better than
Charlotte: trying to make one huge leap to something that feels
Charlotte: a long way off.
Kia: I think those small steps just feel more achievable and
Kia: more attainable and they keep you motivated on that journey,
Kia: and it gets you building up that good habit. So
Kia: speaking of habits, I want to ask you, what are
Kia: some good or positive spending habits? We've spoken about things
Kia: to be aware of, but what are some good ones
Kia: that we can make sure that we're enforcing?
Charlotte: Yeah, so I think when it comes to positive habits, having
Charlotte: a budget, any budget is a great place to start,
Charlotte: because this isn't just about your own financial awareness. It's
Charlotte: about knowing what you have coming in, and income is
Charlotte: just as important as spending, but also things like seeing
Charlotte: where your money is going. Knowing it's so easy to
Charlotte: get those little subscriptions crop up. So, having a budget
Charlotte: that is all encompassing with your spending is an absolute
Charlotte: place to start. The next habit that follows on from
Charlotte: that is making sure that you actually bother to look
Charlotte: at it.
Kia: That's a crucial one. Don't just make it and leave it,
Kia: make sure you're referring back to it.
Charlotte: You need to be able to check in with that. It
Charlotte: needs to be a functioning document, something that adapts and
Charlotte: changes. I think another one is to just have that
Charlotte: knowledge around your own wants and needs as well. So,
Charlotte: when it comes to spending, I always sit there and go, "
Charlotte: I know I want this, but does it align with
Charlotte: my bigger vision for myself?" Do I want this meal out
Charlotte: because I can't be bothered to cook, or can I
Charlotte: just shove a pizza in the oven and then actually
Charlotte: that can go in my holiday fund, because I want
Charlotte: the holiday more than I want this meal out today."
Charlotte: So, just knowing what you're trying to achieve, and having
Charlotte: goals and being clear about where you're trying to head
Charlotte: with your finances, can really help you keep on track
Charlotte: with your spending. And this was huge for me. I
Charlotte: went traveling with my kids a few years ago, and
Charlotte: that was literally knowing that we were going away and
Charlotte: knowing that we needed some money for that really helped me.
Kia: I agree. I think having a clear goal keeps you
Kia: on track and just keeps you focused. But let's talk
Kia: about when things don't always go to plan, especially when
Kia: it comes to budgeting. What would be some easy ways
Kia: that we can correct that and get back on track
Kia: with our budgeting and spending?
Charlotte: I think one of the key points here is not
Charlotte: to be too hard on yourself. If you're hard on
Charlotte: yourself because you've overspent, normally that leads to further overspending.
Charlotte: It's so easy to draw parallels with the world of
Charlotte: health and fitness. You have a cheeky muffin and you're
Charlotte: trying to lose weight, and then you're suddenly like, " Oh
Charlotte: well, I've messed that up. I might as well have a McDonald's."
Charlotte: And it's the same when it comes to our money,
Charlotte: so just be like, " Whoops."
Kia: It happened. We can draw a line under it.
Charlotte: Exactly. So just be gentle. Be kind on yourself. And
Charlotte: I think then the next thing is to actually think
Charlotte: about your budget in terms of monthly or longer term
Charlotte: progress. So, let's say you set a budget, week one
Charlotte: of the month it all goes wrong and you've overspent
Charlotte: a little bit. You don't need to go like, " Well,
Charlotte: next week I've got to spend nothing." You just take
Charlotte: what you've got and you get your calculator out and
Charlotte: you divide it by three and spread it out over
Charlotte: the next three weeks. But actually, that will get you
Charlotte: back on track.
Kia: Charlotte, you've been incredible. You've given us some of the
Kia: top tips that we need to trim back our spending
Kia: and ace budgeting. But before you go, I want to
Kia: ask you, what are your top three budgeting hacks?
Charlotte: So the first one is to just be gentle on yourself.
Charlotte: We mentioned this already, don't try and over- restrict yourself.
Charlotte: Your budget should be about creating freedom in your life,
Charlotte: and you need to start from a place where you
Charlotte: feel like you are going to actually achieve it. You
Charlotte: don't want to set any rules in your life or
Charlotte: cut back so much that it's not going to be
Charlotte: successful. So, that's the first one. So, the second one
Charlotte: is I love to team up with my friends. So
Charlotte: I had a neighbor, she's moved now, and I'm not going to hold
Charlotte: this against her, but we used to team up on
Charlotte: that bulk purchasing. So, if there was a deal that
Charlotte: was two for one on toilet roll or something, I'd
Charlotte: be like, " Mate, I got you some toilet roll." And
Charlotte: then we'd split the cost, so then-
Kia: That's great.
Charlotte: ... we were getting the benefit of the deal and
Charlotte: actually seeing a reduction in some of our spending. And
Charlotte: we also did things like pressure washers. We both went
Charlotte: halves on one of those, because we knew that we
Charlotte: could share a bit. We wouldn't need it that much.
Charlotte: So, look at big purchases, even look at those little
Charlotte: things like toilet roll and see if you can share
Charlotte: those between family and friends. Now, we started off talking
Charlotte: about food spending as well. One of my favorite things
Charlotte: to do is use food waste apps. So, there were
Charlotte: some examples like Olio and Too Good To Go where
Charlotte: you can either get free or reduced priced food. And
Charlotte: what I love about this is not only the monetary
Charlotte: benefits, you're stopping food waste. And there's a real sense
Charlotte: of community, like local cafes giving away cake or something,
Charlotte: and it's just nice to be a part of that process
Charlotte: and save some money along the way.
Kia: Charlotte, you have been an absolute gem on this episode.
Kia: Honestly, so many tips that I'm going to go away
Kia: and write down and start implementing from today. So, thank
Kia: you so much for coming on and blessing us with
Kia: your tips on this episode.
Charlotte: You are absolutely welcome.
Kia: Some great advice there. Thank you so much, Charlotte. So
Kia: many ways we can trim our spending and beat the
Kia: budget. Next time, we're talking cryptocurrencies. Where to start and
Kia: what to be careful of. I'd love it if you
Kia: could review the podcast, spread the word, and help others
Kia: get a little bit richer too. Keep up with the
Kia: show on TikTok and Instagram at Legal & General. Thank you for listening.
Kia: See you soon.