We are in the worse period of inflation since the 1970's and literally every penny counts be it towards food or the dreaded energy bill. It will be doubly important to make good savings escpacilly when the energy hike further bites in October and despite the council tax help for those in bands A -D and the £200 loan ) that you will pay back over 5 years ) it still isn't enough without people literally watching every penny that they spend.I am a great fan of the yellow sticker item and freezing what I can and this is where meal planning can help as well. So what are the ten top things you can do to make your money go that much further and robbing a bank is I am not afraid in the list.

1. Meal planning can really help and help stretch those meals for a couple of days 

2. Haircuts go to your local college and see if they do special training days or even ask your lcaodl/ town hairdressers , the students are always supervised and observed and you will get a free cut or a heavy reduced one.Liek today I had my hair coloured for the fraction of the cost and a few weeks ago I had a free cut saving myself at least £50 . I don't usually go to the hairdressers for a colour but it is my sons graduation soon and so as it is a very special occasion I thought  it was worth it

3. Clothes check your wardrobe to see what you don't need and wither charity shop it or sell it . And if you do need clothes do check those charity shops you'll be amazed what you can find , I found my husband a new winter coat for this winter that should have be £79.99 and instead was £19.99 and it was a good M & S one as well.

4. Ditch the gym membership and exercise from home or perhaps start the couch to 5 K or if you have a nintendo switch then look for a cheap ring fit game and related accessories this in the long run ( see what I did there ) be cheaper than year in year out gym membership.

5.Use food apps such as Olio and Good to go , tonight for instance I picked up a roast dinner for £3.99 and the meat was carved fresh in front of me and included a Yorkshire and veg as well as gravy. There is enough for 3 meals from how I loaded the box.

6. See if your work has shower facilities like my husbands does as he cycles to work or set a timer at home to cut down on your length of shower.

7. See what you can see around the home from using Facebook market place, vented or ebay , you will be amazed as to what you can find round your home to sell. Currently when I sell something I am using it to chip off what I owe on my energy bill or even put to towards it.

8. Check you are your best deals for your home and car insurance especially when it comes up for renewal.

9. Check your mobile phone contract and see what benefits it can get you , I am with O2 and yes I know there are cheaper mobile providers but currently the freebies I am receiving from O2 far outweigh changing to another provider. 

The first freebie I use from O2 is from Cafe Nero and did you know you can get further free coffees and other drinks just from downloading the Cafe Nero App , you scan the Cafe Nero App before scanning your O2 drinks code. I have already got a stamp for a free drink and I am saving them up for summer when I am can have a nice cold drink in the searing heat of the Uk !