Making savings can be a hit or miss affair if you don’t have a good plan in place. It seems that, no matter how much we earn, putting money aside for a rainy day or saving for something special can be more difficult than we think. To help you out, here are 3 small changes you can make that will help you save big:

Negotiate Better Deals

Recent research has shown that most of us are bad at getting a better deal. We don’t like to haggle and we don’t like to shop around if we can help it. Changing your mindset in this respect is one of the simplest things you can do. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to cut hundreds of pounds off your bills in one fell swoop.

• Change your supplier: If you go on a price comparison site you’ll find where the better deals are and it’s easy to switch. If you want to stay with the same company but would like it cheaper give them a call and see if you can negotiate a better deal. That goes for utility bills as well as things like insurance, broadband and your television package.
• Be prepared to walk away: When you are phoning up a supplier to get a better deal, be prepared to walk away. Most companies will knock something off your bill if they think you are serious. Don’t forget, it’s a competitive market out there and they want your business.
• Decide what you want and prepare your spiel: Don’t phone up the company cold, have a think about what you’d like to happen and what you are going to say. Even if you’re not used to haggling, there are some great tips online that can help you get the big savings you are looking for.

One Shop, Big Cook

We often spend too much time shopping, particularly for food and other consumables. Having a weekly plan for your meals and drinks is a great way to save money. Buy in bulk and you’ll get more product for your cash. Supermarkets tend to put a premium on smaller packets for things like tea, coffee and pasta. Next time you go shopping, compare the cost of a box of 160 teabags compared to 40 and see how much you will save.

When you cook, use everything you’ve bought and make extra batches that you can put in the freezer and have on another day. That saves you time and energy as well as money.

Repair and Reuse Don’t Buy New

Repairing something is not as difficult as you might think. If the TV is on the blink it can save you a lot more money to get a repair man or woman in rather than buying a new system. Do you really need a brand-new phone once your two-year contract is up? How much will you save if you stay with your old one and simply switch to a low data tariff? There are plenty of things we throw away before they’ve outlived their usefulness. Get into the habit of repairing or keep on using and you’ll be surprised at the savings you can make.

All these are small changes, mostly to the way you think about things. But they can make a big, big difference to your savings. Another great thing you can do is keep track of your spending. There are plenty of online resources that help you do this on multiple devices, which means you can monitor your spending and make the savings you need.