How do you cut down your weekly expenditure?

Although this is not an easy task, it is one that millions of people are trying to answer. Cutting back on weekly expenditure is the best way to make your monthly wage last a little longer and go further. Unfortunately, with the costs of living rising while wages remain the same, it is increasingly difficult to make the savings we need to make.

Here are some simple suggestions and ways you could save a little extra money each week.

Packed lunches for the entire family - This is a much cheaper and an often healthier way to ensure your family eats well at lunchtime. The cost of buying lunch at the shops in town is increasingly expensive with the average price of a lunch being £6 per day. For a family of four, with parents, one teenager, and one primary school pupil, the weekly costs of lunches could be as much as £60 per week!

Switch lights and appliances off! – This may seem like an odd way to save money each week but it really will make a difference to your monthly electricity usage and as a result will give you a saving on the weekly cost of energy. Switch lights of, and any appliances that are on standby. Your Wi-Fi and all other electrical items should be switched off too when you and the family go to bed for the night. Studies show that simply doing this could save as much as £15 per week on energy bills. Putting timers on lamps and certain lights in the house means they will not remain on and forgotten about while they are burning electricity.

Refine the use of your car – Sometimes, we are so used to driving everywhere, we forget that we could save a significant amount by simply, walking or car-pooling. One family in a recently published consumer article, saved over £50 per week by cycling to school and work, and leaving the two family cars at home. In addition, they re-organised their shopping trips and weekly calendars to cut down on the number of trips they had to make in the car. Two car families spend an average of £65 per week on fuel for day to day traveling. More if they are undertaking longer journeys. Cutting back on fuel consumption is one of the easiest ways to save money.