There are thousands of small ways in which you can save money. Penny-pinching can make you miserable, but it does not have to be like that. With a little bit of prior planning, anyone can save Pounds each month: 

• Keep a careful track of what food you buy. I read somewhere that a third of all fresh food in Britain is thrown away uneaten. Wow. If you buy large loaves of bread and find yourself throwing 1/3 of the bread away each time, why not stick half a loaf in the freezer as soon as you buy it. Come to think of it, lots of things can be frozen, even milk.    

• Recently I took a train from London to Newcastle, and even travelling off-peak, on a weekend, at 6.45 in the morning, it still cost 40 quid one way. So for those long trips, always book in advance, even if you are travelling by bus.    

• I see people on their way to work every day buying a cup of tea or coffee (and if you are like me a cake too) just before they get to work. Why not buy a small flask and save yourself 2 Pounds a day (or 50 Pounds a month) by making a hot drink before you leave home? Or better still, if there is a free coffee machine at work, use that instead.    

• Make your own lunch. Why pay 2 Pounds for a small bottle of Cola and a Pound for an apple, when you can buy the same items for half the price at your local supermarket. I don’t like making my own sandwiches, but in most of the UK a sandwich costs 3-4 Pounds now, which means nearly 100 Pounds a month just for a sarnie.   

• Buy your glasses from Southern Seas: southernseasglasses.co.uk (Disclaimer: I am biased as I work for Southern Seas). 

• There is no need to buy everything new, despite what the adverts bombarding us every day tell us. Can you find it on eBay or Gumtree “like new”for a fraction of the price? 

• Learn how to use a needle and thread. I learn’t how to fix seams that had come apart and to sew buttons back on when I was 10, (not very willingly I must admit), and it has saved me a lot of money over the years. Get your mum or granny to teach you! 

• Don’t chuck your favourite shoes away, get them resoled for 1/2 the price of a new pair. 

• If you are worried about overspending on cards, don’t use them. Take all your pay out in cash, then you can see how much you are paying out for everything, literally. 

• If you, like me, have a weakness for cakes and chocolate, but can’t really afford them, don’t try and give up altogether. Instead of having cake 3 times a week, why not cut down to twice a week instead?

The author is the founder of Southern Seas Glasses. The views expressed above are entirely those of the author and do not in any way constitute legal, medical, professional or financial advice.