{"id":541969,"date":"2026-03-15T12:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T12:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/541969\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T12:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T12:56:10","slug":"canadian-living-in-uk-says-nine-british-money-saving-hacks-changed-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/541969\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian living in UK says nine British money saving hacks ‘changed my life’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian YouTuber Alanna, who left her life in Ontario behind for a transatlantic adventure in 2015, talked about some of the strategies she\u2019s seen Brits use to save cash\"Smiling<\/p>\n

A Canadian has outlined nine money-saving tips that she says “changed” her life (stock)
\n(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A Canadian has outlined nine money-saving tips that she says “changed” her life after relocating to the UK more than ten years ago. Alanna left her life in Ontario behind for a cross-pond adventure in 2015, relocating to Kent, and now operates a YouTube<\/a> channel where she chronicles her life in the UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her channel, titled Adventures and Naps<\/a>, boasts 186,000 subscribers and showcases everything from cuisine <\/a>to local sights, from UK television adverts to Christmas traditions, and now she’s turned her attention to money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In one of her recent videos, called “These British money-saving habits changed my life,” Alanna talked about some of the strategies she\u2019s seen Brits use to save money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Heating<\/p>\n

Alanna kicked things off by highlighting a classic cost-cutting tradition among Brits during the lead-up to Christmas<\/a>\u2014competing to see who can delay switching on the heating the longest.<\/p>\n

She described it as a “bragging right” and mentioned how some people use draught excluders or hot water bottles to stave off the chill; she’s also now the owner of an electric blanket.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Alanna mentioned the habit of saving and reusing wrapping paper (stock)
\n(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

2. Wrapping paper<\/p>\n

In a nod to both thriftiness and sustainability<\/a>, Alanna mentioned the habit of saving and reusing wrapping paper and gift bags from celebrations like Christmas and birthdays.<\/p>\n

3. Rail travel<\/p>\n

Highlighting potentially expensive rail <\/a>fares and claiming that they can vary drastically for the same trip, Alanna said, to counteract this, we should look for alternative tickets.<\/p>\n

Some of the examples she named included split tickets (the use of multiple tickets for your journey), off-peak travel, rail cards and advanced single tickets.<\/p>\n

4. DIY<\/p>\n

Alanna kindly called us Brits “resourceful” and noted that we will sometimes try to repair a broken item rather than simply replace it.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Alanna pointed to our love of a second-hand bargain (stock)
\n(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

5. Second-hand “culture”<\/p>\n

In a similar vein, Alanna pointed to our love of a second-hand bargain, indicating that Brits are big fans of such things as charity shops and online services like Facebook<\/a> Marketplace.<\/p>\n

Alanna conceded that this is also a habit in other nations, but for the UK, it’s “ingrained”. She also noted that perhaps the search for the item is “more exciting” than what is eventually rustled up.<\/p>\n

6. Meal deals<\/p>\n

Loved by many, the lunchtime meal deal (often comprising a sandwich, a snack and a drink for a set price) is another British staple that Alanna spotted, dubbing them “super convenient”.<\/p>\n

7. Museums<\/p>\n

As many readers will know, multiple British museums and galleries are free to enter, including the world-famous British Museum (home of the Rosetta Stone), and this is one aspect of British culture that Alanna particularly likes.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Alanna also included reduced food items in her list (stock)
\n(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

8. Reduced food<\/p>\n

Drawing attention to a common sight in UK shops, Alanna pointed out the yellow-stickered reduced food items frequently spotted in supermarkets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She explained that there’s a knack for spotting the “hidden gems” among the reduced items and noted that the bargains are especially useful for people looking to save money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

9. Loyalty cards<\/p>\n

Another common sight to supermarket-goers, the loyalty card is something of a necessity in modern Britain, with every shop seemingly offering its own version.<\/p>\n

Alanna noted that it was “incredible” that so many places offer such a scheme and mentioned that we can keep digital versions of them on our phones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canadian YouTuber Alanna, who left her life in Ontario behind for a transatlantic adventure in 2015, talked about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,63,99,186,184,185,1478],"class_list":["post-541969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-save-money"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}