Tuesday 24 May 2022 02:58 AM Fifty ways to live the good life for free! trends now

Continuing our series with money-saving guru JASMINE BIRTLES, today she explains why one of her guiding principles in life is to make the most of everything that is free.

The money you save can then be spent on bills or invested to make more money — and you get the reward of enjoying something that has not actually cost you a single penny. 

Start with this list of fab ideas for free living.

1. Get restaurant food for free. Download the apps Olio (olioex.com) and TooGoodToGo (too goodtogo.co.uk/en-gb) which tell you daily which local cafes and restaurants will give away or sell off leftover food cheaply.

Businesses on the app will give you a time slot to pick up the goodies. For restaurants, this tends to be after closing so be prepared to pick up your items in the evening.

2. Become a mystery shopper. You will get free meals, drinks, other freebies and get paid, in return for written or verbal reviews about services. No formal qualifications are needed but you must have good observational skills and a good memory.

Mystery shopping has been around for 60 years and is highly regulated in the UK.

The Market Research Society has created a code of conduct, and standards are maintained by trade bodies such as the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. Agencies include ESA, Grass Roots and JKS Mystery Shopping.

3. We're coming into the best time of the year to forage for free food. Wild garlic, some seaweed and more are there for the picking. Website fergusthe forager.co.uk is full of great ideas and recipes for 'found food' and advice on what to avoid.

4. Plums, raspberries, cherries and apples — you can get them all for free if you know where to look. Try fallingfruit.org that tells you about orchards, trees and bushes growing wild in your area so that you can pick your own for nothing.

5. If you live in or near commercial art galleries, get on their invitation list for exhibition previews. They usually have free drinks and nibbles at these so you can enjoy some art and have your 'dinner' free!

6. Furnish your home for nothing using websites such as freecycle.org, Gumtree and nextdoor.com.

7. From snacks to seeds, body lotions and recipe books, get your hands on freebies of all sorts through sites such as latestfreestuff.co.uk and freebies.co.uk. Voucher sites tend to spam you with emails when you sign up so set up a separate email account so your usual inbox won't get clogged up.

8. Go late to car boot sales. Towards the end, sellers often give things away rather than lugging them home again so it is worth staying on until after the main rush. In the last 20 minutes or so, offer to take things off their hands. You could then put these last-minute steals up for sale online if you don't want them.

9. Become a comper! Competitions happen every day, particularly on social media. Put the hashtags #competition or #comp into any platform and you will find loads. Check out the competitions section on my site moneymagpie.com, too.

10. Entertaining children is expensive. On average, parents in the UK spend £323 in a one-week half-term break. Save your pennies by looking out for free local events on websites such as free-events.co.uk which lists most free UK festivals, parades and carnivals.

11. If you love the cinema, you could save by joining show filmfirst.com. Once signed up, you'll get emails with a screening code which you can enter into the website for free tickets. You can also see films for nothing at your local cinemas and theatres through freecinema.co.uk and fmuk.org.uk.

12. Forget expensive West End tickets. Why not go and watch your favourite TV shows being filmed (as well as other live events). Find out more at the BBC website, and also at lostintv.com, applausestore.com and sroaudiences.com.

13. Music lovers should make the most of the free gigs around the UK with allgigs.co.uk. You can search for gigs by artist, town or type (there's also an under £10 and under £5 section, if you don't mind spending a bit).

14. Lots of High Street favourites such as Pizza Express and Frankie & Benny's offer free food on your birthday. Costa and Starbucks give free cake, too! Just sign up to newsletters or download the apps and show proof of your birth date.

15. You can get into some festivals for nothing by working for Oxfam. You work in shifts promoting the charity and in return you get a free ticket to the event. You can find more information at festivals.oxfam.org.uk.

16. The Animal charity PDSA tours around Great Britain offering free health checks for dogs. They also offer gratis veterinary care for the pets of those on benefits. Try their eligibility checker at pdsa.org.uk/pet-help-and-advice/eligibility to see if you qualify for this great service.

17. SMS messages can be costly but you can send as many as you like to any mobile at sendsmsnow.com. Use apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal to make free voice calls on wifi.

18. We all love a wardrobe revamp. But buying new clothes can cost a lot. So try swapping your clothes instead. Websites such as rehashclothes.com allow you to swap outfits and accessories online without charge.

19. Never pay for wifi when you're out. Find the nearest free wireless internet hotspots all over the UK with free-hotspot.com. Search by street, town or country. Make sure your wifi is secure if you're using it for sensitive data, though. Do not do online banking in a hotspot, for example.

20. Trade talents with friends and neighbours. Maybe one is a great cook and could bake cakes for you in return for an hour's ironing? Arranging swaps is a great way to get things done for free and make new friends. The NextDoor app creates an online neighbourhood where you can get free help or stuff others are throwing out.

21. If you don't want to pay out for something you won't use often, ask friends if you can borrow theirs. This works well for big items such as a lawn-mower, paint brushes and rollers or kitchen equipment. If you're friendly with your neighbours, split the cost of a tool and take turns to use it.

22. Many colleges and training schools need guinea pigs to practise on, or models for photographs to showcase their work, meaning you could get a new hairstyle or a glam makeover for free.

23. Lift sharing is a great way to get to work

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