The Great 'Night-shift savings' Hunt

A question about : The Great 'Night-shift savings' Hunt

The Great 'night-shift savings' Hunt

Night-shifters, do you find MoneySaving different to day-time workers? We want to tap your collective knowledge to find out how night owls bag bargains.

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Best answers:

• we have found it much cheaper on childcare hubby works nights i work days he sleeps while kids are school and then has them after school until i get home is saving us thousands compared to if we both worked days
  it is also much easier to get him into doctors or dentists etc
  we are saving money for him on food as well just make a little extra dinner and he takes that to work for his midnight snack rather than being tempted to go to greggs which is just a walk around the corner but closed while he is at work
  we are both getting better quality sleep due to sleeping alone and so are more awake to deal with household things and we are batch cooking to save on cooking during the week so buying in bulk is saving us money on food
• I used to work 12 hour nights seven days a week.. my electricity bill was minimal for the summer, as i never needed the light on, and in the winter I only used it for about three hours max.. heating was cheaper, as i was out of the house for the coldest part of the day... there was nothing on telly while I was awake and not at work, so that was a saving... also I was usually asleep when anyone came door to door, and if I did hear them knock, I'd be so sleepy I'd just tell them to b***er off... Also when shopping I just wanted to get it quickly so I could go to bed, so no impulse buys... life was very inexpensive back then...
• I guess the obvious way you save money is by being able to do mostly online shopping, as you are home to take the deliveries. Easier if they deliver by Royal Mail when you know when to expect the postie, rather than randomly being woken up by a courier an hour or two into your sleep though!
  My more outgoing colleagues always said they had more money at the end of the month by not being available to go out every night or too knackered to go out when they did get a night off!
  One of the main benefits for us has been being able to have dogs and me being around for them all day (they do sleep when I sleep!) and latterly with a child and not needing any external childcare. Animals are never money saving though!
  I have found a greater proportion of night shifters will walk or cycle to and from work, saving packets of money on car or bus travel. Not sure why but there's a definite trend.
  I'd agree with the above poster on heating/lighting savings in general but doesn't work so well when one partner works days, the other nights :s
• Marked down food - when I worked night shifts at the Post Office as a Christmas Temp, I was able to stop into the local Tesco Express just before they closed and buy my dinner from the reduced-price sandwiches and salads. These were really low prices, cheaper than I could make myself - chicken mayo on granary for 39p, Caesar salad 19p etc - and sometimes even a two-for-one at 45p, as it was all going in the bin when they closed an hour later. There was hot food available through the night at the staff canteen, but only the permanent staff got subsidised meals, we temps had to pay full price so I only ever bought cups of tea there. Saved a lot of money, and had a nice dinner as well to break up the monotony of that very boring job, couldn't wait for the clock to crawl round to hometime!
• I work a mixture of day and night shifts, my bf only works days. I used to work 90% nights, I preferred that but no longer an option really.
  As work is very quiet during the night shifts I can often do surveys/competitions at the same time.
  I also get a bonus/better wage for working unsociable hours/12hour shifts etc so that all adds money to the pot.
  We can't figure out a time for heating on that suits us both, so we just don't really use the heating. If I am cold when I need to sleep just stack up on blankets and use 2 hot water bottles!
  Also when you work nights you are not tempted to just 'nip into town' to buy anything, as everywhere is shut.
  If forget to take pack lunch or don't get hungry until after all takeaways shut you have no option but to starve(and save haha)
  As I don't want takeout all the time, and know everywhere is shut it trained me to always remember my lunchbox!
  Some of these things can be applied to day workers as well of course, but working nights just forces your hand more.
  Save money on social life, and built in excuse for when you don't want to waste money going to a bar/restaurant etc, as you are wither working that night, or if they want to do something in day time you need to sleep.
  Other benefits -
  I don't get harassed by recruitment calls etc on my mobile. It is on silent when I sleep in the day, and no one ever calls overnight. I check miss-calls, google them and can ignore all the crap.
  The 'own time' and peace and quiet is lovely when you are in the house all alone all day, or working at night in a silent office.
  Downsides
  I am always having a bad night(days) sleep because of things waking me up. (postman/charity muggers/next doors lawnmover/car alarms/pointless sales calls to house phone) You don't realise how much noizey crap goes on around your house until you try sleep through it.
  'Lunch' break, not much to do as no where to go so I end up wasting money on ebay!
  When I have time off I am sometimes in a 'night-mode' so end up sleeping all day and up all night, so use more electricity for lights/tv/hot drinks
  I have so much less quality time with my bf and we both end up with messed up sleep which makes us grumpy and fight.
  Long shifts mean less holiday allowance, and no free bank holidays. I had to use half my holiday allowance just to get xmas off.
• i currently work 4 nights and 1 day per week. I found when I worked full time nights I saved a lot more money than working full time days (its why i asked to move back onto nights).
  I've found I save the most money with shopping and food. when working days there was the temptation to go down to the shop on a break to grab a sandwhich crisps etc on nights that just isn't an option as unable to leave the hotel due to H&S. so it means more planning on either eating before going into work or taking a pack up. the other thing I've found is i'm using my slow cooker more. getting everything thrown in before going to work and its all cooked for when I finish. This means I'm using and eating more whole and filling foods.
  I'm more social on nights but cheap social things such as going round to a friends for coffee, chat and chilling out watching a film/TV before I go to work and they have finished. If going out to the pub or something outside its a great excuse to eat smaller meals and not drink alcohol as I've just woken up. I'm also looking at returning to uni part time as my night shifts are set and don't change week to week leaving me with a proper timetable unlike when working days as my shifts and days changed week to week.
  I currently live in staff accommodation so wouldn't know the bills prices but I would expect them to be lower if i did live in a house I would be sleeping during the peak usage times and I don't have the heating on anyway. But the internet does run quicker during the morning when others are at work :-)
  Working nights also gives me the opportunity to look online for the best deals on different things and read the forums on here!!!