Five ways to save money in five minutes

We're all feeling the pinch - so here are five things you can do in the next five minutes that will save you money.

1) Book a party

If you're broke, going to the pub is out of the question. You could invite friends over to share a bottle of wine (nice and frugal). Better still, why not do this and earn yourself some freebies at the same time?

Spend five minutes during your tea break booking a consultant to come to your home and host a party. Loads of companies offer the service so choose your poison (toiletries - The Body Shop; Cooking - Jamie at Home/Pampered Chef; lingerie - Ann Summers; Children's books - Mini IQ/ Usborne.

Now, invite your friends over, lay out a few nibbles, open that bottle of wine and let the consultant demonstrate the wares. You'll all get to try out all the products and as host not only will you get something for free, you'll also earn a percentage of anything your friends spend! Find out more in this article.

2) Free activities for kids

Anyone with pre-schoolers has a job on their hands entertaining them each day. And music classes, gym and soft-play sessions can add up to a tidy sum.

So spend five minutes looking up the location of your local Surestart centre. Many of the centres run music and movement classes, story times and art and craft activities for children in the community and it's all free (or heavily subsidised).

What's more, it's currently Surestart week, meaning your local centre is bound to be holding events to celebrate and advertise the centres.

3) Save on a night out

If you're planning to see a film with a meal beforehand/afterwards, ten minutes of work could save you some money.

Odeon cinemas are currently offering 25% off tickets until 25 September, so print out this voucher. Orange still gives 2 tickets for the price of one on a Wednesday (if you don't have an Orange phone, apply for a free SIM). Just print out the voucher - it only takes seconds!

Then, spend the next five minutes reading the latest instalment of our frugal food series, to see which restaurants have half price offers on for the night you're planning to go out. And you've got a bargain night out planned in minutes!

4) Use Mysupermarket

A good way to spend less at the supermarket is to shop online. It may sound bizarre but without the product placements and tempting offers you'll be more inclined to stick to your list. Plus, plan carefully and you may not even have to pay for delivery.

And while I know a first online shop takes way longer than five minutes, once you've done it a few times you'll have a template order, so if you tend to buy the same things each week a shop can be done in very little time - sometimes it takes as little as five  minutes, in fact!

Don't go direct to the supermarkets though, use mysupermarket.com - it will compare how much your "basket" costs with Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Ocado and tell you which one is the cheapest. Again, check out frugal food for the latest supermarket money-off vouchers.

5) Make tomorrow's lunch

And finally, a sandwich/salad, crisps and a drink for lunch can easily cost £5 to buy every day. Spend five minutes each evening making a sandwich etc for tomorrow's lunch and that's £1,300 you could be saving yourself each year!

And to make life really easy, make a bit extra for dinner, pop it in a Tupperware container and just reheat it in the office microwave the next day! Check out the lovefoodhatewaste website for more inspiration.

Happy saving!

Search for more competitive financial products at lovemoney.com

More: 18 things you can get, see, or do for free | My 11 favourite moneysaving websites