You could say I'm a natural-born saver.

As a little girl on my walk to school, I would scan the pavements for copper pennies and sometimes, if I was lucky, would find silver five and ten pence pieces. 

I squirreled my findings away into an old Kenco coffee jar in my bedroom, best deals www ebay australia writing the new total down on a little piece of paper every time I added another coin to the pot.

As soon as I was old enough I got two weekend jobs, worked hard and carefully counted my cash.

Among my friends, I was always the one with the voucher codes and the discounts, an expert at getting a bargain or a deal. 

By 17 I had saved £7,000 to buy my first car.

And by 23, juggling three jobs - as an estate agent, a barmaid and a driving instructor - I put down the deposit on my first home. When I met my husband, Adam, I had enough in the bank to pay off his mortgage.

I have long known that money is not a secret recipe that only rich people know.

It's a mindset and an attitude that anyone can have.

I'm now a 40-year-old mother to Brody and Bronte living - mortgage- free - in Essex.

At the start of the pandemic I tentatively began sharing my money-saving tips on social media.

The response was incredible and my Instagram account, @moneymumofficial, has more than 200,000 followers.

Now, just in time to help you tackle rising inflation, I've written a book full of practical advice to help you reboot your finances without feeling the pinch.

I'm not here to be a bore and tell you that you don't need a big house or a new car and that you don't have to go on amazing holidays.

Quite the opposite.

In fact, I'd say those three things are the most important symbols of achievement to me. But you don't need to be wealthy or earn a huge salary to achieve them.

Whether it's listening to a subscription music channel, showering in expensive potions or grabbing a takeaway coffee on the way to work - it's the small, everyday costs that rapidly accumulate to the point where you could end up spending half a day's wages before you even reach the office.

Just by spending a little less on household bills, the supermarket shop, car insurance and even your clothes, you will naturally leave a little more for all the things you want to do in life.

And it all adds up.

Here's how to shrink your expenditure without any sense of sacrifice…

Whether you use an online app, a notebook or a whiteboard in your kitchen, the most important first step in wealth-creation is to keep a record of spending and income every month.

Simply write down all your expected monthly outgoings in one column: rent/mortgage, bills, food shop and so on. Then, in a second column, list your income for that month: wages, any tax credits, refunds you might be expecting, birthday money, a bonus etc.

Now add up each column and subtract your outgoings from your earnings.

The difference between the two is the amount of money that is available to spend or save each month.

This is the figure you need to keep at the front of your mind when you find yourself tempted by the lure of a new top or an overpriced hot dog at the cinema.

Is that little treat worth an hour of hard work?

One clever way to help curb thoughtless spending is to compare the cost of whatever you want to buy against the amount of money you earn in an hour.

If you are not paid by the hour, divide your annual earnings (once tax and national insurance has been paid) by 52 to get your weekly income, then divide that number by the number of hours you work each week (the national average is 40).

The idea is to keep your HRP (Hourly Rate Principle) in mind every time you queue for a latte or swoon over a pair of new party shoes, and to get into the habit of asking yourself if what you are about to spend is worth another hour (or more!) of work.