We’re coming out of the recession now but there are still tough times ahead. Benefit cuts and tax rises are on the cards this year, but this doesn’t mean you have to suffer. By being a bit clever and weaving some Magpie magic, you can ride out the tough times and even be a money winner by 2011 by following the 10 steps below.

1. Pay yourself first.

Everyone wants our money, from the coffee shop on the corner to the car salesman. But before you give anyone any of your hard-earned cash, make sure you pay yourself first each month.

Set up standing orders to pay your essential bills after your money comes in each month (see here for how to budget day-to-day) but add another standing order of a portion of money to go into a savings account to build up your own wealth pile. Make sure the savings account is easy-access and the best rate you can get but DON’T TOUCH IT unless you hit a real emergency.

The money you have left over after you’ve paid yourself is what you can then play with for the rest of the month.

To be a winner financially you need to have a cash cushion behind you in case everything goes pear-shaped. So, make sure you fill your savings account with enough money in it to cover you for at least three to six months. Once you’ve built up that fund you can put your monthly payments to yourself into longer-term investments for you and your family’s future.

2. Live for half-price

Having less money doesn’t mean you have to have less of a life. You can have a good standard of living just by being clever with what you buy and how you buy it. In other words, get the same standard of living on half the amount you used to spend.

For example, eat out for half-price at really good restaurants through Toptable which has great offers every week – including several 50% off deals in restaurants around the country and abroad.

Go on holiday to really exotic locations by doing a house-swap with families in other parts of the world. Join a website like Homeexchange and you can go away for months all over the world and you only have to pay for your travel and food.

Make the most of voucher codes and discounts – like the ones we have every day in Moneymagpieexpress. Also use cashback sites where possible so that you can get money back on everything you buy. Sign up for free to our regular bargain alerts too so that you get all the latest discounts straight into your inbox.

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3. Share with friends and neighbours

When times are tough the best way to get through it and win is to get together with friends and neighbours and pool your resources. If two or three of you club together you can buy in bulk at the market or local cash-and-carry so that you can even get perishables at a cut-price rate and share them around. We’ve got loads of ideas on how you can save by clubbing together here. Booking train tickets in groups can get you discounts with National Rail and thetrainline.com.

Holidays can be cheap if you book several people at once. Travelodge gives you cheaper rooms with group bookings. Virgin Holidays says if you book with a minimum of ten people you may qualify for a group discount. Also bear in mind that if you go on holiday with a group of friends, you can make money from it by doing the booking for them. If you use a credit card with rewards you could get the maximum cashback or even earn enough airmiles to get yourself another holiday later on!

You can get a whole new wardrobe by holding a ‘swap shop’ with friends where you swap clothes and accessories that you don’t want. Share babysitting with neighbours to give each other a night off here and there and get into sharing lifts either with work colleagues or with strangers through Liftshare or Nationalcarshare.

Also, if you you use oil to heat your house, getting together with your friends and neighbours from the local area will get you a better price from your oil supplier. This is because all the deliveries can be done at once, so the supplier only has to pay to send out one tanker. This lowers overheads, and means they will pass the savings on to you. Businesses like Oilconsolidation will put you in touch with a group in your local area.

4. Think for yourself and go against the crowd

The best way to be a real winner when it comes to investing is to think for yourself, do your own research and only invest in what you believe in, not what everyone else is saying you should do. Don’t for a moment go to your bank for advice on any sort of investing or borrowing. They will just try to sell you their latest product that makes them money.

Be brave. When the stock market crashes (which it’s likely to do later this year) this is the time to buy. So go against the crowd and consider buying into it then. But don’t bother with expensive, badly-run funds that banks and other financial companies try to push. Invest through cheap, computer-run index-tracking funds which charge a minimal amount each year and simply track the stock market index. If you buy when the market is very low you will get a lot more for your money than if you buy when everyone else piles in.

Also, don’t buy gold just because everyone else is. That’s when the price will be at it’s highest and you won’t make money. When everyone else is buying that’s a time to sell it instead. But don’t sell to the companies that advertise on daytime TV offering instant cash for gold. Go to a few good quality jewellers on the high street and see who offers you the best price.

5. Go for alternatives

We’re all sick of the banks, and with good reason, but don’t just stuff your money under the mattress. There are alternatives, so shop around.

For great bank accounts, loans and savings join up with your local Credit Union. Credit Unions are generally run by local people for local people. They are managed on sound principles and work on your behalf rather than trying to get the most money out of you. Go to their website to find one near to you.

If you can’t get a decent loan through the usual channels, don’t resort to doorstep lenders or payday loans – try alternatives such as Zopa which is an online lending and borrowing portal where ordinary people lend to, and borrow from, other ordinary people.

6. Set up a regular earner ‘on the side’

Make some ‘treat’ money for yourself by setting up a nice little earner in your spare time. There are lots of ways to do it and many are actually fun. We have loads of quick and easy money-earners in our Make Money section including housesitting where you get to stay in someone else’s home and, possibly, look after their pets for cash; renting out your driveway and helping new mothers by being a doula.

Also, you can make pocket money while you’re on the computer by doing online surveys or getting paid to surf the Net. If you enjoy baking or making things you could make extra and sell them at a local car boot sale once a month. You can even make money by buying lost luggage at auction houses near airports then selling the contents, and the suitcase, on eBay. Think about all your hobbies and skills and you could find a way of making money by doing something you enjoy.

7. Fight for your rights.

We have far more rights as consumers than we are aware of. Get clued-up about your rights and you will save money on faulty goods and services and you will stop yourself being ripped-off.

One of the common mistakes people make is to think they have to have a warranty to cover faulty goods. In fact, according to the Sale of Goods Act 1979, items need to be ‘fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality’ and if they’re not you can demand damages for up to six years after you’ve bought them. You may need to go to court over it but if something you’ve bought breaks down earlier than a reasonable person would expect it to, then you have redress under this law.

Also, even when you buy things in the sales, if you find they’re faulty when you get them home the shops still have a legal requirement to replace it or give you your money back. Interestingly, though, there’s no legal requirement for shops to give you money back for something that you bought and then decided you didn’t like if there’s nothing wrong with it.

The government helpline Consumer Direct (08454 04 05 06) gives free advice and information to anyone who thinks they’ve been ripped off, so use it if you are concerned about a purchase.

8. Get what you deserve

Every year, billions of pounds in benefits and tax-breaks go unclaimed. Make sure that you get what’s rightfully yours. Go to Entitledto, put in your details and see if you qualify for any more benefits or tax breaks than you’re getting right now.

There are often new rules set up in each Budget too, so make sure you keep up with tax and benefit changes. For example, from April 2011, grandparents and other adult family members who provide childcare are entitled to National Insurance credits towards the State Pension. If you look after your grandchildren then make sure you take advantage of this when it comes in.

9. Live the simple life

One of the better aspects of the recession is that it has begun to turn us away from the over-spending consumer culture of the last decade. An obsession with trying to live like celebrities has led to debt and unhappiness over the last few years.

However, studies show that living a simpler, more frugal life is not only good for the wallet but also for our happiness levels. So increase your happiness and cut your borrowing through the year by bringing back the traditional values of mending things instead of throwing them away, re-using and recycling households products and cooking meals from raw rather than buying takeaways and pre-prepared food.

Use your garden to the max, if you have one, by growing your own fruit and vegetables. In fact, planting fruit trees is one of the easiest ways of getting free food as they need minimal amount of care and produce fruit each year that can be eaten or stored for later.

Spend more time with friends and family holding ‘pot luck’ parties where everyone brings a dish to the dinner party, rather than meeting at expensive restaurants. Insulate windows and doors and put up thermal curtains. This can be done for very little cash but will add up to savings on your heating bill throughout the year. You may also be surprised to know that turning your thermostat setting down by just one degree can cut down your energy consumption (and bills) by up to 10%. Which makes for a healthier and cheaper winter!

Don’t bother with a gym membership. Get into walking and cycling in fresh air and even do the housework more vigorously. A recent Which? study found that cleaning the bathroom for ten minutes worked off more calories than doing a 10-minute Wii-Fit workout!

10. Grab the freebies

There are lots of free things around that we can take advantage of. For a start, don’t bother buying books, even secondhand.

• Use your local library for a constant supply of free books and cut-price DVD and CD rentals. Or swap books you already own for free ones you haven’t read at Readitswapit.
• Listen to your own choice of music for free for as long as you like with Spotify or Lastfm.
  
• Get free cosmetics by hosting a Body Shop or Virgin Vie party at home for your friends.
• Make free phonecalls around the world through your computer on Skype
• Get free household furnishings among other items on sites like Snaffleup and Freecycle. People put things they want to give away on these sites and they can include everything from sofas to washing machines to computers. You have to collect them, but it’s a small price to pay for refurnishing your home.
• Get free meals, hotel stays and grocery shopping by becoming a Mystery Shopper. Join one of the main agencies and pick the reviews you want to do in your area. You can get free meals in restaurants, an overnight stay in a hotel or some of your supermarket shopping paid for in return for answering questions about your experience on their website.

And finally, make sure you are signed up to our free newsletter (and tell your friends to do it too!) so that you get the latest deals, information and saving ideas into your inbox every week.