María Pilar Amela, CEO of Ahorradoras.com

Where did the idea of Ahorradoras come from?

I’ve always enjoyed saving, asking for free samples, using discount coupons and controlling my finances. I was in a precarious professional moment and I decided to live my dream of having a business and to do so with a topic that I was passionate about: saving. That was 5 years ago and the need of families to reach the end of the month made us grow very quickly both in followers and in visits from over 168 countries.

Today we are very satisfied by our work which helps many families to optimise their financial resources to a maximum. We’ve also created a community which feeds itself with tips and advice.

You have a very active community, what has been your key to success?

Closeness. Behind us there is not just what has today become a brand. We’re people, the majority of us women, who come up with solutions to stretch our money and resources to a maximum. Women who decide very well how and where we spend our money because we analyse and compare before buying, and we don’t hesitate a second to upload a photo to our social networks with over 250,000 followers when we find a good offer, so others profit from our findings.

From the start I’ve communicated with complete closeness, showing photos from my daily life, of my shopping with coupons or discounts for near sell-by dates, moments with my family or places I have been discovering. I’ve shared everything I have found useful, so that other savers can find out that you really can save with out giving up anything.  

Has the economical situation influenced a change in mentality in your users? Do they ask you for services now which you didn’t have before?

Yes, we have noticed it, now we think a lot more before opening our purses and we’re not afraid to buy in markets, profit from offers or buy and sell second-hand items. Before, the effort to come up with ideas to buy things cheaper or to reuse things you were going to throw away, was not valued. Currently, however, having shopped well is worthy of satisfaction and praise from others. One example of this are the shopping receipts our followers send us every day. In this we have seen an enormous change.

Additionally, on the website or in the book “Ahorradoras: 101 tips to save and live better than ever!”, I try to do my bit concerning financial education. In Spain, we lack this training and it’s a shame. The effects of the financial crisis woke up the need to know more about money-related issues.

Personally, how much can you save a month with discount coupons?

It depends on the month, but I’ve calculated that along with the discount codes and products with a near sell-by date, I save roughly € 200 a month, which is a significant amount.

Is there a fool-proof trick to becoming a super-saver?

Start with motivation and be aware that the reward is worth the effort. Know the difference between a purchase you need and one that you want. Compare prices, reuse, optimise everything. But for me, the biggest and the first tip I mentioned when I created the website, is controlling your income and expenses that you have to face each month.

This calculation, which can seem the simplest thing in the world, is not done in the majority of homes; it enables you to clearly see how much money you have, both to spend and save. The secret is to apportion expenses which are more frequent than monthly, and extract their monthly proportion. In this way, you know how much you have to spend each month, regardless of whether some expenses are charged this month or next. Like this, you always have your economy under control and you avoid surprises and overdrafts.

How do you find bargains? Are you directly related to brands or is it just from research?

We started by looking, but in the end it is thanks to the scope we have, because the brands themselves contact us, and the community of followers informs us. Like this we don’t miss a thing, especially the ‘Try it for free’ products which are so easy to find in supermarkets, and cover a wide range of brands.

What do you think of our fidelity programme? Do you use it often?

I think it’s fabulous. It rewards our fidelity and also encourages us to carry on buying and saving money. I have the card since Consum opened in Vinaròs and I use it often. Almost every morning. Honestly, as well as being one of the supermarkets with the best offers and variety of brands, the staff are very nice and make you leave the shop with a smile.