Saving money implies that you have have money to put in a safe place, in case something bad happens. For example, if you got paid £1000 every month, you might save £100 of that and put it in to your spare bank account, just in case you lose your job. Being thrifty means that you don't have much money left to spend, so when you do spend money, you spend it very wisely. For instead of going to your usual clothes shop to buy new clothes, you might go to the charity shop where they sell very cheap clothes. "Thrifty" isn't really a word we use in the UK, it is used almost exclusively in the US, and they also have "Thrift stores" which are basically charity shops I believe, that take donations from people and then sell them at a really low cost.

If you are THRIFTY (careful/economical/prudent with your money) then you will probably be able to SAVE money. I have to be thrifty this month because I've run out of money. (thrifty is a good word, but not as common as it used to be) I have to save money this month otherwise I MIGHT run out (of money). (If I have ALREADY run out, I can't SAVE money!) In this case, 'save money' is almost synonymous with ' be thrifty.' Mind you, if you have already run out of money it's too late for being thrifty! Be thrifty NEXT month then perhaps you won't run out.

To me, saving money can either mean putting money aside in a safe place, or spending less on a planned purchase than I'd intended to/than it usually costs. - At the end of each day, I put my spare change into a piggy bank. It's an easy way for me to save a little bit of money. - I found pineapples on sale for $2.00 each. They're usually at least three dollars a piece, so I was able to save a dollar on a fresh whole pineapple.