Pain-free ways to cut your bills and save cash in 2018
Follow these expert tips and you might not have to skimp on all those little luxuries, says personal finance correspondent Vicky Shaw
JANUARY’S pay packet probably left many people breathing a sigh of relief – but now that your bank balance is looking a little healthier again, how can you keep it on the right track for the whole of 2018?
Cutting back your spending and staying out of the red doesn’t always have to be painful.
Here are some suggestions for how to do it – which might even mean you don’t need to give up making the purchases you enjoy...
Consider switching your mortgage: Many home owners are still sitting on their lenders’ standard variable rate (SVR) – the rate which the mortgage reverts to when a particular deal comes to an end.
Despite the Bank of England base rate rise in November, there are still many low-rate mortgage deals available, so switching could provide you with an instant win and potentially save huge amounts of money, as for many people, their mortgage is their biggest outgoing.
Check you’re not doubling up: Are you paying twice for a particular service? As many as 10% of adults across the UK may potentially be paying twice to protect their personal gadgets, simply by not checking the terms and conditions within their contents insurance policies, research by comparethemarket.com suggests: in a survey of more than 2000 adults, one in 10 admitted they’ve taken out separate gadget insurance on items already covered by their contents policy.
Chris King, head of home insurance at comparethemarket, says: “It’s always worth checking your contents insurance before making any big purchases, as you may find that you do not need to take out separate insurance to cover your must-have gizmo.
If you find your gadget isn’t covered by your contents insurance, it’s worth calling your insurer and seeing if this is something that can be added onto your policy.”
See if you can save on your energy bills: More than 100 fixed energy tariff deals are ending or have done already across the first three months of 2018, comparethemarket has also found.
Its analysis of the fixed tariffs ending in these months found the average increase to energy bills could potentially be £192 per household.
Peter Earl, head of energy at comparethemarket, says: “When fixed tariffs are coming to an end, it is essential to engage with your supplier, shop around and switch onto the best deal to avoid being rolled onto these expensive default tariffs.
“A £200 hike in energy costs could be highly damaging to the finances of many households and is easily avoidable.”
Ditch unwanted subscriptions: If you’re paying for something you don’t use, it’s money down the drain.
Do a check of your regular outgoings and have a cull of anything you’re not getting value from.
For example, if you’ve got a gym subscription but you don’t make trips there very often, work out whether it might be cheaper to pay for individual classes.
Make sure you’re aware of cancellation policies though and that you follow them correctly.
Have a spring clear-out: Boost your income and by selling items you don’t use and won’t miss on websites such as eBay and Gumtree.
Make the most of cashback and discount websites: Before you make a purchase, see if you can make it any cheaper by using a website with a discount code, or one offering cashback on your purchase.
Cut the cost of your debts: See if you can reduce the cost of paying off any debts, such as by making a credit card balance transfer, for example.
Make a PPI claim: If you’ve been meaning to make a claim for mis-sold PPI, now’s the time – as the deadline for claims is August 29, 2019.
As well as complaining about mis-selling, you can also now claim about the commission a provider earned from the sale of PPI – even if you had a previous complaint about mis-selling of PPI rejected.
For more information on making a claim, visit the wesbite at: fca.org. uk/ppi