CUT £750 OFF YOUR MONTHLY BILLS!

We asked the top financial experts how we can save as much money as possible this year

PLAN MEALS BEFORE YOUR FOOD SHOP

Owner of comparison site Quotegoat.com, Michael Foote, says, “It can be tempting to buy meals from the local convenience store after work each day, or to do a big shop without thinking about what you’ll be actually cooking. A carefully planned weekly shop can make significant savings and reduce food waste. When I tried it in my house, we spent £45 on our weekly shop, compared to the £100 we were spending on shop-bought lunches and dinner from the local shop.” SAVE UP TO £220 A MONTH

STOP SPENDING WITHOUT THINKING

Heidi Allan, head of employee wellbeing at Neyber – which aims to improve financial happiness in the workplace – says, “It’s too easy to tap your phone or debit card and let the little purchases run away with you. Try using a bpay band from Barclays (you don’t have to be a Barclays banking customer to use it). It’s a contactless payment system that links to either a wristband, fob or phone sticker – prices start at £7.99 – which you preload money on to, so you can only spend what’s there. You can set yourself a weekly budget using the app, and can track your spending online. I saved £200 in a month.” SAVE UP TO £200 A MONTH

SAVE CASH ON THE MORTGAGE

Dan Hegarty, founder and CEO of leading digital mortgage broker Habito, says, “Make sure you are on the best possible mortgage deal, and if you’re not – do something about it. We found that 55 per cent of homeowners were paying an average of £294 a month more than they needed to, by being on a more expensive interest rate. By remortgaging you can save hundreds a month, and Habito offer a free service where you complete a questionnaire and one of the team will come back to you within 15 minutes with a report on the best mortgage or remortgage for you. The biggest savings come from being mortgage-free quicker, so if you are in a position to, overpaying your mortgage can save you thousands. ” SAVE UP TO £294 A MONTH

CANCEL YOUR OLD DIRECT DEBITS

Rob Moore, author of Money and The Disruptive Entrepreneur podcast, says, “Go through your direct debits with a fine-tooth comb. Chances are you have plenty that are unnecessary – like that gym you never go to (on average £40 a month) or insurance for a laptop you replaced (typically £10 a month). If you have direct debits for both Spotify and Netflix, consider changing to their multiple-use options, which allow you to have up to five log-ins so you can share the cost with friends or family, and pay a considerably lower amount per person.” SAVE UP TO £50 A MONTH