20 hacks to help stretch your cash
HOW BEING SAVVY CAN SAVE YOU IN THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS
AS living costs continue to rocket, none of us can afford to throw money away. The following 20 hacks should help your precious cash to stretch a little further.
1
Take back control
To take charge of your money, you need to understand where it’s coming from, and where it’s going, says Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at asset management firm Hargreaves Lansdown. “Examine your bank accounts and keep a spending diary, to identify any cash leaks.
“Check all your direct debits, including any fitness apps, gym, TV and music subscriptions, to see whether you still need them.”
2
Start shopping around more
Line up all your regular monthly costs, including landline, broadband, mobile, TV and motor insurance, and see if you can get them cheaper.
“Keep searching for savings until you make ends meet and have a bit left over to save for a rainy day,” Sarah says.
3
Get an appetite for cheaper food
As food bills soar, do all you can to keep a lid on costs, says Scott Mowbray, founder of money management app Snoop.
“Consider changing supermarkets. Lidl and Aldi are the top discounters, Asda is the cheapest of the big four.”
Supermarket layouts are designed to tempt you to buy things you don’t need, so try ordering online or using click-and-collect.
Scott says: “If you do go in-store, make a list in advance and stick to it. Planning meals for the week can help.”
Shift to own brand goods, you won’t always notice the difference. Don’t get carried away by ‘buy one get one free’ deals, either.
Delay your shop until the evening, when the yellow stickers come out for items soon to hit their sell-by-date. “Batch cooking and freezing food to eat later in the week will also stretch your budget.”
4
Download some helpful food apps
Scott suggests apps like Too Good To Go, which connects customers to restaurants and stores that have unsold food – or Olio, which allows you to collect and share unused food.
Apps from McDonald’s, Greggs, and KFC give you discounts and freebies. Snoop rounds up top supermarket offers and brand savers and Mowbray suggests trying your local market, too. Remember you can eat food after “best before” , but be cautious once past the
“use by” date.
5
Get cash back when you spend
Sign up for cashback and get paid when you shop at retailers such as Argos, Wilko and Marks & Spencer, or via websites such as quidco.com and topcashback.co.uk.
6
Don’t splurge on payday
It’s tempting to relax when your pay hits your bank account, and spend a little too freely, Scott warns. “Cover your priorities, first. It’s a long time till next month.”
Try going a whole day without spending anything at all. Then make “no-spend days” a regular habit. The savings should add up.
7
Roll back your debts
If you have big credit card, store card or overdraft debts, target the most expensive first, then focus on the next ones from top down, a process known as ‘snowballing’, says Andrew Hagger, personal finance expert at Moneycomms. “Just remember to keep making the minimum payment on all your other debts, too.”
8
Follow the rules
Consider the 50/30/20 rule, where you spend 50% of income on essentials like food, bills and debts, 30% on fun and 20% on saving. “With money so tight, you may have to cut the fun bit to match your budget,” Andrew adds.
9
Transfer your unpaid balance
Give yourself some breathing space by switching your credit card debt to a balance transfer card charging zero interest for an introductory period.
The HSBC Balance Transfer Credit Card Visa charges no interest for 33 months, but you pay 2.7% of the debt you switch, or £27 per £1,000.
M&S Bank Credit Card Transfer Plus gives you 32 months interest free, with a slightly lower 1.99% balance transfer fee. “Make sure you clear the debt before the intro deal expires, at which point that APR will jump to 21.9%,” Andrew warns
Beware running up new debts and don’t be fooled by buy now, pay later credit. That debt still has to be repaid.
10
Drive down your petrol bills
As petrol hits record prices, avoid needless journeys and wasting fuel when you do get behind the wheel, says Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest. “Go easy on the accelerator, check your tyre pressure, strip off the roof rack and empty the boot to cut weight.”
Then reduce the amount you pay for fuel in the first place. “To find the best prices, download the Petrol Prices app, which shows petrol and diesel costs near you.” Supermarkets tend to offer the lowest rates and motorway service stations the highest, so plan your journeys carefully, Alice adds.
11
Save on NHS prescriptions
Prescriptions now cost £9.35 per item but people on regular medication can spread the cost and save money with a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC). “It’s like a season ticket for prescriptions, it covers all NHS ones including dental, no matter how many items you need,” Alice says.
A three-month PPC costs £30.25 and saves money if you need more than three prescribed items during that period, while the 12-month option costs £108.10 and saves once you have more than 11 prescribed items a year.
12
Stamp out those bad habits
The average smoker spends £162 a month on tobacco, according to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
If you can cut it out, you will free up a lot of cash, Alice says. Take a close look at your drinking habits, too. Plenty of us could cut back on alcohol, with financial and health benefits.
Other habits, such as picking up a daily cafe latte or lunch out also add up over time. Save money by making them at home.
13
Sell your old gear
If you’ve got clothes you don’t use, furniture you don’t need or gadgets you’ve upgraded, then sell them online.
Fashion resale sites depop.com and vinted.co.uk may be worth a try, while musicmagpie.co.uk buys old tech. Or try eBay, Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree. Also use them to hunt for bargain pre-owned items you need.
14
Trace lost accounts
It’s easy to lose track of old bank accounts or savings plans, but that
money is yours and you can track it down. Try mylostaccount.org.uk. More than £19billion worth of pension savings have gone astray, worth £13,000 each. Contact the Pension Tracing Service on 0800 731 0193. Avoid companies who charge.
15
Find a cheaper mortgage
If you are a homeowner sitting on your mortgage lender’s standard variable rate, then this could be the time to move on.
SVRs can top 5% and remortgaging to a two or five-year fixed rate could save someone who has a £150,000 mortgage as much as £1,680 a year, says David Hollingworth at L&C Mortgages.
16
Overpay your mortgage
If you owe £100,000 over a 20-year term at 3%, you will pay £474 a month, says Alex Winn, mortgage broker at Habito.
“If you paid an extra £100 a month you could clear the debt five years and 11 months earlier, which would save you £10,805 in interest.”
However you should beware of early repayment charges, although most mortgages now allow you to overpay by 10% a year.
17
Try to save a bit more energy
You’ve probably gone through every trick you can think of to keep your energy bills down, but it’s worth checking that you haven’t missed anything. Turning lights off in empty rooms, switching to LED bulbs, installing a smart meter for accurate readings, only using a full load in the washing machine, having shorter showers and avoiding overfilling the kettle can all help, says Gareth Kloet, energy spokesman at GoCompare.
“Also try turning the oven off 10 minutes before your food is ready, as it will carry on cooking.”
If you are in serious difficulty, your supplier should offer you a customer payment plan and emergency credit.
18
Consider taking in a lodger
You can earn up to £7,500 a year by sharing your home with a lodger without paying any tax on it, under the Rent-a-Room scheme. You can advertise for lodgers on sites like Spare Room or Gumtree.
19
Check you are getting all your state benefits
Make sure you are getting all the state support due to you, such as pension credit, attendance allowance, carer’s allowance and universal credit. Website turn2us.org.uk can help.
20
Join the Help to Save scheme
The Government’s Help to Save scheme gives people on universal credit or working tax credit the chance to build savings.
Savers can put away between £1 and £50 a month, and get a 50% bonus on all the money they’ve stashed away after two years, and another after four years. You are not penalised for dipping into the pot either and you’ll still get the bonus even if you withdraw some money.
But if you have debts, focus on clearing those first.