Save up to £7,600 in the next year by making these easy changes to your spending
IT’S time to make a list of money-saving moves that will give your wallet a boost in 2022.
Instead of starting the new year with a financial hangover, vow to be more sensible in your spending next year and you could save a packet.
Here are 18 easy ways to get into the savings habit. Follow them and you’ll save up to £7,692 over the next 12 months.
1) Get a railcard to save up to a third on train fares. Most cost £30 a year but will yield an average annual saving of £142. There are nine different cards to be snapped up, including those for 16-to-25-year-olds, seniors (over 60), couples, the disabled, and family and friends.
2) Use the savings account that pays you 50p extra for every £1 you put in. If you open a Help To Save account, the government pays up to £300 extra each year – half of what you’ve put in. It is available to people on Working Tax Credits or Universal Credit and you can stash up to £50 a month in it.
3) If you live alone, you can claim a 25 per cent discount on your Council Tax bill. With average bills at £2,000, that’s a £500 saving.
4) Turn your heating down a notch. Around one in five UK households have their thermostats set at 22C or higher, but you could save up to £127.70 a year by turning the thermostat down by one degree.
5) It’s Free Wills Month in March. By taking advantage of the scheme, you could save the £150 cost of a simple will. If you’re 55 or over, see freewillsmonth.org.uk.
6) Switch your bank account. You could get paid for moving your current account. At present Nationwide will pay you £125 if you move your account to the building society while First Direct will hand you £100.
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7) Your postcode could win you hundreds of pounds. Register free at pickmypostcode.com and if yours is randomly drawn, you could win a daily jackpot of £200 or a host of other cash prizes.
8) Book travel tickets early. A one-way ticket to London Paddington from Birmingham New Street booked today would cost nearly £100, yet the same journey booked 12 weeks ahead would set you back just £31. If you book six journeys in advance over the next year that could give a saving of around £400.
9) Get a credit card that pays you every time you spend. A range of credit cards pay cashback, meaning you can earn while spending. Put £500-worth of shopping on a cashback card every month and you could earn £108.75 in a year. But check charges and only use if you can pay the debt off each month.
10) Switch to a 0% credit card and pay off your debt. If you borrow £2,000 on a typical card and only pay the minimum, it will take you more than 24 years to repay and cost you £2,731 in interest. Switch to a 0 per cent card and pay it off within two years and you’ll save £1,365 in a year.
11) Use your own cup in coffee shops. Taking a reusable beaker will earn you a discount of up to 50p. If you have a daily coffee habit, you’ll save £130 a year. Pret A Manger offers a 50p reduction, while you’ll get 25p off at Starbucks, Costa and M&S.
12) Loyalty pays. Sign up to every points card scheme at the shops you use most, from Boots to Sainsbury’s, as Which? reckons the average shopper could get £29 a year in vouchers.
13) Save money by saving food from being thrown away. The Too Good To Go app allows you to pick up freshly-prepared food from local cafes and restaurants that would otherwise be binned. Food bags cost from £2.50 for a tenner’s worth of fresh grub. Use it every week and you’d save around £390.
14) Switch to LED bulbs as they use much less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs or halogen ones and so save on bills. For homes using six bulbs regularly, savings can add up to £209 on incandescent bulbs and £135 on halogen.
15) Check discount codes before ordering takeaways. These or free delivery incentives can cut the cost of Deliveroo or Just Eat meals. Also check emails for promo vouchers you’ve been sent after your last order. Ten per cent off a £20 weekly food delivery would mean saving £2, or £104 over a year.
16) Move your mortgage. With interest rates rising just before Christmas, anyone on a variable rate mortgage will be facing paying an extra £15 a month on average. Moving to a fixed rate mortgage could save you much more. Experian has calculated that someone on a typical variable rate could save £2,500 in a year by switching to a lower fixed rate.
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17) Fill out surveys online. You can earn up to £6 per survey on sites like YouGov.co.uk or PanelBase.net. Even completing one survey a week could give you £312 a year.
18) Scrap that gym subscription and use free apps like Runtastic, My Training and Daily Workouts Fitness Trainer to help your workout goals. You could save up to £600 a year on gym fees.