How to save money

A lot of savings advice comes back to one thing: giving up things you enjoy. But it doesn’t have to be this way. It can be hard to know how to save money to put aside.

Here are some money saving tips, and advice on how a savings account can help.

Check for the best utilities prices

Reducing your utilities bill is one of the simplest ways to save money, as you only need to switch once to save over the course of a year.

Electricity, gas, phone and internet providers often offer deals. You can compare quotes using price comparison websites – some of them even offer better prices than when you sign up directly with the provider.

Reduce your fuel spend

Fuel can be a big cost burden. To help save money on fuel, you can try:

Going for the best prices in your area
Using loyalty cards when buying fuel
Driving as efficiently as possible – accelerate gradually, keep your tyre pressure at the right level, remove excess weight from your car, and plan your journeys to avoid driving further than you need.

Consider a balance transfer credit card

If you’re paying interest on your credit card debt, a balance transfer card could help reduce your monthly repayments. They let you transfer the balance from one credit card provider to another, usually offering lower or 0% interest for a period. If you’re able to clear your debt within the period, this can be a good way to reduce costs.

You can find out about:

Look for a better mortgage rate

A mortgage is one of the largest monthly expenses for many households. If you have a mortgage, you can talk to an independent adviser about your requirements and circumstances. They can explain whether you could benefit from switching deals (with the same provider) or remortgaging (moving to a new provider).

Find out about:

You may need to pay fees or charges when switching or remortgaging, so make sure you check before making a decision.

Make the most of a savings account

You could be earning interest on any money you save. Most current accounts don’t offer interest, so using a savings account is usually the best way. And keeping your savings separate to your everyday spending can help you see how much of your money you’ve put aside for savings, and help with budgeting.

You could set up a standing order to automatically transfer money to your savings account, so you don’t even need to think about it.

See our savings accounts

Consolidate your loans

If you have debt from a number of different sources, a debt consolidation loan can be a way to simplify your finances, and could reduce your monthly payments. They involve combining several debts into one loan.

It’s important to note that you may pay a higher interest rate or pay over a longer period, and so may end up paying more overall with a debt consolidation loan. Make sure to consider the terms carefully.

Check your tax entitlements

If you have a job and you’re not self-employed, you can:

Check your tax code is correct – otherwise you could be being overpaid, meaning you’d need to pay more tax in the future, or being underpaid
Check if you’re entitled to tax relief for essential work costs – for example, for working from home, maintaining uniforms or tools, or driving for work.

You can find out:

How to save money fast

Save on supermarket shopping

Food shopping is a large expense for many UK families. There’s a range of things you can do to save money at the supermarket, including:

Setting a budget
Planning your meals
Properly storing your food
Choosing items which last longer before they go bad
Only throwing away food when it’s actually gone bad
Using your freezer to your advantage.

Find deals when online shopping

It can really help if you can wait for a better deal or for the next sale. Many retailers also issue discount codes – these may be seasonal, for new customers, or in exchange for registering for their newsletter. Make sure to shop around.

You can use your workplace discount scheme if you have one, or any of the cashback websites available, which also offer similar reductions. You can often apply these discounts on top of any discounts by the seller.

Reconsider your subscriptions

There can seem to be an endless number of different services available. And when you sign up, it can be easy to forget to cancel a subscription, or not even realise you’d subscribed to pay.

To do a ‘subscription spring clean’, you can:

Check your current account transactions list for regular subscription payments.
Ask yourself whether there are any that you don’t use, could do without, or could take a break from.
Read about how to cancel a subscription.

You can always restart your subscription later if you’d like to, and many companies will try to tempt you back with special offers.

Rethink spending

There are a range of handy techniques which could help you change your spending habits for the better. For example, you could try:

Having ‘no spend days’
Setting yourself savings challenges
Using the 50/30/20 technique.

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