Top 13 Everyday Ways To Save Money
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1. Switch to a SIM only phone contract and keep your existing phone
At the end of your current contract, consider switching to a SIM only deal and keeping your existing phone, if your contract phone works well. This will reduce your monthly phone bill, allowing you to save the difference. Companies use something called perceived obsolescence (also know as psychological obsolescence) to make consumers judge a product’s value based on its newness, rather than its functionality. They do this by highlighting all of the new features on their latest product, making the old product’s features (or lack thereof) seem outdated. This makes consumers believe they must get rid of their old products and replace them with newer versions, even if their old products are still working.
“Psychological obsolescence makes consumers dissatisfied with products that still work perfectly well. This usually takes the form of releasing a fresh new model, that makes the product we have seem old and inadequate in comparison. This prompts us to purchase the new model, even if the old one hasn’t yet reached the end of its useful life.”
2. Use your employer’s season ticket loan scheme
Transportation is one of the big three lifestyle expenses along with housing and food costs, so it’s worth reducing these costs if you can. Especially if you live in a city such as London, a season ticket loan can save you money. A season ticket loan is an interest-free loan employers offer their employees to purchase an annual travel season ticket. The loan is repaid back on a monthly basis and taken directly from the employees salary. If your workplace offers a season ticket loan and you travel to work 5 days a week, buying an annual season ticket is most likely to be cheaper than pay as you go or purchasing a weekly or monthly travel ticket.
3. Audit your regular payments
It’s a good idea to look through your direct debits and standing orders at least once a year to see if you are still using all of the services you are paying for. For example, if you are paying for a gym membership each month and never go to the gym, it’s worth cancelling the direct debit.
“Paying for a gym membership doesn’t make you fitter, you actually have to go! Don’t commit to membership unless you know you’ll use it. ”
You should also assess if your subscriptions are worth the money or if you can get the same service for less. For example, teaming up with family or friends for ‘group save’ or ‘family subscription’ plans may be cheaper. Also, with so many subscription services being offered to us on a regular basis, it’s so easy to sign up to a service and forget about it once you’re no longer using it. These under-the-radar direct debits can be extremely costly.
4. Use cashback websites
Cashback websites pay you a small amount each time you purchase a product or service via a link on their website. The companies pay the cashback sites and they share some of that commission with you. The most popular UK cashback sites are Quidco and TopCashback, you can signup to them for free and then search for a particular retailer or product and make a purchase by clicking on the link in the website. In order to qualify for cashback you must use the link provided by the cashback website.
It’s worth stressing that cashback is never guaranteed and it can take some time for the money to be added to your account, as a result it’s important that you don’t purchase a product based solely on the expected cashback amount. You should always shop around for the best deal and if the purchase qualifies for cashback then that’s an added bonus. Remember, cashback sites are a useful tool if you use them to purchase items you intended to buy anyway.
5. Use your local library to read e-books and magazines and listen to audiobooks for free
If you have a library card you can borrow e-books, magazines and audiobooks from your local library using your phone, tablet, laptop or computer, this saves you money, physical space and time. Another benefit to using your library’s digital resources is that there is no risk of racking up library fines for late returns since your loans are automatically returned on their due date.
You can use the ‘Find Your Library page’ of the Overdrive website to enter your location. You’ll then be asked to select your library from the list provided, once you select your library you can sign in using your library card number and pin. Once you are logged in to the Overdrive website you can search for e-books and audiobooks. Alternatively, you can download the Libby App which allows you to sign-in via your local library and explore your library’s digital collection. The app will automatically download books for offline use when you are connected to Wi-Fi. We think the Libby App is easier to navigate and more user-friendly compared to the Overdrive website.
6. Negotiate all of your bills
It’s a good idea to keep your fixed costs as low as possible, because they are a significant proportion of your outgoings. For example, if you are on your energy provider’s standard gas and electric tariffs, we advise you switch tariffs ASAP. The standard tariff is the default plan customers are placed on (unless they request a specific tariff) and it’s normally the energy provider’s most expensive tariff. Many companies’ profit plans are based on their customers' inertia, this is why it’s important to be proactive and negotiate your bills.
Here are our tips for negotiating your bills:
Know when your contract is coming to an end and start negotiating around that time. When you have the option to go elsewhere without being penalised, you are more likely to get a good deal.
Research the prices competitors are offering. You can use comparison sites to check the services and prices offered by other providers. If you tell your current provider you can get a better deal elsewhere, it’s likely they’ll match the deal or offer you a better deal.
Tell the automated customer service system that you want to cancel the service, this will put you through to the customer retention team. The customer retention team has access to the best deals and most of these deals will not be available if you speak to a staff member in a different team.
Always be polite, calm and friendly. Customer service agents are just doing their job. It costs you nothing to treat them with respect and use basic manners. They are in control of the deal you are being offered so view them as a friend and not as a foe. The old adage “ you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar“ is very true.
Avoid being upsold. Upselling is a sales technique used to persuade customers to purchase an upgrade or a more expensive item. It’s important to assess if you need the extra product that is being offered to you. For example, if you only use 5GB of data each month and the sales representative is offering to give you 25GB of data a month for a little bit more money, you should refuse the offer because the extra data will be wasted. If you are paying for extra add-ons you don’t use, remove them from your next contract so you can get a cheaper deal.
7. Add money saving browser extensions to your web browser
Browser extensions are best known for enhancing your web browsing experience, but some extensions can also save you money.
Here are 6 browser extensions we use to save money:
Quidco Cashback Reminder - reminds you to get cashback for a purchase when you are browsing a site that is eligible for cashback via Quidco.
TopCashback -notifies you when you can get cashback for a purchase when you are browsing a site that is eligible for cashback via Topcashback.
Honey - automatically searches for discount codes and applies them to your order at checkout.
InvisibleHand - pops up when you are looking at a product on a site and it’s available for less on another site. It gives you a direct link to the site selling the product for the lowest price. It also lets you know if there are discount codes you can use on the website.
Shoptagr - allows you to save items you are interested in and notifies you when those items are on sale.
The Camelizer - allows you to track the price of products on amazon and gives you a price drop alert if a product reaches your desired price or is less than your desired price. It also gives you a price history chart so you can view how the price of the product has varied over time.
8. Research, read reviews and shop around
When you are making a purchase, especially a big purchase, such as a household appliance, it’s good practice to research the product, read plenty of reviews and shop around to ensure you are getting the best deal. You work hard for your money, so why not invest some time into ensuring that it’s spent wisely? Also, it’s important to remember that a good deal doesn’t always mean spending less, it means spending wisely. It’s better to spend more upfront for an item that will last you a long time, than to spend less on a cheaper alternative and then have to replace it a short while later.
9. Search for voucher codes
Before you make an online purchase it’s worth using a search engine to search for discount codes for the retailer you are making the purchase from. Type the retailers name followed by “discount code” or “promotional code” in the search engine. It’s important to note that the codes may not always be valid, but it’s worth it when you find a valid code.
You could also visit the following sites dedicated to voucher codes:
10. Meal prep and do a meal plan based shop
Meal prepping can save you a lot of time and money and help you eat healthier meals. When you don’t plan your meals, it’s very easy to end up spending a lot of money on takeout and junk food. We recommend planning your meals in advance and dedicating a specific day of the week to meal prep. It’s a good idea to keep an inventory of the items in your cupboards and fridge and then create a shopping list based on your meal plan. If you are new to meal prepping, we suggest prepping one dish for lunch and another dish for dinner so you don’t feel overwhelmed. If you like to have something playing in the background whilst you cook you can listen to an audiobook, podcast or playlist.
11. If in doubt leave it out or pause
If you are unsure about a purchase, pause and take some time to think about it. There’s something called the 72-hour rule which states that you should wait 72 hours and see if you are still interested in the purchase after that time. If you are still in doubt after 72 hours, then do not purchase the item.
12. Switch your current account for a free cash reward
Some banks offer a free cash reward when you switch to them if you meet their switch criteria. You normally need to pay in a minimum amount each month and have a few direct debits coming out of the account in order to qualify for the bank switching bonus.
13. Use store loyalty cards to get money off
Each time you visit a retailer it may be worth using, scanning, checking or signing up to their loyalty points/cards system. As part of a consumer incentive scheme, retailers use loyalty cards as such whereby credits are accumulated for future discounts every time a transaction is recorded.
Examples of loyalty cards are:
We hope this article helped you save some money. What are your money saving tips? Let us know in the comments below.
References
1. What is planned obsolescence, and what can you do about it? by Ben Manassah