Money Saving Blog

Everyone knows that keeping New Year’s resolutions is a lot harder than it sounds. However, resolving to save money is something that’s too important to fail. From looking around for credit cards with 0% interest to minimise interest payments to redefining the meaning of luxury, there are lots of things you can do to help ensure you keep that all-important resolution…

Ditch the gym
This is something that will strike fear into the hearts of some and joy into the hearts of others – the gym. Thousands of people join a gym in the New Year only to go twice before misplacing their membership card and deciding to try again next year. Before you join, assess whether you’ll go as much as you think – if you’re uncertain it’ll be worth it, you might want to reconsider. This is a concept that can be applied to other things, too, including impulse purchase.

Shop for deals
Shopping for deals doesn’t just have to apply to books and DVDs. Shopping around for the best savings accounts and other financial products is another good way of getting your money to work harder. For instance, one of the benefits of credit cards is that there is a wide range of choice available, so you can choose between different deals to make sure you get a card that’s most appropriate for you and your financial needs.

Redefine luxury
Finally, saving money doesn’t mean you have to do without the finer things in life, but it does mean you might have to reconsider what you mean by ‘luxury’. As an example, many people pick up a coffee on their way to work. If that costs £2.50 a day, they’re spending £12.50 every working week (about £50) a month on something they could get at home or the office. When you consider that you could save up to £600 a year by ditching the daily cappuccino, it starts to get easier to see where your savings could come from.

Heading overseas on holiday we all know the importance of having travel insurance. It protects us from delays, inability to fly due to illness, healthcare costs if we’re ill while abroad, or loss of luggage etc. So buying it is important.
However, when you’re booking your holiday online, you really do need to be careful that you’re not being stitched up over your insurance and either paying too much, or getting a raw deal.

For many of us the internet is now our first place to begin when we’re booking our holiday – it’s easy to compare prices, and find exactly what you’re looking for after all. Many websites offer loads of extras to make it easier to book everything together, but you do need to pay attention to what you’re agreeing to or you could find yourself out of pocket.

Although auto-ticking is frowned on by EU regulations, in practice it’s still done by many companies including some of the big ones like Opodo.co.uk and Lastminute.com. What happens is that they auto select extras such as travel insurance for you so that the product and it’s cost is automatically added to your bill.

Now the problem is that the insurance that these companies are offering you may either be more expensive than what you can get elsewhere, or it may not cover you properly. For example if it only offers you £200 of personal possessions cover, and your belongings are stolen meaning you lose camera, mobile phone, clothes, jewellery etc. you are likely to be very much out of pocket – let’s face it many mobile phones cost £200 or more today let alone anything else that’s taken! Alternatively it could be that the insurance doesn’t offer enough medical cover – most offer around £10million so if you’re only being offered £4million then if something bad happened you could be in a real mess!

Under EU law companies aren’t allowed to pre-select extras like this, but they get away with it because the UK government hasn’t put the relevant legislation on the statute books yet although it’s expected to do so very soon. In the meantime these companies know that they can get away with what they’re doing penalty free.

Once you’ve made sure nothing extra has been ticked that you don’t want, do make sure that you have adequate insurance. You may already have cover through your bank account or another annual multi-trip cover, but if not, then shop around and make sure you get a decent package for your money. If you travel abroad 3 or more times a year then annual cover can offer excellent savings, but make sure if you have annual cover that your destination is included as some exclude certain countries.

Make sure your policy covers medical expenses to around £10million, baggage and personal possessions cover to around £1,500 and also things such as personal liability, end-supplier failure, terrorism cover, and travel disruption cover so you don’t find yourself caught out as many people have when snow or volcanic ash has grounded planes in the past.

As the U.K. rides the depths of Austerity, you might be thinking of ways to boost your income. While the search for a second job may not yield much, using your resources cleverly could make you some serious cash.

Flog Your Stuff

Recycling Companies – We’ve all got stuff lying around gathering dust. Old electrical equipment – mobile phones, iPod’s, cameras, Dyson vacuum cleaners, fridges etc – can make you money rather than take up space. The process is simple: enter the model of your gadget and the site will tell you what it’s worth. If you agree, they’ll send you an envelope. Return it (recorded delivery) and then you’ll receive a cheque, or a bank transfer. A high-end mobile phone can make you around £150.

You could, of course, sell it yourself at a Car Boot Sale or on eBay. Dedicated sellers can make significantly more selling on eBay than selling to a recycling company. Look for eBay’s free-listing days to avoid fees and group items such as baby clothes in bulk to make the most of your goods.

Rent Out Your…

Spare room – if you’re making less than £4,250 you won’t need to pay tax. If you didn’t want a full-time lodger and you live in a big city, you might think about renting the room to travellers – look at Crashpadder for how to list. Larger theatres hosting touring companies will let you advertise your room to actors looking for digs while on tour.

House as a film location – you don’t need to live in a Scottish castle to qualify. All houses, great and small, are sought after by production companies looking for locations in which to realise their stories. Payments average £800 for a photography shoot and £1500 for a film shoot.

Car – which might sound like a disaster waiting to happen, but companies like Whipcar have gone out of their way to develop eBay style platforms, complete with user ratings, that allow owners to rent their car to drivers in their local area.

Participate in Paid Medical Trials

Drug companies like GSK trials are constantly seeking healthy individuals to take part in mandatory clinical trials before drugs are brought to market. Participants are paid up to £2000 and can participate in up to four trials a year – that’s up to £8000 for very little effort.

Get Tax and Insurance Savvy

Checking your tax code regularly is important to ensure you’re not over-paying tax. Cancelling mobile phone insurance, as well as changing your tariff to reflect what you use could save you hundreds of pounds a year. If you’ve had a loan, store card, or credit card in the last six years and taken out Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), you may be entitled to get that money back.

There’s money to be made in the most unexpected places in Britain. They don’t call it “Treasure Island” for nothing.