Money saving tips

As household budgets are being stretched to the limit by this unprecedented cost of living crisis, there are more and more of us struggling to manage our finances. You aren’t alone.

That’s why we’re here to share approachable money saving tips to help your money go further. Alongside these tips below, you’ll also find helpful resources, from budgeting tools and discount sites to food bargains that can lighten the load.

If you are having difficulty in paying your rent, contact us as soon as possible.

We don’t have a magic wand that we can wave to fix everything, we wish we did. But we do have good people here with a lot of financial knowledge, skills and experience between them. They will talk to you and help you find the best way through and the right people to help you.

Please read through the practical tips and links below with more information on here on our website.

• Click here to check what support is available from the Government
• Money Helper website has some great step by step guides and offers guidance based on your particular situation. Whether you’re worried about your future finances, you’ve lost your job, or are self-employed and can’t do your job
• Martin Lewis has many great ideas about saving money
• Barclays bank has some interesting money saving tips here
• Work from home? You could claim tax relief
• If you are going to another area, check the petrol prices before you go as some places are considerably cheaper than others and you could fill up in the way back.
• These websites have money off codes for everyday essentials: MyVoucherCode and Groupon

Bills

• Your home broadband and TV packages can sometimes be re-negotiated. After you have been with a provider for a period of time the costs do creep up so it’s worth checking for new deals for new customers
• When any renewals come through for home insurance, pet, car, etc make sure you compare with others as your current provider will not always give you the best deal. If you call them, they will normally give you discount
• Do you have an unnecessary subscriptions that you can cancel?

Banking

• If you do need to get a credit card shop around as they differ hugely in interest rates. Many offer a period where you can use it without paying interest if you need to buy a larger item
• Sometimes an authorised overdraft is cheaper if you need to borrow short term. Speak to your bank about rates.

Food and shopping

• Bulk cooking and freezing can save money
• Always follow a shopping list when shopping and avoid going on an empty stomach
• Community Fridges - find out where your nearest is. There are also some great articles on ways to save money on your food bills.
• Many local shops and restaurants now have a “too good to go” bag of goods which are coming to the end of shelf life – these are normally hugely discounted and this app advises where you can go locally
• All major supermarkets reduce food either at the beginning or end of the day. Please see when for each supermarket here – these items can normally be frozen and are around their best before date.
• Trolley.co.uk helps shoppers save money on groceries by comparing prices across supermarkets. It allows users to search for individual products or create shopping lists, receive price change alerts and compare prices at stores like Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, and Waitrose.  You can also compare household goods on PriceRunner.