10 Ways You Can Save Money Today
In a recent poll on our tenant Facebook Group, we asked what your main concerns were during this difficult period. Unsurprisingly, most people were concerned about money and budgeting, so we've put together a list of 10 ways you could save money immediately.
1. Home Broadband (Upto £10 per month saving)
Do you have broadband at home? Are you getting the service you pay for? Recently our Digital Engagement Officer carried out a speed test to see how fast his Internet was. It turns out he was receiving a speed of 2mbps when he actually pays for 40mbps. He rang his provider to complain and was offered a free upgrade and a reduction in his monthly bill of £7 without having to change his contract. Test your Internet speed today for free by visiting www.ookla.com
2. Mobile phone contracts (Upto £25 per month saving)
Do you know how much data you are using each month? Are you paying for a data plan that you’re not using? You can check how much data you use on your device. Instructions for doing so can be found here for iPhone and here for Android.
You might be able to speak to your network provider and negotiate a better deal that saves you £5-£25 per month.
If you or someone you know is feeling lonely or isolated and they don’t currently have access to the Internet, why not tell them to order a free sim-card from the Three networks that give 200mb of data completely free each month. Order a sim card today.
Here’s a quick rundown of how much data you will use on typical tasks and activity:
- 2mb send 100 emails
- 70mb stream 1 hour of high-quality music through Spotify
- 1.3gb stream a football match on Sky Sports Mobile TV
- 5mb spend 15 minutes looking at Facebook
- 600mb download a regular 45 minutes TV show from iTunes
- 3gb stream an hour of Netflix
- 26mb spend 1 hour browsing the web
- 1.1gb stream high definition for 60 minutes on BBC iPlayer
3. Cut energy bills (Upto £300 per year saving)
If you’ve never used the Money Saving Expert (MSE) site, where have you been? MSE has a Cheap Energy Club amongst other things, which is free to join and will find you the cheapest energy tariff but also notify you when you are paying too much and it’s time to switch. Try it today and see how much you could save https://clubs.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub
Also, see information on our Coronavirus Support Hub for more help with gas and electric bills.
4. Check your credit score
Credit Karma offers you access to your credit report free for life – not just 30 days and helps you put your credit rating to good use. Get your free credit report today at www.creditkarma.co.uk
5. Still paying for your gym membership? (Up to £50 per month saving)
If you are still paying for your gym membership, it might be time to contact them and put it on hold or cancel. Most gyms have put in place a scheme where you can withdraw your membership until the lockdown is officially relaxed. If you’re still paying fees, this could be an instant saving.
6. Netflix (Upto £8 per month saving)
We all love a good box set at the moment or a film to keep the kids entertained but are you paying too much? Netflix starts at £5.99 per month for one device but has different pricing for connecting multiple devices. Why not share a subscription with someone in your family or a friend to cut costs. Make sure your only paying for what you need.
If you haven’t tried Netflix, get 30 days completely free when you register, just be sure to cancel at the end of the trial.
7. Spotify (Upto £6 per month saving)
Similar to Netflix, there’s different pricing available for the popular music streaming service. If more than one person in your household has a Spotify subscription then you’re probably paying too much! An individual premium account costs £9.99 whereas a family subscription costs £14.99 and allows 6 premium accounts! You do the math!
8. Amazon Prime (Upto £7.99 per month saving)
Signed up Amazon Prime? Consider cancelling it, as Amazon currently doesn’t have the capacity to offer the benefits of speedy delivery. There’s nothing to stop you signing back up when everything calms down but again it’s a way of making an instant saving.
9. Earn cashback on online shopping (Upto £300 Cashback per year)
Try Top Cashback or Snoop to see how much you could earn on your normal spending. It’s really simple when you make a purchase using a Cashback site, you get money back to spend on whatever you like. It covers everything from fashion to electrical and toys to insurance. They say the average customer earns around £300 Cashback per year, what have you got to lose!
10. Download Money Dashboard
Money Dashboard is completely free and allows you to control all of your finances in one place including, bank accounts, savings, benefits, outgoings, credit cards etc. It’s a great way of seeing where the majority of your money goes and where you are wasting money that could be spent or saved elsewhere.