Spring is a a great time to not only spring clean your home but to spring clean your finances. It provides the perfect opportunity to look at where you are spending and then where you can reduce these outgoings. It is a great time of year to do this as many tend to spend more in the summer on going out and day trips because the weather is better and the children are off school. When I have audited my spending I am rather shocked by how much more disposable income I spend in the summer months. Therefore making savings in Spring helps meet those extra spends in the summer.
Ways to Spring clean your finances
- Many of us never change our bank accounts as we think it will take too much effort and time. Yet this stops us from making the most of our savings. We should be regularly checking interest rates and ensuring we are getting the best deals for our money. ISA’s especially have different interest rates therefore it is essential to track these.
- TV and phone packages are also competitive and we should regularly review to see the deal we are getting. One way to ensure that you are making the best decision is to use price comparison sites like Broadbandchoices who are impartial (as Ofcom says). Broadband choices is simple to use, simply pop in your postcode and you can see a table with all the deals in for your area, this information even includes sign up offers. For example at the moment broadband with Sky comes with £100 Marks and Spencer vouchers, BT are offering £30 cashback and Fuel are giving away a free amazon fire stick for all new customers. When I looked, using this service, I found a deal better than we currently have.
- Car insurance and home insurance, how many of us are guilty of just allowing your insurance to automatically renew rather than spending 30 minutes shopping about for a good price. This is one spend that I do always shop about for. I find that I can always ‘beat’ the automatic renewal price.
- Check your direct debits and that you are now still paying for products or subscriptions that you no longer need. If you can’t stop the payment using online banking, go into the branch as they can stop it from their end.
- Finally check your spending habits – for one week write down everything you spend on. Then you can evaluate exactly where your money is going. When I did this I was surprised – much of my spending was fixed with the children’s outgoings like tutoring but I did notice how much I was spending on hidden food extra’s and top ups in the week that we don’t really need. Usually it was because I had changed my mind over what I was going to prepare for dinner. I taught me I need to stick to my original plans!
Many people are put off making these changes as they assume it to be a complicated and time consuming process. However that simply is not true. Using the comparison sites make the process easy and much of the switching can be achieved online from the comport of your sofa. This makes the task easier and just by setting aside a few evening anyone can make these savings, which is then money in your pocket.
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