Debt reducing tips/money saving tips from the debt wizard
Mike gives us his top 10 tips on how to get through the credit crunch.
-
Start a budget form
Many people have never completed a budget form!
This form is essential as it helps you live within your income and will indicate if you are over spending.
Every six months you will need to refresh the form to see where else you can make savings, and if need be, help raise additional money to repay your creditors.
There is a budget form online at click here if you want to track your spending; if you are over spending then we will predict your debt over the next 5 years!
-
Bank account
Do you have the right bank account? Are you being charged for just going into an unauthorised overdraft? Make a note of all the charges you incurred over the past few months and if necessary see if you can get either get an authorised overdraft or change it to a loan with a lesser interest payment.
Some banks only make one charge a month for going overdrawn. Others will bounce the cheque or direct debit which can cost as much as £35 a time.
Make sure you are managing your finances by checking your statements and see if you still need to be paying for something you no longer use, e.g. book club, gym or no longer required insurance.
-
Money, Tax & Benefits check up
Cash may be available for someone in one or more of the following groups;
- Family income less than £58,000 with dependant children
- Family income less than £66,350 with baby under 1, or disabled child or a large family and you spend a lot on childcare.
- Earning less than £16,000 with no children
- Out of work.
- Suffering from an illness or disability.
- A carer, guardian, recent parent and someone over sixty.
The calculator will cover all the main benefits such as; Council Tax and Housing Benefit; Working Tax Credit; Child Benefit; Child Trust Fund; Child Tax Credit and Pension Credit.
To see if you qualify then visit www.entitledto.co.uk and complete the quick and easy online calculator.
It's important to remember that benefits rules do change so it is worth checking every year.
-
Mobile telephones 2 tips
- Trade in your old handset for cash
Go to www.mobilephonexchange.co.uk/trade.html. They offer cash for old mobiles, all you need to do is type in your old serial number usually found under the battery post the phone and the value is paid to you either by BACS or cheque. - Ask for a reward for your loyalty
When your contract expires why not try and negotiate a better deal, when you call customer services consider using your mobile as most of these calls can be free as against a 0870 number which can cost up 7p per minute from other telephones.
Watch out for hidden extras - this can be phoning customer services, sending retrieving voicemail browsing the internet and sending pictures by text.
- Trade in your old handset for cash
-
Food shopping
Only go grocery shopping with a list and stick to it. Otherwise you will buy what you fancy at the time and will go well over budget, also buy in bulk when you can, it can cost a bit more at the beginning but will prove a winner later on.
-
Internet shopping
Huge savings can be made on the internet, know your product/item to be purchased first, only downside is you have to pay for it by credit card, make sure you clear the balance as soon as you can otherwise you will defeat the object. Find a comparison website and enter the details of the item you wish to buy, try and get the model number and make as this narrows down the search. Huge savings can be made doing this.
-
Tax code
This can vary according to your circumstances which invariably can change for example, when you change jobs then you will go on emergency coding. Both my children have had substantial rebates for the Inland Revenue in the past 12 months. Check your pay slips for the contact details of the tax office you are under and give them a call if you think your coding is wrong.
Believe it or not bankrupts can actually get a rebate, but this money goes to the Official Receiver. What your code indicates is that when it is multiplied by 10 you will have the figure that you can earn before paying tax, so the higher the better!
-
Switch off or turn it down
Turn off anything you don’t need to use such as lights in the house, electrical sockets that have plugs in them (most people just leave the plug on but not connected to an appliance such as phone chargers.)
Can you use the dish washer every other day to ensure it is full? This will save 50% of the electric on this item alone; dish washers get quite hot and therefore use a lot of electricity. Can you also turn it down; reduce the temperature for the dish washer or washing machine.
-
Alcohol
A cheaper bottle of wine from the supermarket with a naff label still does the same as a stunning grape; it will give that feeling of who cares about your debts and still follow up with the hangover, but will cost less.
-
Finally, the best tip of them all
If you don't need it, can't afford it then don't buy it!