How to save over £10k by Christmas 2021

WHILE Brits face another scorching heatwave later this month, Christmas might seem like a mile off yet.

But if you’re on a budget, it pays to be prepared and start saving for the big day months in advance.

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The Sun has tallied up how you can save £10,342 by the time Christmas 2021 comes round in just over four months time following a number of money saving hacks.

It comes as Brits spend an average of £1,000 each during the festive season on presents, food and outfits.

Shoppers were warned that thousands could spiral into “unmanageable debt” after spending £2.3billion on buy now, pay later schemes to fund their Christmas last year.

From switching shops to selling your old junk, we round up nine ways to put enough cash aside over the four-month lead up to Christmas so your festive spending doesn’t wipe out your bank balance – or put you in the red.

Cancel subscriptions – save £344

Brits are spending an average of £46 a month on entertainment subscriptions like Netflix and Spotify, according to research from Barclaycard Payments. 

That’s not including a gym membership, which costs £40 a month, according to Money Advice Service – which means you could be forking out £86 a month for all these bills.

Cancelling these subscriptions could save you £344 by the time Christmas comes around.

Money saving dad Joseph Seager said he saves £1,200 a year by watching old DVDs and exercising for free.

He said: “Exercise at home, run around the block or join a free community fitness class instead.”

Check your benefit entitlement – save £1,773

If you’re struggling to make your paycheck stretch to cover everything, it might be worth seeing whether you’re eligible for some extra help.

At least seven million people are missing out on more than £15billion in unclaimed benefits, according to charity Turn2us.

The average amount people claim a year in benefits is £5,320, according to the charity – which means over four months, you could get £1,773.

But exactly how much you can get depends on what you’re applying for – and what your circumstances are.

The benefit most people are losing out on is council tax support, followed by Universal Credit and Pension Credit.

Here’s how to check what help you’re eligible for – and how much you could get.

Switch energy suppliers – save £241

Energy bills are set to rise by a record £139 a year for 11million Brits from October following Ofgem’s price cap increase announced last week.

Millions of families will see their bills go up on October 1 from the current £1,138 to around £1,277 – the highest since the cap launched in January 2019.

But USwitch energy policy expert Justina Miltienyte said that you could save an average of £241 if you switch suppliers to avoid the bill hikes in winter.

She added: “Now is the time to act in order to avoid being hit by this price rise, and to get protection from future market volatility. 

“It takes just minutes to check what deals are available and switch to a cheaper fixed tariff.”

However, she added customers should compare deals themselves using a price comparison website such as Uswitch.

Ditch the takeaways – save £800

Ordering a takeaway can be tempting – especially if you fancy a Friday or Saturday night treat.

But getting your grub delivered comes with a hefty price tag – Brits are spending £1,248 a year on takeaway treats. 

This could save you roughly £408 in four months by the time the festive season lands.

If you’re tempted to splash out, we’ve rounded up how to make your own fakeaways from McDonald’s, Greggs, KFC and Nando’s to satisfy your cravings for less.

Switch supermarkets – save £442

If you’re not shopping around for your groceries, your shopping list could be hundreds of pounds more expensive every month.

But switching to cheaper supermarkets could help you to shave hundreds of pounds off your grocery bills per month.

For example, consumer group Which? found the price of 45 items – based on both branded and non-branded goods – cost just £42.67 at Lidl, compared to £68.69 at Waitrose.

This means you save £26.02 per shop at Lidl – so if you switch your weekly shops from now up until Christmas, you could save roughly £442 over four months.

Switch off your appliances – save £32

Simply switching off household appliances such as your TV and kettle could save you £95 per year, according to energy supplier Utilita.

Over a four month period, that totals roughly £32.

To boost these savings further, blogger and deals hunter Holly Smith says you should check your household appliances are fit for purpose too.

“Check the seals on your fridge and freezer doors to make sure they aren’t loose and leaking air,” she said. 

“Appliances with loose seals that leak air will use more electricity to keep your food chilled/frozen, which can increase your electricity bill rapidly.”

Claim tax back for working from home – up to £500

Martin Lewis recently reminded people that they can claim money back if they are working from home.

Even if you’re now returning to the office, you can claim tax back worth up to £125 a year on household expenses for time you’ve worked from home

You can backdate a claim over four years which adds up to £500 in total.

How much you can claim will depend on your tax rate, and if you worked from home in those previous four years or not.

You’ll get this year’s tax back throughout the year through your pay, but for previous years it will come as a lump sum.

Use a food waste app – £210

Using a food waste app can stop you spending money on food that you end up just throwing away.

Or it can get you food thrown away from restaurants and supermarkets for cheap.

For instance Kitche keeps track of the food you’ve bought and suggests recipes to use it all up.

It promises to save households as much as £630 a year by ensuring food is put to good use and doesn’t end up getting thrown away.

That means if you start using it now, you could save £x by the time Christmas comes around.

Many restaurant, café and food brands have partnered with Too Good to Go and will provide a “magic bag” of unsold food to users at the end of the working day.

One shopper recently revealed how they got £50 worth of food for only £2.50 using the app.

How much you can save depends on how much you use the apps as well as what you normally throw away, but we’ve rounded up the five food apps that could chop hundreds off your grocery bill to get you started.

Sell your clutter – save up to £2,500

Flogging unwanted clothes, books, old gifts or even furniture you don’t need could make you thousands of pounds better off.

How much you could earn from flogging your old junk depends on what you’re selling – and how frequently you’re putting things up for sale.

However, one savvy saver managed to flog her unwanted household items to raise £2,5000 to tackle her £32k debt.

She sold old furniture, gym clothes, pricey tech like a GoPro camera and fancy clothes on eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree.

Apply for a packaged bank account refund – £3,500

Brits could be owed thousands of pounds from fees they paid for having a bank account.

Many accounts that came with fees were mis-sold and banks have to pay back customers if that’s the case.

But, anyone affected must apply to get the cash back. If you’ve ever paid for a bank account it’s worth checking if you were mis-sold.

This might have been because you weren’t told about the fees, or because you ended up paying for something you couldn’t use, like insurance.

One bank account owner recently wrote to Martin Lewis to say he had managed to claim back £3,500 for fees they forked out back in the 1990s.

Here’s how he made a claim – and how you can too.

Here’s how another savvy shopper cleared his £12k debt by reselling car boot and charity shop finds.

Single mum-of-three Lynn Beattie saved nearly £8,500 in just six months by switching supermarkets and buying Poundland make-up.

Here’s 20 money saving hacks that could make you hundreds of pounds richer.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk