IF you’re strapped for cash, these four quick money fixes could save you hundreds of pounds in just minutes, money expert Naomi Willis said.
Millions of desperate households are struggling to afford eye-watering hikes to bills, from energy to food and fuel.
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Customers are paying for record-breaking energy bills after the price cap went up earlier this month – doubling costs to an average of £1,971 a year.
It comes as drivers could be spending £10billion extra a year on soaring petrol costs, while inflation could add £180 a week onto food shopping bills.
With budgets stretched tightly and with six million households now in debt to their energy supplier, households will be looking at ways of saving money quickly.
That’s why The Sun sat down with money expert Naomi Willis to get her tips on how you can save yourself hundreds of pounds in just a matter of minutes.
She runs the Skint Dad website with her husband Ricky, and after clearing her own mountain of debt, knows how to cut back and save cash fast.
She’s on The Sun’s Squeeze Team panel of experts, here to help support you through one of the worst cost of living crises in decades.
If you’re worried about how to make ends meet, are struggling to pay off your debts or don’t know how best to manage your cash, get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Change broadband tariffs – £144 a year
Around four million households could save £144 with just a phone call by switching to a new broadband tariff.
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That’s because millions of people on Universal Credit are eligible for a “social tariff” – which is cheaper than the standard market rate.
Only 55,000 homes are taking advantage of the deal – but 4.2million are eligible.
“A tip that doesn’t get advertised very much by broadband providers is their very cheap broadband tariffs,” Ms Willis said.
“Customers with BT, Community Fibre, G.Network, Hyperoptic, KCOM and Virgin Media O2 can simply ask about moving to the social tariff.”
A standard commercial broadband package costs an average of £27 per month – which is 8.3% of an unemployed person claiming Universal Credit’s monthly disposable income.
But cheaper packages that low income families can access cost between £10-£20 – which could more than halve your broadband costs, in some cases.
It comes as more providers are creating cheaper tariffs to help low income customers – like Sky, which launched a £20 a month deal for existing Sky customers on Universal Credit or Pension Credit.
Raid your bank account – £100s
It’s all too easy to be paying for subscriptions and services you don’t need – or have forgotten all about.
You could continue wasting your cash on them if you don’t go through your bank statements.
Sitting down and going through them in detail will help you identify mysterious direct debits and sort them out.
One of our Squeeze Team experts went through his own bills – and managed to cancel gym and theatre memberships, streaming services and Amazon repeat orders to save himself £1,006.
Ms Willis said you could easily save hundreds of pounds yourself.
“Going through your bank account statement with a fine-tooth comb is something you should do every single month to track your spending.
“While you’re looking down transactions, question if you are still using any subscriptions you’re signed up to.
“You could save hundreds ditching unused and unwanted music services, subscription boxes, gym memberships and online dating site costs.”
Switch banks – up to £150
Switching banks could get you free cash, Ms Willis said.
“Banks pay you to become a customer – with some paying hundreds,” she said.
There are a number of deals on at the moment that could see you get up to £150 just by moving your cash over.
First Direct is giving new customers £150 and there’s £125 on offer from both Halifax and Nationwide.
But there are a number of things to be aware of when it comes to looking at the small print of these offers.
Sometimes you have to have a certain amount of money passing through your new account – which means you might have to arrange for your wages to go through that account, for example.
If you switch a number of times, it could also be a red-flag to lenders in terms of your credit worthiness – which is when banks decide whether or not it’s too much of a risk to give you a loan.
Switch supermarkets – £2,000 a year
If you’re doing your weekly shop today, why not try switching to a cheaper supermarket?
You could save £40 immediately shopping at a budget supermarket, Ms Willis said.
Over the year, that’s a £2,000 saving.
“With grocery inflation at its highest level in years, moving your shop to a discount supermarket will immediately cut your costs,” she said.
It comes as fridge staples have rocketed in price by up to 37.2%.
Price hikes are being fuelled further by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Cooking oil, for example, is in short supply because of the war – and shoppers are paying 10% more for their bottles.
While energy bill hikes, bad weather and lorry driver strikes have helped to raise the price of tomatoes by 60%.
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