25 tips on surviving the credit crunch
1. Ditch your expensive credit cards (APR 20%+) and switch to a 0% credit card with a low interest rate after the "free period" has expired using sites such as uSwitch.com. Transfer your balance and pay no interest - you'll be amazed at how much you can save 2. Never shop for food when you are hungry - it can increase your spend by an average of 20%! 3. Switch your household energy supplier or suppliers using a service such as Uswitch.com - extra savings to be made if you combine your electricity and gas supplier and pay by direct debit. Many customers can save as much as £150 a year by switching 4. Look at the "reduced to clear" items in your supermarket. Buy them, especially if they are freezable, and stock up for the future at a fraction of the cost. 5. Give up smoking - smoking a packet of cigarettes a day costs as much as £1,500 a year and that doesn’t include the extra cost for your life insurance premiums! 6. Consolidate your debts into one loan - find the cheapest ones (APRs from 6%) log onto Premier Loan Search for the best possible rates. 7. If the tyres on your car are under-inflated, they're eating up fuel and your money. Also remove your roof-rack and try not to use the air-condition in the summer 8. A five-minute shower uses around a third less water than a bath, though remember a power shower can use more water than a bath in less than five minutes 9. Try not to leave appliances on standby - up to 10% of the total electricity used in your home is due to appliances left on standby 10. Turning the thermostat down by one degree C can cut more than 10% from the average central heating bill 11. Sell your clutter on auction sites like eBay or eBid 12. Have you checked out how much you are currently paying for Internet access lately? Good unlimited packages are down to as little as £8.49 a month 13. Is your monthly phone bill out of control? Compare tariffs using sites such as uSwitch.com 14. Use price comparison sites like kelkoo.com to compare products at different retailers. Hundreds of pounds can be saved - especially on more expensive electrical items 15. Use cashback sites when buying products and services such as cashbackguru.co.uk 16. There's no need to buy new books - borrow them from your local library. Remember, they can order new titles for you! 17. Switch your Mortgage. Switching bank or building society could slash your monthly repayment by hundreds of pounds. Contact Premier Mortgage Search on 01603 750000 for Whole of Market advice. 18. Collect points of loyalty cards when you're shopping and swap them for money-off coupons and cut-price offers and products 19. Avoid using fee-charging cash machines (ATMs). Think ahead and use cashback in supermarkets or withdraw cash from bank cash machines, which
must tell you if a fee is charged. It's crazy to pay as much as £1.50 to withdraw £20 cash! 20. Shop around before renewing your motor or household insurance. Pay up front if you can - otherwise chose a monthly plan with a low annual percentage rate - some APRs can be as high as 25%! Try Premier Mortgage Search for advice 21. There's no need to fill your kettle right up if you're just having a cuppa. Semi fill it - it will boil much quicker and use a lot less energy in the process 22. Make use of rainwater by attaching a water butt to a down pipe. Use this free resource to water your plants in the summer. 23. Look out for free coupons, online vouchers; discount codes before buying products or booking trips on the Internet. Try sites like vouchercodes.com 24. Are you making enough use of your gym membership? Are you watching all the sports and movie channels on your Sky TV package? Think about your monthly commitments and reduce what you don’t need. 25. Re-broke your life insurance policies; rates have gone down in recent years, but seek professional advice to make sure you don’t loose existing benefits. Contact Premier Mortgage Search for a comparison quote.