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Credit Crunch Monthly Tips

By adopting these daily changes to your lifestyle the pounds will come rolling in, but it shouldn’t stop there! The next step in beating the credit crunch can be done each and every month.

FOOD

• Draw up a monthly grocery budget
  With your monthly finance diary’s findings, try and set yourself a monthly budget for your groceries, taking into account little extras that you may need to purchase.
• Plan your meals weekly
  With your budget in mind, make a plan at the beginning of each week for your breakfasts, lunches and evening meals, and then go shopping. Not only will this avoid all of those impulse buys, you’ll know exactly what you need.

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• Switch your gas and electricity provider with the help of Moneyfacts
  Energy bills have risen by 60% over the past five years. Recent price hikes announced the energy providers is even gloomier news for all of us stretched to breaking point. However, if you are on the wrong tariff it can literally burn a hole in your finances – and that’s where Moneyfacts can come in. Now you can search the whole market for a gas and electricity plan tailored to your needs. You can save hundreds of pounds each year just by answering a few simple questions. You’ll never be switched off and your new provider will do all of the hard work for you. Why not start saving today?
• Turn off that heating
  With winter gradually fading into the distance there’s no need to keep our heating on for the same amount of time as we may be used to.
• Turn off that tumble dryer too
  Hopefully, this year’s summer won’t be a washout like last year. Dry your clothes on the line whenever possible, and switch to a lower temperature and shorter cycles when you wash.
• Make all of those financial checks
  Are you in the right council tax band? Are you claiming all of the benefits you are entitled to?
• Cancel those subscriptions
  Do you really need that expensive Sky or broadband subscription? You probably don’t watch all of those channels or use your full broadband bandwidth anyway. By cutting out these expensive luxuries you’ll notice the difference immediately.
• Why not get a lodger?
  If you have a spare room you could literally be throwing away money. You can earn up to £4,250 per year for this purpose (or roughly £350) per month without having to declare it to the taxman.

BANKING

• Get those debts under control
  If you're one of the many millions of Brits in debt, the lingering credit crunch means that you should be doing everything you can to start paying your debts off. Every month that goes by those credit card balances will cost you more and more, so think twice before flexing your plastic on day-to-day spending. Start by tackling your most important debt first.
• Cancel those direct debits
  Start by going through all of your bank statements with a fine-toothed comb and make every effort to cancel those direct debits. Don’t feel bad about not giving to charity anymore, they will have been grateful for your kindness in the first place. Your gym however, may not! But don’t let that put you off saving even more.
• Open up an ISA
  With all of these savings you are making you’ll start to see the benefit in next to no time. However, if you are one of the lucky ones who can claim to be ‘debt-free’ the ideal home for your money is not your bank account (often paying you 0.10% interest), or a standard savings account (where your interest is taxed). Open up an Individual Savings Account (ISA) because every single penny you earn in interest is free from tax. You can save up to £3,600 tax-free in cash for the tax year 08/09. If the credit crunch continues we may start to see a rise in unemployment. Most industry experts say that you should always have an emergency fund of at least three months’ salary put away just in case. With some pretty attractive ISA rates out there, it makes sense to start saving sooner rather than later. Why not search for an ISA today or check out our Best Buys.
• Remortgage early
  If you are one of the millions coming off a fixed rate mortgage deal this year there is no doubt that you are going to find yourself in a mortgage world completely different from 2, 3 or 5 years ago. Lenders are pulling deals at a rate of knots and arrangement fees have increased dramatically. You can effectively ‘book’ a mortgage up to three months early too, so once again the message is that it make sense to act sooner rather than later. Why not check out Moneyfacts’ Best Buys, or search the whole market using our wholly independent mortgage search?

Find out more:

• Compare Car Insurance Quotes
• Switch Energy Providers
• Transfer Credit Card Balance
• Apply for a High interest Savings Account
• Credit Crunch Explained
• Credit Crunch Daily Tips