Get your finances off to the best possible start this new year.
2021 wasn’t exactly a vintage year for many of us, with the ongoing impact of the pandemic, lockdowns and restrictions having a detrimental impact on our financial ‒ and mental ‒ health.
However, there are plenty of things you can do in the days, weeks and months ahead to ensure that 2022 is a better year for your finances. Cut your credit card costs
The financial difficulties faced by many over the last couple of years has meant increasing spending on credit cards.
According to The Money Charity, the average household now has more than £2,000 debt on their plastic.
Thankfully, you can cut the cost of repaying that debt by moving it to a 0% balance transfer credit card.
As the name suggests, you enjoy a period where you don’t pay interest on balances you move onto the card, which in some cases can stretch longer than two years, meaning you pay that debt off in manageable chunks without incurring interest.
There may be a fee to pay for moving that balance though. Switch your current account
Alternatively, you may have dipped into the red in your bank account on occasion in order to deal with the tricky spending.
This can prove an incredibly costly way to borrow though, which is why moving to a bank account that offers an interest or fee-free period on overdrafts can be an excellent idea. Get advice
If your debt is becoming a bit of a problem, then it’s a really good idea to get some advice on how to go about tackling it successfully.
Thankfully there are plenty of fantastic debt charities who can provide that guidance, and do so without charging you a penny to boot. Monthly bills
There is no escaping the monthly expenditure on bills, but there are ways to cut the size of them.
Ordinarily, we’d suggest shopping around for new energy deals, but that isn’t really an option at the moment given the rate at which smaller suppliers have gone bust this year.
However, as things start to settle in the new year it’s worth once again having a look around the market to see if you can find a cheaper tariff, particularly once the energy cap is raised once again in April.
What’s more, just because you can’t cut the price you pay for your energy, you can act to reduce the amount of energy you use.
It’s worth being proactive in searching for cheaper deals on your other regular bills, too.
With broadband, for example, it’s very easy to just sit on your current deal even after the initial term has expired, even though you could save money by switching to a new package.
Similarly, be sure to look around for better value deals on your mobile phone tariff.Make sure that any tariff you sign up for delivers what you actually need ‒ there’s no point paying more for services and features that you won’t use. Don’t ignore the mortgage One of the biggest bills any of us face is the monthly mortgage payment.What’s more, an awful lot of homeowners are about to see their existing deals mature ‒ analysis of industry figures by Yorkshire Building Society has revealed that mortgages worth a massive £6.7 billion will finish their initial fixed or variable periods in January.That’s an awful lot of people who face the prospect of moving to a more costly rate.Ultimately, whenever your deal comes to an end, it’s really important to shop around in advance and move to a new fixed or variable deal rather than being shunted onto your lender’s standard variable rate. We’ve teamed up with Compare the Market* to help you compare mortgages and find the right deal for you. Click here to find out more and start comparing mortgages . Shopping for food After the mortgage, one of the biggest expenses each month comes from our spending on food. It’s not really something you can avoid.However, it doesn’t have to cost you a packet, with all sorts of ways to reduce the amount your spend.These can include moving away from premium brands, moving to a cheaper supermarket altogether, or even something as simple as ensuring you only go shopping with a list in hand, to help you stay focused and avoid the multibuy offers at the end of the aisles.It’s also worth looking into the various loyalty schemes on offer from supermarkets. If you are a regular at Tesco or Sainsbury’s for example […]
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