6 tips to save money this year

If you are one of the many people that have decided that their New Year’s resolution involves cutting back on costs and saving money then you may still be thinking of ways in which you can achieve your goal.

Saving money and cutting back on your outgoings isn’t always easy, and you may have to think carefully about the different areas in which you can make cutbacks. However, there are actually a number of ways in which you can save money, and some of these are outlined below.

Simple ways to save

There are various simple ways in which you can save money and live more frugally. Some of these include:

• Credit card debt: If you have a credit card you should check the rate of interest that you are paying on any balance that is outstanding. It is well worth considering switching your balance to an interest free balance transfer card, as this means that you can focus on clearing the balance on your credit card without worrying about having to pay huge sums of interest.
• Insurance plans: If you have insurance policies that are up for renewal always ensure that you check the various price comparison sites to see whether you can get a better deal. The insurance market is a highly competitive one, and you will most likely find a much better deal than the one that you are currently on, so you could save a small fortune each month on the cost of your insurance payments alone.
• Direct payments: Pay your bills such as energy bill by direct payment. This will make it easier for you to budget, but more importantly it could save you money on your bills, as many companies charge extra to those that pay quarterly and many offer discounts to those that pay monthly by direct payment.
• Consolidation: Consider consolidating your debts with a low rate consolidation loan. You can wrap up all of your debts such as credit cards, store cards, catalogues, and loans, into one convenient loan, which means that you will only have one creditor to deal with, you will only pay one lot of interest, you will only make one repayment each months, and you could see the amount that you are paying out on your debts each month drop significantly.
• Discount vouchers: Look out for online vouchers for eateries, shops, and entertainment on sites such as Couponbuffer. There are a number of these sites around these days, where you can order free vouchers for money off on a wide range of products, services, and venues, and this could also save you a fair amount of money.
• If you are going out, such as a trip to the cinema, look out for special promotional days, such as Orange Wednesdays at cinemas, where you can get two tickets for the price of one as an Orange customer. Also, work out which are the cheaper days to visit places such as the cinema and try and go at off peak times.

Another thing to do is to change your shopping venue, and get some of your products from cheaper places than your regular supermarket. Whilst some discount stores don’t offer the same level of choice as the major supermarkets you can get at least some of your shopping from there, which can help to cut your shopping bill.