A decade ago, Metro’s finance guru Andy Webb launched his money-savvy website, Be Clever With Your Cash, and has been dispensing inavaluable advice ever since.
To marks ten years of success, Andy’s sharing some of his top tricks that will help Metro readers bag a little extra in their pockets.
‘If you try a few of these tips you might even end up with a grand or more,’ he adds.
Here’s how you can do it:
Cash in with a cashback card
Let’s start with your wallet. How are you paying for everything? If it’s not with a cashback card you’re missing out. The top earners are Chase’s 1% debit card and the American Express Nectar card, which offers the same rate but in points. Spend £833 a month on normal purchases with one of these and you’ll have £100 back over 12 months.
Sign up with Amex
If you don’t already have an American Express credit card there are welcome offers worth £100 or more when you first sign up. You’ll have to spend a set amount in the first three months to trigger the bonus, starting at £2,000 for the Amex Nectar. Other cards offer bigger bonuses but require more spending.
Set your sights on a cashback site
Sticking with cashback for the third tip, sign up to and use cashback sites like Quidco and TopCashback (search for a welcome bonus first). Click through from these and you’ll earn money back on most purchases – £100 could well be conservative here.
Switch banks
You can often make more than £100 doing this. Offers come and go but over the past few years have ranged between £125 and £225. And you can do more than one in a year.
Shift your savings
Move any savings you have, too. The top-paying regular saver right now is from First Direct, offering7%. You can add up to £300 a month, and over a year you’ll make £136 in interest. If you can’t quite afford that, putting in £220 will get you to £100.
Bills bills, bills
There’s almost always fat to trim with your bills. If you’re paying £16 or more for your mobile phone then £100 should be easy to get over a year – assuming you’re out of contract. There are plenty of tariffs at £8 (or less) which contain enough data for most people. You’ll need to go SIM-only and keep your existing phone, and to get the price down you might need to haggle with your existing network or move provider, but it’s worth doing.
Play hardball with your broadband provider
You can haggle with your broadband provider to cut your monthly bill. Threaten to leave and they’ll usually give you a decent discount. If not, move to a different company which is cheaper. Save £8 or £9 a month and that’s another £100 back in the bank – but I think you can save more.
Look at who gives you the best TV
Sky or Virgin TV customers can make big savings too by completely ditching the service in favour of Sky’s own NOW TV streaming subscription. You’ll get all the key channels but for less – though it’s all catch-up and live viewing so you can’t record.
To get an idea of savings, new Sky customers with all the main channels, including films and sports in HD will pay £65 a month. Those same options via NOW add up to £60 at full price, but with introductory offers and a trick to get more savings that involves cancelling at the end of each month, you should get at least a third knocked off that, easily way more than £100 saved. Plus it’s a month-by-month contract so you can ditch parts of the package when you’re not watching.
Streamline your streaming
This is another big saver. How many streaming services do you pay for right now? If it’s two or more, then you’re wasting cash as it’s impossible to really watch more than one at any time. Instead focus on a single service for a month, perhaps two, until you’ve exhausted it all. Then cancel it and sign up for another and repeat. If doing this saves you £8 to £9 a month, that’s another £100 over a year.
Finally, ditch Amazon Prime
This costs £95 a year, but you won’t just save on the subscription. Not having Prime will force you to think twice about impulse orders and push you to shop around – both likely to save you money. And if you really do want or need to use Prime, there’s a 30-day free trial available to customers every year, so use that and cancel again.
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Follow award-winning blogger and podcaster Andy on Instagram and YouTube or visit becleverwithyourcash.com.
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