HOW TO SAVE MONEY: EVERYDAY SCROOGERY
by Amanda Prouten
Everyday scroogery
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YOU ARE VIEWING: EVERYDAY SCROOGERY
- Give up / cut down smoking! A 20 a day smoker could save £1,825 a year! Cut down to 10 a day and you could still save well over £900.
- Unless you're an Olympic athlete, cancel your gym membership. At between £35 and £80 a month, you could save between £420 and £960 a year. Spend a tenner on a pedometer and a decent workout DVD and do your own thing in your own time instead.
- Cut down on coffee-shop lattes and take a cafetiere and a milk whisk into work or college. One less latte per weekday at an average £1.50, will save you £375 over a year!
- Never underestimate the humble packed lunch in the acquisition of wealth! You can get through £4 a day buying snacks and lunch at work. Spend an extra £15 a month in the supermarket on good, economy ingredients for your lunchbox and save £65 a month or £715 a year.
- Spend an afternoon at the weekend being a domestic goddess and making a gourmet range of your own cheap, healthy ready meals to freeze for the week. This'll deter you from ever buying ready meals or, worse still, indulging in a takeaway on the way home when you're tired and hungry.
- Make sure you're on the right tax code. Look at the code on your payslip. If it is BR, you're not getting any tax allowance and may be due for a rebate. Check this out on www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk. To understand your tax code go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/C1.htm and download PDF P3. Check the details against your tax code and phone your tax office (number on payslip) to put the matter right.
- Could you be eligible for any benefits or grants? Do you need help with debt, housing or educational funding? Know your rights and how to claim by clicking on www.adviceguide.org.uk for all the Citizen's Advice Bureau information.
