Christmas and New Year are an expensive time for most, after paying out for gifts, food, nights out with friends and visits to see family on top of your regular outgoings. It’s little wonder many of us are looking to save money in 2020 and cut our monthly expenses. Check out these 12 ways to help save money in 2020.
Use Public Transport
Okay so trains and other forms of public transport may not be as cheap and cheerful these days, but neither is paying to tax, M.O.T, insure, run and park a car. Using public transport can be a great way to save money in the New Year as well as possibly being the more eco-friendly option.
If you’re living in or around a bustling city, it’s likely you may save money by using public transport.
Buying your train ticket weekly, monthly, seasonal or even annually can prove to be a lot more cost-effective then single journeys, and there’s also plenty of hidden fares and split tickets up for grabs if you know where to look.
Consolidate your debt
If you’re paying off a debt, or even numerous debts, then you may be paying out a substantial amount of your income each month. Take control of your finances by consolidating your debt into one manageable monthly repayment and potentially save money each month.
It can also help you to gain a better understanding of your income and monthly outgoings, as you’ll no longer be juggling numerous due dates, lending terms and conditions. For a wide range of borrowing options, please take a look at our debt consolidation loans, ranging from £5,000 to £50,000, to see how Evolution Money can help you.
De-clutter, upcycle and sell your possessions
After the chaos of the winter holidays, it’s time to refresh, get your home organised, and of course, save. Why not spend some time de-cluttering, it’s a free activity at least, and sort through your possessions deciding what to keep, what to donate, and what to sell in order to bring in some extra cash.
You may even discover old clothes, like that jacket you only wore once to a wedding two years ago, and decide to re-wear or up-cycle. This can potentially help you to avoid the Early year sales and hoards of shoppers and actually save this month.
Shop Around for Services
Another way to save money and then benefit all year round is to make sure you shop around for your services. Do you have the best deal on utilities and household bills?
Could you be saving on your insurance?
Prices can vary wildly for the same service so you may be surprised that comparing service providers and swapping for a cheaper deal could help you to save hundreds of pounds over the year by cutting the cost of your monthly outgoings.
To potentially save on your broadband, media and mobile phone bills, contact your current providers and ask for a new tariff, you never know what you may be offered. Or, wait to renew your contract for a better deal with another provider. Sim-only contracts can often work out cheaper than paying for the handset too.
Install energy-efficient light bulbs
To save money on your household electricity bill this year, why not swap out your old lightbulbs for energy-efficient ones? LED light bulbs only use around 5 watts of power and work just as well, if not better, than filament bulbs that use around 40 watts. Upgrading even one bulb in your home could save you potentially hundreds over a lifetime as well as saving energy.
Try a Smart Meter
Try a smart meter to keep on top of your monthly electric and gas usage and costly outgoings. There’s plenty of advantages to using a smart meter over traditional meters including automatic meter readings and an in-home display so you can see how much energy you’re using and how much it costs you in real-time. That means no more estimated bills, and you’ll only pay for the energy you’ve used.
Ideal for when you’re trying to trim your outgoings and monthly bills. Start the year off the right way and save money on gas or electricity and minimise your use of appliances that are costly to run.
Unplug electrical devices when not in use
If you’re in the habit of keeping electrical devices plugged in around the house that you aren’t using, then 2020 is the time to stop and start saving some money.
It can sometimes prove difficult to keep on top of, especially in a house full of teenagers and numerous gaming consoles and gadgets. However, unplugging electrical devices when not in use could potentially save some money on your electricity bill.
Take a look at your Direct Debits
The start of the year is an ideal time to assess your outgoings and take a good look at your direct debts, memberships and subscriptions. You could save hundreds of pounds a year.
Whether it’s an expensive gym membership that you don’t make the most of, online streaming subscriptions you could live without, dating services you signed up to and lost interest in or free trials you forgot to cancel.
Plan Inexpensive Days Out
After splashing out on the festivities over the Christmas holidays, you’re likely looking to save on days out and activities in the new year. There’s no need to hide away though as there’s plenty of inexpensive days out and free activities.
Keep your eye on the community groups who often offer subsidised classes and activity days and free events for a range of ages. Why not swap a day at the zoo for a day at the park with a packed lunch? Check out the local leisure centre for a cheap swimming session or enquire at a volunteer group to find out how you could get involved.
Cook Homemade Meals
This tip for saving money in 2020 may be one of the more obvious ones and likely a new year’s resolution from a health perspective. We know there are many health and cost benefits to cooking homemade meals, and not living off ready meals or takeaways. There’s also the added benefit that taking last night’s leftovers into work for lunch will also stop you buying food every day and may end up saving you a considerable amount of money over the year.
Preparation is the key to tasty, cheaper homemade meals that will refrain you from eating out or ordering a takeaway. You’ll also be doing your bit to reduce waste.
Buy Items in Bulk when possible
When out shopping, buying items in bulk can be a great way of saving money in the long-term. When possible, take advantage of bulk buy offers on non-perishable and necessity items such as salt, rice and shampoo. Remember to only buy items that you need or would buy ordinarily.
You can also save money by choosing to buy supermarkets own-brand or basic products rather than the more expensive, well-known brands. Often there’s little difference in quality, only price, so there’s no reason for not changing your shopping habits and giving them a go.
Take Advantage of Coupons & Promotional Offers
You may be saving this month, but that doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself once or twice. Take advantage of coupons and promotional offers in order to stretch your money as far as possible.
Plenty of restaurants offer up to 50% off at the start of the year to encourage customers to dine, and there’s plenty of coupons and discount codes available online for a wide range of days out and experiences. Check out voucher websites for before making any purchases.
For a typical loan of £30,000.00 over 120 months with a variable interest rate of 19.56% per annum, your monthly repayments would be £598.34.
Including a Product Fee of £2,400.00 (8% of the loan amount) and a Lending Fee of £807.00, the total amount repayable is £71,800.20.
Annual Interest Rates ranging from 11.88% to 29.38% (variable). Maximum 50.00% APRC. The loan must be paid back by your 70th birthday. Read more.
Think carefully before securing debts against your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other loan secured against it. If you are thinking of consolidating existing borrowing, you should be aware that you may be extending the terms of the debt and increasing the total amount you repay.
