This is really not the year to be told you should save some money, is it? Well, amid all of the Coronavirus panic, you can still save some cash – just not necessarily in the same way you imagined. Saving money isn’t just about gathering what you can into a pot and watching it grow. You can save money in the way that you spend your wages, the way you pay your bills and even in the amount you pay for your bills, too.
Enforced lockdown may feel difficult, but this is the time that you have to go through your finances and start giving them a real assessment. It’s in doing this that you may wish you had more put away for those rainier times of life. It’s also a good time to use the closed doors of all of the fun things you love to do to assess how much money you’re really paying out in your budget. The lockdowns may not be the best thing that has happened to the world, but if you need time to really think about your finances, then they’re the best thing that could happen for you.
So, with this in mind, let’s check out some of the best ways that you can save money during the pandemic.
Save The Money You WOULD Have Spent
Pre-lockdown, you might have frequented bars, pubs and clubs far more than you are doing right now. You might have booked tables at fancy restaurants and cinema tickets. You could have spent money on bowling and crazy golf and all of the fun things that you love to do. However, right now, you’re not able to do any of that! So, all of that money you would have spent before can be saved right now. You will be shocked to learn how much you’re actually spending on each of those excursions, and you might decide to cut back when things do open up. In the meantime, save that money. Any time you would have booked to go for drinks or to see a movie, put that money away. It will 100% be there for you to use if your income hasn’t changed at this time, so put it to one side.
Save On Utilities
Your phone bill, your electricity and your gas may have gone up while you’ve been furloughed or on national lockdown. You’ll notice this pretty much right away as you’re in the home more so are using the electricity and everything else a lot more than usual. You can save money, though, by switching things up. The low-cost network Tesco Mobile could be a gamechanger for your mobile phone bills over this time. You can speak to your provider and check your tariff for electricity, and you can double check that the gas bill is affordable. If you can’t make changes look into options for switching up your bills.
Be Smart About Debt
It’s not easy to manage debts when you have lost your job, but that doesn’t mean that your creditors are going to bite you! Speak to them and communicate about the money you owe. Everyone is in the same situation with regard to debt right now, so you’re not alone. Think about the debt you owe and arrange to pay it off in the most minimal increments – no matter what you can afford, pay something to keep them sweet! Look out for payment holidays and look at ways you can overpay anything so that you can be ahead of yourself, especially if you haven’t lost your job just yet.
Be Real About Your Savings
You have to save with your eyes wide open. You’re not just building a future, you’re keeping your present protected. The only way to do that is watch t how the world is moving and know you have the right savings accounts with a bank who is not going to collapse in the face of economic worry.
Boredom Drains Savings!
The boredom in lockdown can be your downfall if you’re trying to save and not spend money, as online shopping and window shopping always seems to win out! It’s tempting to be online and nose through the stores and what they have to offer, but it’s important to get off your phone if you’re likely to scroll when bored.
Look For Refunds
No one saw lockdown coming. Event organisers didn’t see it coming either, which means that you need to take the time to go through all of the things that you booked in during the past year. Once you do that, you can start asking for refunds. You should be able to get full refunds for everything that you’ve booked – seeing as events aren’t going ahead! You may be owed a few refunds, and this will help you immensely when it comes to saving your cash!
Find Bargains
While you’re saving money, you need to look for bargains when it comes to your groceries, furniture and other home shopping itesls. If you’re driving right now for work, then get your car into a garage and let the petrol money pot build up. You need to plan to find bargains, whether that be through your grocery shopping or your spending on the house. Bargains on Facebook for second-hand items or on ebay are going to make a massive difference to your money pot, too. You can do so much more when you have a cushion of cash to protect you in the event of job loss.
Speak To Energy Providers
When you’re at home, it’s easy to leave the heaters on and warm up. The thing is, you want it to be easy to stay warm and not overspend on your energy. With the right support from your energy providers, you’re going to save cash. Help yourself here by turning off lights and not using the heating as much as you were previously. Depending on your income, you may be eligible for an energy grant, too. Speak to your provider to know for sure!
Cancel Memberships
The gym is shut, right? Cancel your membership. Do the same for the travelcard you use per month, the golf course or the pool. You can even cancel annual membership to National Trust sites, too, as those won’t be open for very long – not long enough to enjoy your membership, anyway. If you can’t bear to let go of a membership, haggle down the price, instead. It’s something you shouldn’t wait around on, particularly as it’s about to be cold all over again.
Get A Second Job
If you have the time to freelance, do it. You need to do what you can to have more money coming in. Spare time that you have right now can be put to good use and you can take part in focus groups or freelance your skills and earn more cash that way. This can help you to keep your money pot healthy and prevent you from wasting money. You can give yourself a safety net, too, and this will make a huge difference in the way that you survive through Covid.
Cook From Scratch
Believe it or not, scratch-cooking can be cost-effective. It’s time to get online and learn how to cook while you have so much time on your hands.it’s going to help you to learn a new skill while saving money at the same time. You can plan your shops to get the maximum for your cash and start only buying what you need. Ready meals may be convenient, but they’re not the best to eat. You’ve got more time right now, so you may as well use it well and learn how to cook for yourself. If you can learn to cook your own meals, you’re going to save yourself a lot of cash. It’s also a lot of saving money if you manage to cook for the kids, as you’re not going to have too much spent on junk food!
Put Your Home Gym Together
You can save money on the gym by putting together your own home gym. You can either put together equipment based on what you find in the house, or you can learn to love running and let the road be your gym. You will find so many different ways to lift and move with new home gym equipment, and you can feel like you’re still getting a great workout in – even when you are using tomato cans to lift with!
The pandemic has really messed up the way that many people work. You have to be smart about your money at a time where you can’t have any certainty as to what happens next. You need to think about where your money needs to go and how you plan to keep it to one side for savings. Your money matters right now, but don’t bury your head in the sand about how to pay for things that you need to pay for.