USEFUL HACKS AS THE COST OF LIVING CHALLENGES CONTINUE…

Chris Blackwell, who is a director of Swindon-based TED Mortgages, works with individuals or families to finance their dream homes.

He’s also a board member of The Platform Project in the town where he supports young people and guides them to become more financially savvy.

“I believe strongly that young people should be taught about money and how to handle it healthily from an early age. I talk to them about money in the ‘real world’ including budgeting, types of financial products, saving and looking after your credit score.”

At a time when the cost of living is rising rapidly, he has some tips which might help households across Swindon save money.

“It can be very easy to avoid reviewing your finances, checking on your monthly outgoings and this is usually due to being sceptical on how much you can save,” Chris said. 

“In the current climate there couldn’t be a more important time to review your spending and make savings where you can. Saving a tenner here or a fiver there can really make a difference over the course of a month, or a year.”

 Some options could be:

• General insurance - do you shop around each year for the renewal of your home and car insurance or do you automatically renew with the same provider? There could be savings by shopping around, or even in finding a better deal and asking your current provider to match it. Some will. 
• Protection - Have you reviewed your life insurance policy? Are you on the best deal or have your circumstances changed meaning these need to be reviewed?
• Utilities - wherever you go now these will be more expensive yet are you on the cheapest tariff possible? Shop around. 
• Subscriptions or memberships – this is very easy to forget. Are you paying for any services that you rarely or never use? Small direct debit amounts can easily be ignored yet can be a quick and easy way to reduce monthly bills.
• Existing debts - are your existing loans or credit cards on the best deal possible? Could you refinance these in another way to make them cheaper?
• Get advice - if you are concerned about your finances, don’t wait until you have missed payments to talk to your existing providers. Contact them early and make arrangements as this will have a less severe impact on your credit file. 
• Mortgage - checking your mortgage is on the best possible deal and terms can bring about one of the biggest monthly savings. This may be about re-mortgaging to save money, rather than physically moving home. 

For more information about TED Mortgages visit https://www.tedmortgages.co.uk