Stretch your salary by £500 this month

This article is fair enough if you haven't really had any real money problems in the past, and are only now beginning to feel the pinch. What about those of us who have struggled to make ends meet for many years thanks to redundancies and unexpected major financial burdens falling in your lap? I am not able to get a lower interest rate on my loan or credit card, because I have such a poor credit rating. Other lenders will not touch me unless I am placed onto a higher interest rate, high risk account. This does not assist in getting on top of the debt and reducing my outstanding debt. I cannot re-mortgage either, because of the same issues, unless again I opt for a high risk, high interest account, and there is no point in going backwards. I have already switched and saved, (and I am sure many other lower income readers do too) and regularly do to keep my bills as low as possible. I have been doing this for a number of years now, and I have become a bit of a pain to the utility, telephone and broadband companies as I keep changing. This also makes it hard for me to keep a track of where my bills should be paid should things go wrong during the changeover. (and things do go wrong from time to time, trust me. I have the scars to prove it. Its never quite as simple as they would have you believe.) Cutting your council tax bills again isnt that easy, and isnt going to work for everyone. For every winner, you can be sure there will be a loser, and it wont be our government that ultimately loose. Shopping bills has just become a little easier thanks to Asda's online shopping checker. You cant loose, as if its available cheaper elsewhere, you just claim the difference back. It might only be a few pennies, but it does ensure you get the best possible deals. Who hasn't been buying secondhand for years. Thats just common sense. Using cashback cards is fine if firstly you can get a cashback deal worth holding on to, and your purchases support those particular cards. They do tend to be a bit patchy in places away from London. Ta similar thing for cashback websites. They dont always have the goods you are after, so not always a good choice. Petrol prices is a good one, but only if you have a car! It also pays to make sure you are not going too far off your normal journey to buy the cheaper fuel. All it takes is one traffic jam, and you might as well have not bothered. There can be a big difference from one garage to the next so these sites are worth a look. Cutting you car, home and life insurance costs is a good suggestion, but whatever you do, dont even bother looking until your renewal time. If you try to switch mid term, the very minimum you can expect is some kind of financial penalty for cancelling mid term, and potentially you could loose some no claims discounts you may have been entitled too if only you could have stayed put until the renewal. Its also worth going back to your existing insurer to see if they would improve their offer once you have competitors prices. It is better for Insurers if existing customers renew their existing policies, as it works out a lot cheaper for them, so give them a little nudge, and you might be surprised. Dont lie though. Be honest about competitors prices, as they all know what each other can offer, even before you do. Turning your trash into cash. Fine idea, but most of my trash it what I haveto use daily, so not a great deal available there. Maybe this article should be re-named 'Save up to £500 this month...if you haven't ever had to scrimp or save, and have had a blessed, wealthy upbringing' but I doubt that would have fitted in the box provided, and to be honest, its not nearly as catchy, or attention grabbing. The '15 simple tips' was a bit misleading too. Maybe 2 tips, 3 things you only get to do once a year, and 10 more that you really should have been doing anyway. Come on Lovemoney, how about a bit more honesty, and a bit more 'usefull' information instead of these articles just advertising comparison websites. Yawn.

I use Utilities Warehouse for gas, electricity, broadband, phone and mobile (package) and get massive savings. They have a cashback card too, what you spend you get a % off which comes off utilities bill. Not long been on it but seeing savings already. Reckon it will come into its own during winter months. Check out [url=http://www.lowbills.info]www.lowbills.info[/url]

I do love these articles- and the banter that goes with them! I'm always keen to save money where I can, and recognise that most of us are in the same boat. I noticed that again cashback sites like Quidco have been recommended. I have used this in the past, and at first it seemed great, however, you are restricted to the small number of shops and limited deals they can offer. I have used the following Free App numerous times now, and the savings are seriously impressive. It works for over 250 million products and over 200,000 retailers so it's not got the limitations of the cashback sites. Plus, it works instantly saving time, and of course money by finding you the best deals and prices - the immediate savings are considerably better than what you get 'back' from the other sites, plus your not having to spend that extra money in the first place! Its free to use and instant savings: [url=http://www.myshoppinggenie.com/geniesavesmoney]www.myshoppinggenie.com/geniesavesmoney[/url] I also use Asda, as mentioned above, and find on the whole their prices are much better than the other supermarkets - and I use the 'price guarantee' site to check. With delivery as low as £3.50 (I vaguely recall they may offer some slots at £3!), it is so much easier to shop online as and when I think of something to add to my basket, whilst working at my computer. That way, not only do I save money by only adding the items I want (i'm a sucker when I see 'bargains' and 'offers' in the shop on items I hadn't planned on buying) I also save time not having to go round the shops- which can then be spent working and making money, so I guess its another money saver really :-) I did a car boot sale a few weeks ago, made £120 for stuff I would have thrown out anyway- I was amazed at some of the stuff people wanted to buy. Great way of having a clear out, making some money but actually saving money as I found things I forgot I had (and would have bought again) when sorting items for sale.