Nine easy ways to boost your savings

If you find saving a bit difficult, here are some really easy ways to keep your finances in check and save money.

If you’re looking for easy ways to boost your savings in 2011, here are my nine top tips:

1. Use a sweep facility

If you have a current account and savings account with the same lender, it’s worth investigating whether your lender operates a sweeping facility.

For example, if you bank with First Direct, once a month, it will automatically sweep up any money you haven’t spent in your 1st Direct Account and put it into a savings account. This is a really handy way to help you save money without having to make any effort!

That said, it’s worth ensuring the interest rate you’re earning on your savings is competitive – otherwise this may not be worth doing.

If you don’t have this facility, however, you could set up your own by using a direct debit to transfer a certain amount of money into your savings account each month. This doesn’t take long to set up and is well worth doing.

2. Save the change

Alternatively, if you have a current account with Lloyds, such as the Lloyds TSB Classic with Vantage, you can sign up to a scheme called Save The Change. Every time you spend on your debit card, it will round up the amount you’ve spent to the nearest pound and transfer the difference into a Lloyds savings account.

Again, while this is a great way to get into the savings habit, make sure you’re getting a competitive deal.

That said, if you have between £5,000 and £7,000 in your Lloyds TSB Classic with Vantage account, you’ll earn up to 4% interest!

Related how-to guide

Build up your savings

Here's how to get into the savings habit, find forgotten money, work out the real value of a savings rate and build up that emergency savings pot.

See the guide

3. Save at Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s operates a similar system called SaveBack. Providing you have the Sainsbury’s Finance Easy Saver Account, which pays 2.30%, you’ll be given a SaveBack card.

Every time you go to pay at a Sainsbury’s store, you can hand over your debit card and your SaveBack card and tell the checkout operator how much you would like to save. The money will then be transferred into your savings account within two working days!

Providing you regularly shop in Sainsbury's, this is another really easy way to save some cash. Of course, it does require you to remember to tell the operator, but if you find you've saved a few pounds on your shop one week, it's a great way of putting that money in your savings rather than spending it. Find out more in Five ways your bank will help you save.

4. Shop online

Shopping online is far easier than hitting the high street. Crowded streets, snail-like people, cold weather – all of these are great reasons for ditching the high street and shopping from the comfort of your home.

However, as well as being easier, it’s also a great way to save money. So you can actually benefit from being lazy! Cashback websites, voucher codes and shopbots can all help you to find the best deal as well as help you to earn money back. Find out more in Six silly shopping blunders we all make.

And if you're doing your food shopping, make sure you use mySupermarket.co.uk which compares the best prices at four of the major supermarkets - ASDA, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose/Ocado - so you can save money with minimal effort. That certainly beats navigating a trolley through crowded supermarket aisles. Just don't forget to put the money you save into your savings account.

5. Fix your savings rate

The problem with many easy access savings accounts is that because the interest rate is variable, it's likely to change fairly frequently - and in the current market, it's more likely to be going down than up. So you can pretty much guarantee that what had been a competitive savings account a year ago, won’t be any more.

The way to get round this is to shop around every few months to check that you’re still getting a good deal.

But yes, I know what you're thinking: Sounds like a lot of hassle. So as an alternative, you could simply lock into a long-term fixed rate bond because that way, the interest rate you receive will remain unchanged for the term of the bond - and you won't have to give your account another thought until the term comes to an end.

For example, the Post Office Growth Bond offers an interest rate of 4% for three years and you’ll need a minimum investment of £500. Just bear in mind, you won’t be able to access your savings during that time.

Alternatively, the State Bank of India Hi Return Fixed Deposit Account offers an interest rate of 4.2% for four years, with a minimum deposit of £1,000.

Do bear in mind, however, that if you lock up your money for several years, you may still find the rate of interest you’re earning is not as competitive as it could be if interest rates rise over the next couple of years.

If this concerns you, or if you want a good deal without having to tie up your money for a set term, you could take a look at the Nationwide Champion Saver instead. Every month, Nationwide collects the five highest branch-based interest rates from eight high street banks. The average of these rates is then used to determine the interest rate Nationwide will pay you for that month. So this means you’ll continually be getting a competitive deal and you won’t have to keep hunting around for a better one.  

The account also includes a bonus of 0.80% fixed until 31 January 2012. Right now, you can earn an overall rate of 2.55%. This isn’t the very best deal you'll find on the market, but it is still competitive.

Just bear in mind you’ll need a deposit of at least £1,000 and must give 60 days’ notice for any withdrawals you want to make.

6. Get a low rate for life credit card

Similarly, if you hate the idea of constantly switching around your credit cards when a promotional deal comes to an end, you could apply for a low APR credit card. These credit cards offer a low rate of interest for the lifetime of the debt, so you don't need to worry about the deal coming to an end.

For example, the Barclaycard Platinum Simplicity Visa offers an interest rate of 6.8% on all balance transfers and purchases, and there’s no balance transfer fee!

Alternatively, the MBNA Platinum Credit Card Visa offers a low rate of 5.9% on all balance transfers (not purchases). However, there’s a transfer fee of 2%. You can also carry out money transfers at this low rate, with a 4% fee.

Reducing the amount of interest you have to pay each month means you'll have more money to save!

7. Pay by direct debit

Paying by direct debit is a great way to save time as well as money. As I explained in Slash your bills by £200 bills in seconds, setting up direct debits for your energy bills, mobile phone, broadband, subscriptions and credit card bill could save you as much as £235 a year!

Switching to direct debit payments can be very easy too. Many companies will do the hard work for you, but if they don’t, you can simply fill in a short form and send it off. Once it’s all set up, you won’t have to worry about it anymore.

Our own energy comparison service will calculate exactly how much you'll save over the year by switching tariffs. Split this sum into 12 and you'll know how much to pay into your savings account each month.

8. Use online banking

If you find it hard to keep track of all your bank accounts and credit cards, or simply can’t be bothered to, a really easy way to do this is by using the lovemoney.com online banking tool. This enables you to view all of your accounts with a single log-in, so it’s perfect for anyone who wants to keep an eye on their transactions but is feeling a tad lazy.

You can also view all your savings accounts and easily keep track of how much you're saving each month, and spending on different things. So if you manage to keep your mobile phone bill down one month, you'll know exactly how much to put into your savings account. This will encourage you to save more. 

9. Read lovemoney.com

Finally, don't forget to keep reading lovemoney.com articles which are packed full of fabulous information about where to get the best savings accounts. But you knew that already, didn't you?

If you've got any top tips of your own, please share them using the comments box below.

Happy New Year!

More: 17 things you should never pay more than £1 for | Top 10 sites for bargain-hunters