Six ways your neighbour can save you money

Getting to know your neighbours can help you to save the pennies!

How often do you speak to your neighbours? I can honestly say I rarely speak to mine. And yet, I always think this is a bit of a shame. A few years ago, I used to know my neighbours pretty well, but since moving, that’s all changed.

Of course, busy lifestyles can mean we rarely get time to say more than a quick "hello", or "what a lovely day" before you dash off to wherever it is you’re going. However, it could be well worth taking the time to get to know your neighbours a little better as neighbours can be a great way of saving you money!

In fact, recent research from HSBC has revealed we are a nation of ‘functional acquaintances’, using our neighbours for practical purposes rather than sociable ones. Indeed, according to the research, 92% of people say they know some of their neighbours, but only 12% consider them friends.

Top 15 interactions

The research revealed the top 15 interactions we have with our neighbours, so here are the results:

• Been inside their home (41%)
• Have invited them into my home (37%)
• Lent them something (28%)
• Have been lent something (26%)
• Feed their pets/water plants when they’re away (16%)
• They feed my pets/water my plants when I’m away (13%)
• I keep their spare keys (12%)
• We’ve had a barbecue (11%)
• They keep my spare keys (10%)
• We have a social gathering (10%)
• Our children play together (7%)
• We’ve had a street party (6%)
• We’ve had Christmas drinks (6%)
• They look after my children after school (2%)
• I look after their children after school (2%)

So now you know how useful your neighbours can be, let’s take a look at some of the ways they can help you to save money.

1. Car sharing

If you’re lucky enough to have a neighbour who travels in the same direction as you – or even who works in the same building as you – it’s worth considering car sharing. That way you can split the cost of petrol and save money.

Even if you drive to a train station every morning, you could still see if a neighbour does the same and that way, as well as sharing the cost of petrol, you could share the cost of parking.

Or how about taking the kids to school? If your neighbours have children who go to the same school as yours, why not lift share?

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2. Childcare

Childcare can be very expensive. So if you happen to have a neighbour who finishes work early to pick up the kids or who doesn’t work during the school holidays, perhaps he/she could look after your children too!

If your neighbour does regularly look after your kids, however, you need to be careful. If the childcare is for more than two hours a day before 6pm, or for more than 14 days a year, your neighbour must be registered as a childminder. Find out more in Five ways to slash your childcare costs.

Of course, this doesn’t include the odd babysitting job in the evening. So you could easily save money this way – instead of paying someone to babysit your children when you’ve got an evening event to go to, why not ask a neighbour and repay the favour the next time he/she needs someone to look after his/her kids?

Alternatively, you could share a nanny. If you’re not sure where to start, websites such as nannyshare.co.uk and thenannysharers.co.uk allow you to share a nanny with another family. You can even search for families near you who are looking for childcare and then split the cost.

Remember, however, before employing any nanny or childcarer, you should always check his/her identification, qualifications, references and criminal record bureau checks.

3. Pet care

Similarly, if you have a pet and you’ve got an animal-lover for a neighbour, why not ask them if they mind looking after your pet while you’re on holiday? This could save you stacks of cash, and if your neighbour also has a pet, you could offer to do the same when your neighbour next goes away.

4. Borrowing and lending

If you’re doing some DIY around the home and realise you don’t have a ladder, instead of going out to buy one, why not ask a neighbour if you can borrow one?

In fact, there’s now a nifty website that allows you to view items that your neighbours might be offering to give away or lend! Sign up to Streetbank and you’ll be able to see people within one mile of where you live and all of the items they’re offering.

Not only will this save you money, but you might even get to know your neighbours better! And if you want to be a really nice neighbour, you could also advertise any items you’re happy to lend back to others.

5. Swap skills

Of course, it doesn’t only have to be items that your neighbours lend to you. Your neighbours could also lend you their skills, and you could lend some back!

Say, for example, your neighbour is a hairdresser, and you’re a keen guitarist. Perhaps you could ask your neighbour to cut your hair for you every couple of months and in return you could teach your neighbour’s daughter how to play the guitar. It’s a really easy way of saving money!

Streetbank lets you swap skills in this way, as does the website Swapaskill.

6. Swap stuff!

Finally, to save money on items such as clothes or books, why not host a swapping party every so often with your neighbours? All you need to do is get everyone together to bring along any unwanted clothes/books/DVDs and then get swapping! It’s a great way to save money as well as socialise with your neighbours!

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