With many Brits counting the cost of Summer holidays, these five budget boosters will help give your finances a makeover.
There’s no denying that most of us are struggling to make ends meet at the moment.
While mortgage rates are becoming more competitive and the energy Price Cap has fallen, the cost-of-living crisis has already done huge damage to our household budgets.
And the Summer holidays haven’t helped, with many of us struggling to find the cash for a two-week break or to keep the kids entertained.
But no matter the time of the year, it’s a good idea to keep your eye out for ways to easily boost your bank balance.
We've rounded up a bunch of cash boosters, which could give your budget a helping hand worth up to £6,310, depending on how many you're eligible for.
1. Transfer your investments – up to £6,000 in cash or 600,000 Avios
ISAs and pensions are a great way to save for your future and come in all sorts of different forms. Best of all, they could be a useful way to shelter your nest egg from the taxman.
It’s always sensible to review your investments every couple of months, to ensure that you are getting the sort of return you were expecting.
And as with banks, if you think you might do better elsewhere, there may be a switching incentive on offer too.
Nutmeg is currently offering a whopping £6,000 in cashback or 600,000 Avios if you transfer a pension and an ISA to the platform.
The amount you’ll receive is tiered depending on the size of your transfer.
You can receive up to £3,000 in cashback or 300,000 Avios for an ISA transfer (and the same for a pension).
Were you to transfer both, this would be a combined £6,000 or 600,000 Avios.
Be aware, the ISA offer ends 25 September, while the pension offer ends 30 November.
2. Move your bank account – up to £190 cash
There are all sorts of reasons to want to switch your current account ‒ you might want to earn more interest on your cash balances, get a better overdraft, or even want the chance to earn cashback on your direct debits.
But if you want to give your finances a quick boost, then it’s worth reviewing the banks paying sizeable welcome bonuses to new customers simply for opening a new bank account with them.
While it can take a little while before the money is paid, the sums on offer are eye-catching.
For example, TSB will pay you up to £190 when you switch to either the Spend & Save or Spend & Save Plus accounts – be aware, the Spend & Save Plus account has a £3 monthly fee.
Unlike most other banks, TSB will pay your cash in instalments: £100 upfront and the rest in six monthly payments of £15. Note, this rate is triple the usual £5 cashback offered by the bank.
Unsurprisingly, you’ll need to jump through a few hoops to get your monthly instalments – mainly making at least 20 debit card transactions per month.
If you’d prefer to receive your entire switching bonus upfront, Barclays is currently offering a £175 cash incentive, alongside other attractive perks such as Apple TV+ and Major League Soccer Subscription Pass.
Check out our run-through of the best bank accounts for switching bonuses for more.
3. Try a new supermarket – up to £15 off
The cost of our food is an enormous concern for all of us, and while food price inflation is falling, the cost of our shopping is still at painful levels.
There’s a smart way to get a big saving on your supermarket shopping, and that’s by tapping into the first-time customer offers on deliveries.
A host of supermarkets offer sizeable discounts for households the first time they order a food delivery online.
At Sainsbury’s, for example, you can get £15 off an £80 shop until 31 August, while at Iceland, you can get £5 off a £45 shop.
Meanwhile, at Ocado, you can get 25% off your first order, and then three months of free deliveries.
A slightly different offer comes from Asda, where new users of its Rewards app can get £5 to spend, absolutely free. Be aware, this offer ends 31 August.
Different supermarkets will have different terms and conditions around what counts as being a first-time shopper, but making use of these deals could help you save a few quid on what is one of our biggest monthly outgoings.
4. Move broadband provider – up to £105 cashback
Unfair mid-contract price hikes on mobile phones, broadband and pay TV have historically been one of our biggest gripes at loveMONEY.
In recent years, companies have advertised a lower contract price upfront but hit customers every March or April with a hike linked to inflation, plus an additional percentage.
The good news is Ofcom has stepped in to stop the practice, and providers will need to outline any price hikes down to the penny that are written into a customer’s contract.
Sadly, the ban will only apply to contracts signed after 17 January, 2025.
If you don’t want to wait to get a better deal, plenty of providers are offering decent incentives to new customers, as well as the potential to save a few quid on the regular monthly costs.
Right now, Sky is offering a £105 gift card if you switch to its Gigafast Broadband, which has a monthly fee of £42 on an 18-month contract.
You can spend the gift card at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis and M&S. Note, this offer ends tomorrow (15 August).
If you’d prefer a lower monthly fee, BT is offering a £50 reward card on selected Full Fibre deals, including its Full Fibre 100 deal, which has a fee of £29.99 for 24 months.
5. Get what you’re entitled to
Many of us don’t think we are entitled to any form of benefits from the state, but that could be a costly mistake.
After all, according to Policy in Practice, around £23 billion a year is going unclaimed in the likes of Pension Credit and Universal Credit, an increase of £4 billion since 2023.
Missing out on these boosts to our income is doubly painful, as claiming them can open up further cash savings, such as Cold Weather Payments during the winter or eligibility for social broadband tariffs, which offer decent speeds at a fraction of the price.
Make sure you are getting what you should be from the Government.
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