The party season has well and truly left the building and it’s now time to reduce the hefty burden of its aftermath both physically and financially. With a seemingly freezing winter still gnawing away at us, it seems impossible not to have the hurting on full blast 24/7. Of course this just increases the cost of our monthly outgoings making it even harder to get back on top. However there are a few things you can do to help cut costs in other ways.

Shopping

• Plan your weekly meals and shop only for these and stick to a budget, it will make impulse buys less likely, sticking to a shopping list will work wonders
• Consider buying unbranded goods, they are great value and rarely compromise on flavour. Some of the cheaper supermarkets have outstanding offers
• Take advantage of the daily bargains and buy one get one frees
• Use your coupons and accumulated advantage points, as the saying goes, every little helps

Gas and electricity

• Look at paying your bill by direct debit, paperless billing and online statements are not charged to your account. This can provide a saving of up to £2-4 per month, if this amount was saved across every household bill then over the course of the year you could save an average of £100
• If you use the same supplier for both gas and electric check if you are eligible for a dual fuel discount
• Draft excluders and insulation are practical ways of keeping the cold air creeping in and could reduce your consumption or the amount of time you have your heating on for

Sensible spending is an approach that all of us at My Financial Broker are in favour of. We are a payday loan direct lender,  and our service is designed to offer responsible lending to those who are in need of short-term loans and able to pay back within fixed and agreed repayment terms.