With household bills on the up way over inflation, cost of living increases are hurting our pockets more than ever. Inflation is something that happens naturally over the years with this year being a hard pill to swallow. Many people are understandably stressed about money right now and it is hard to think about the future.

There is a lot of speculation and blame about the reasons behind this sharp spike. However, pointing the finger doesn’t change what is happening. The only way we can try and make the next year or even 2 easier for our individual selves is by making changes. A change to our spending habits to accommodate financially for the rise in living expenses is a necessary step.

You might think you already live a thrifty lifestyle but hopefully, these suggestions will be something you can work on too.

Cost Of Living Increases

Why Is There A Cost Of Living Crisis?

Global inflation is the reason behind the current cost of living spike. We haven’t seen it so severe since 2008. A few of the reasons why this is happening are the current energy crisis, the Covid pandemic and Brexit.

Oil and gas prices fluctuate throughout the year but due to the colder weather and supply issues, the demand is greater. This leads to an increase in wholesale prices for these energy sources. Which in turn gets charged to the consumer and this is why we are seeing the hike in energy prices.

Covid saw a huge amount of borrowing and public spending by the government. This needs to be repaid by us as a nation and there has been a tax rise to try to recoup these spending costs.

With Brexit the trading laws under which we can buy and import have changed. With this, there has been a rise in costs which ultimately the consumer pays for.

How To Make Savings On Spending

Non-Essentials

The first point of call on saving money is to look at your non-essential spending. If you are feeling the pinch and struggling to make it from one payday to the next, look at where your money goes.

Those visits to the pub or takeaways could be happening more frequently than you think. Having a detailed look at where you are spending your money will help you work out where you can make cuts.

Ask yourself if you really need to buy another pair of designer trainers or another spa visit this month. All of the non-essential spending in most people’s lives when assessed, is far more than they initially thought. You might be shocked to tally up the number of rounds you actually bought in the pub.

Save On Household Bills

This is a lot harder to cut back on. Typically these are the bills that are essential in ensuring your family’s well-being and roof over their heads.

There are household bills you could unsubscribe to in order to save some money. Broadband or SkyTV for example, if you are not in a contract you could consider haggling a new contract or cancelling altogether.

Energy company price comparisons are a bit of a minefield right now with the increase in prices. If moving to a new supplier feels too daunting look through your bill and compare it to quotes either way. Even if you aren’t wanting to switch energy suppliers right now make sure there aren’t any additional fees to your bill like paying extra not to be on direct debit. Cutting back on energy use where possible is by far the best thing you can do to reduce your energy costs.

Earn An Extra Income

Working full time should be enough for us to live on but sadly this isn’t always the case. I hear of a lot of people taking on weekend jobs or evening jobs around their current full-time job. As tiring as this sounds sadly this is the reality for so many people.

Starting a side hustle or looking into ways to make money from home is a good place to start. This is also the main reason I started my blog. So I could enjoy a passive income along with working from home and around home life.

Sign up for freebie sites and take some time to fill in surveys. There are a lot of free money offers to take advantage of that a lot of people don’t consider or think are too good to be true. You can get a completely free share with Freetrade, which you can cash out at any point and could be up to £200.

Take a look around your home and wardrobe and see what you can declutter. Selling unwanted items on preowned sites such as eBay or listing on Vinted can help add extra cash to your pocket.

These ideas won’t make you rich but might make a difference. The difference between being able to eat a good meal as well as heat your home. Rather than chose between the two which is more important.

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