Lockdown has had a significant financial impact for many people. Now it seems to be easing and people can finally return to work and some kind of normality. It is like a silver lining finally in what has been an extremely difficult year. However, all our household bills now seem to have risen. Each time a new renewal comes through the post I dread to open it. I know full well to expect yet another increase. The accumulative effect of them all combined can be a little daunting. Our wages have to stretch so much further now. A few pounds here and there might not sound like a lot to find. But when every single bill has gone up, then you have to carefully sort through your finances post pandemic. Making the hard decision where savings can be made.

Get better at budgeting!

There is a really useful family budget planner on Calculator.me which is a great starting point. You need to see where your money is going each month. Then you can begin to plan where you could make savings. You might decide to cut back on non-essentials like your TV streaming service and takeaways. It’s about really thinking what you can live without. You could always just put a temporary pause on your non-essentials till you get in a better place financially. Reducing your outgoings and free up more money to repay your debt. Some people have had no choice but to defer council tax payments and utility bills during lockdown, so a time comes where those need to be repaid.

Watch For Overspending

When you have a clear budget, you can easily see where you are overspending. It’s important to have a healthy attitude to money. You might feel like you want to always give your family the best, but its wise to be frugal with money and build up a bit of an emergency fund.

Worrying about your finances post pandemic might not have been so stressful if you had always kept a check on your spending and had money in reserve. Whatever you do never spend more than you earn, it’s a downward spiral.

If you really have to buy something that isn’t an essential then shop around to get it at the best price.

Downshift Challenge

When it comes to grocery shopping you could try the downshift challenge. It’s all about moving away from the branded goods you pay over the odds for. Then you find out which cheaper shops own alternatives do the job as well! For example, I moved over to the Tesco Sage & Onion stuffing mix for 40p a box instead of the Paxo named brand for £1.30. I don’t even feel like I am compromising on quality as lots of shops own brands are very good. If you do that for all your shopping you can soon save a small fortune.

Haggle

When it comes to these renewals ring up and be prepared to haggle. Especially if you are armed with a better deal from a price comparison site. Often companies have been willing to freeze the increase when my husband has spoke to them on the phone. Just a little time and some research can make decent savings. There is nothing lost in trying and if you’re not happy you can always switch company.

Pay Less For Your Debt

If you have debt still to pay, consider transferring as much as you can to a 0% interest deal. Then target whichever debt left that has the highest interest to pay. Get that paid off as quick as possible.

Pay Upfront

If you can afford to pay upfront for your insurance products its worthwhile doing so. The reason is you tend to save much more compared to paying monthly. So, look at those annual bills try and plan ahead for them. It might seem like a big outlay in one go but the money you save will sweeten the deal.

Extreme Couponing

Extreme couponing is all about using as many coupons as you can to bring down the cost of your shopping. I have never really attempted it, but it always sounds like a great idea when I read about it online. However, you always have to be on the lookout for vouchers, personally I never seem to find many. Jordan Cox is known as the coupon kid and he writes extensively on the topic, getting £50 of shopping for £4 or something like that. So, if it’s something that intrigues you and you do want to know more about how it works by all means have a look at his site.