Brush Up Your Finances

The end of the tax year is a good time to do a money check – you could save all year round

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1 Get rid of what you don’t need

Gather up the past year’s bank statements and credit card bills, and check direct debits and standing orders. Research by Sky Mobile found the average person pays £40 a month on forgotten subscriptions and services – insurance policies for long-gone appliances, magazines still delivered to an old address, for example. If you don’t need it, cancel it.

2 Plan to shop around

We all know we can save money by shopping around for insurance and utilities, but the thought of it can be daunting. So instead of blitzing everything at once, do one a month. Check all your insurance renewal dates, then put a date in your diary two weeks before to check comparison sites, such as moneysupermarket.com or confused.com, for the best price. In-between those dates, slot in times to find a better deal on your electricity and gas, landline, mobile, TV and broadband. For a couple of hours work a month, you could save hundreds of pounds by the end of the year.