Travel with Economy

Are your car bills making a big dent in the family budget? Petrol is costly, car insurance is expensive, and unexpected repairs can push you into the red.

Here are some simple tips to keep your car bills down:

• Keep your tyres pumped up. This actually makes your car use less petrol every time you use it.
• Check your route for jams before you travel. Avoiding traffic jams saves you fuel.
• To save further, take unnecessary loads out of the car. If you drive round with a boot full of junk you are making your car work harder. Taking the roof rack off unless you are using it helps too.
• For more reductions in petrol use, keep the air-con off unless you really need it.

You can get 5% off petrol from certain supermarkets when using your BaBeeCard.

Use price comparison sites to shop around for car insurance: I saved over £100 this year by doing this. I also saved 40% on my AA breakdown cover.

Old Fashioned Economy and Super Savings

If you are tightening your budget, why not look back sixty years or more for some simple savings tips. During the Second Work War rations were introduced and everyone was encouraged to ‘make do and mend’. If you ask your parents or grandparents they will remember being encouraged not to waste anything, and that’s a lesson we could all do well to follow today.

One big area of potential waste is food, and there is a simple way to save here. Just make a weekly meal plan and shopping list. When you shop ONLY buy foods on the list. You will soon work out a plan which includes regular family favourites which saves you time and stress planning what to cook each evening too. You can make additional savings on food from your favourite supermarkets by joining a discount club like BaBeeCard.

Snowballing to save

If you have debts, have you tried ‘snowballing’ to pay them off as quickly as possible? This is a simple way to make sure your money is working for you in the best way possible. Simply pick the debt with the highest interest rate and pay that back first. Then, when that one has been repaid, move your money on to repay the next debt.

This way you pay the least interest on what you owe. It is also cheaper than consolidating your debt. Just don’t forget to make the minimum payment on each debt or negotiate with the lender to spread payments in an affordable way. And think about why you have debts in the first place too: try to spend less!

Are you saving or spending?

The BBC has just reported that Brits have lost the saving habit and are paying off debts instead. The recession has driven savings rates down so more and more families are seeing little point in putting money in savings accounts. At the same time the cost of borrowing has risen. July was the first month where, as a nation, we paid back more than we borrowed.

This means it makes sense to pay off debts as quickly as you can. Look at your outgoings and see if you can find some ways to make savings. If you stop smoking or cut back, for example, you could use that extra few pounds each week to repay a credit card debt. Walking to work when you might have got the bus or used the car is a winning option too. You win three times over: you are healthier, you save on the cost of the cigarettes or travel, and you save again when you have less interest to repay on your debts. Give it a go and let us know how you get on.

The Mirror: Save on your petrol bills

Credit crunch crusader has some good tips on how to save on your petrol bills due to the 2p per litre hike in fuel duty.

If you have a Sainsburys' locally then it's worth ordering our Sainsburys' Gift Cards which will save you 5% on your petrol each time!

You can find your local Sainsbury's here: http://tinyurl.com/lhc6on

BaBeeCard is £9.95 to buy for 2 years, on an average weekly spend of £41.75 you would save £108 a year in fuel alone that's not including the additional saving of 5% on all your groceries, drink and other items you could purchase from Sainsbury's if it's your supermarket of choice.