Christmas is over and your bank balance may be looking a little worse for wear. Or perhaps you want some extra cash to help fund your New Year's Resolutions. Whatever the reason, here are ten ways you can boost your account balance in January.
5 ways to save money
1. Meal planning
Mean planning is a fantastic, easy way to cut back on your spending. Firstly, you need to go through your cupboards, freezer and fridge to see what food you already have, and try to plan meals around those ingredients. If you're lucky then you might be able to make a few complete meals without buying extra ingredients, but even if you still need a handful of items, this will help to cut down your grocery spend.
Meal planning doesn't have to be boring – if you don't want to plan exactly what you will have for dinner next Friday then don't! Just come up with 7 meals for the next week and shop just for those meals.
2. Use cash rather than card
There is something about seeing the cold, hard cash in your purse or wallet that makes you think twice about handing it over. This is something I'll be doing in January too! I will be withdrawing our weekly grocery and household budget in cash, and anything left over after the week will be put aside for Disney spending money. In 2014 I managed to save an average of £10 per week doing this.
3. Create a budget
Creating a budget helps you to know exactly what money you have coming in and what's going out. Knowing this helps you to act on your findings – if you have more than enough money then great! Is there something you could be saving for? If you don't have enough money to cover your outgoings then you can work on reducing your outgoings, increasing your income or both.
4. Buy Christmas items in the sales
This won't boost your balance THIS January, but it will make the next Christmas easier on you. Sales include half price gift sets, 10p wrapping paper and so much more.
5. Get debt advice
If you are in debt then now is the time to start tackling it head on. Debt Camel has lots of useful, jargon free information about debt, whether you want to know if you can still apply for a mortgage whilst you have outstanding debt and how to improve your finances. You can also contact Step Change, a debt charity, for help in dealing with your debts.
Doing this will help you to ensure you're not too impacted by next Christmas.
5 ways to make extra money and boost your account balance
1. Declutter
Make way for your new presents (or….dare I say it….sell your unwanted presents) by having a declutter. January isn't the best month for selling items on eBay, but you can easily sell your unwanted books, CDs, DVDs and games to websites like Music Magpie, Zapper and Ziffit. The amount of money they offer you is small (often just pence) but you can clear a big space and have a quick cash boost easily.
If you are feeling especially organised then you can schedule up to 20 items on eBay for free per month, so you could get your listings ready to go live over the next few months when buyers are likely to have more disposable income.
2. Earn from your smartphone
Make use of your smartphone by downloading apps that earn you cash. Some of my favourites includes GeoTask, Streetspotr and Field Agent. Be sure to check out my posts on earning cash from your smartphone.
3. Free daily cash draws
I have won over £100 for free just by logging on every day and seeing if I have been lucky enough to win. Draws that I take part in include:
- Number Plate Lotto
- The Selfie Lottery 18 May 2017: The Selfie Lottery has now closed.
- Lucky Phone
- Ashleigh Money Saver's free daily draw
4. Online surveys
Online surveys are a great way of giving your account balance a boost. My absolute favourite website is Prolific Academic, and I regularly earn over £40 a month from them. You never get screened out of a survey, they are well paid, interesting to complete and you can withdraw as soon as you have earned £5. I also like Mint Vine because their payment threshold is only $10. If you want more survey websites then I've got a list of my top ten survey websites.
5. Matched betting
If you want a serious cash boost, then matched betting is for you. I have made over £5,000 completely tax free since July 2015. Don't be put off by the name, matched betting doesn't involve any gambling in the traditional sense and it is risk free. I am offering my personal help when it comes to starting out with matched betting, so you have nothing to lose!
For a quick start guide to matched betting, sign up to my mailing list below and receive a FREE monthly matched betting calendar to help you keep track of important sporting events. You will also receive tips and tricks on how to make the most of your new income stream.
I hope that these tips help you to boost your account balance.
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2 responses
Just mentioning that I’ve been able to list lots of Ebay items for free today, despite not receiving an email or any promotional messages, & after already using up my 20 for the month already. I read on the Ebay boards this could be happening throughout January. Worth a try if you have things to relist!
oh that’s great, thanks for sharing! I might push myself to get things listed then!