After a tough couple of years many people have started the new year hoping 2022 will be better for both our health and our wealth.
The cost of living crisis has placed huge pressure on household finances, with energy bills, mortgages, fuel and food all seeing sharp cost increases. At the same time, high street bank accounts offer close to zero interest to savers.
However, there are ways to grow your wealth this year, either by making money or reducing unnecessary spending.
Here are a collection of simple ways to increase your income in 2022.
How to save money in 2022
1. Review your mortgage deal
Despite mortgage rates starting to increase, rates vary throughout the year and for those with good equity in their homes, it can still be very cheap to remortgage. If you’re coming to the end of a fixed-rate deal, it is worth looking around for a better offer and cut your monthly costs.
2. Make a proper spending plan
Overspending is often the result of not keeping track of how much you have going in and out of your bank account. There are lots of useful calculators online that calculate your take-home pay, taking into account tax, pensions and student loans. From there you can work out how much you can be spending (and saving) each month.
3. Cancel subscriptions you aren’t using
We’re all hoping to be out and about more this year – and sitting at home on our laptops less. Now could be the perfect time to cancel some of those expensive subscriptions, especially if they overlap. Do you really need a Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ account?
4. Cut your energy costs
Working from home has probably pushed up your energy and gas usage and therefore your bills. At the same time energy bills have increased substantially in recent months, leaving households with few options to switch.
Instead you can use less in the first place by turning off appliances that are on standby, replacing old devices with new, more energy efficient ones, and washing clothes at a lower temperature.
There are other upgrades you could make, such as installing double glazing or getting a new boiler, but these tend to be quite expensive.
5. Don’t forget to haggle
Even once you’ve been given an offer by a company for goods or services, that may not be their cheapest price. If you’ve found a cheaper deal online you can use that as a bargaining tool to bring your quote down. This doesn’t just apply to your insurance policies, but also your phone, internet and television packages.
6. Before buying anything, see if you can get it for free
Many people will want to treat themselves to a new sofa or dining table this January. But the good news is there will be lots who are getting rid of old ones.
Often these are put up for grabs on community groups such as Freecycle, Freegle and Gumtree. You can find a whole range of free treasures on there: from record players to washing machines. It’s also a good way to get rid of yours when you find what you’re looking for.
7. If not, buy second-hand rather than new
Charity shops have been inundated with stock this year as everyone cleared out their attics and wardrobes during lockdown. By purchasing clothes, homeware or books you need from charity shops, not only will you be paying a fraction of the shop price but you will also be giving your money to a good cause. Some charities, such as Oxfam and the British Heart Foundation, also have online shops.
8. And sell your old things online
Getting in all these second-hand items will probably mean you need to get rid of some old ones to make space. You can sell old clothes online on sites such as eBay or apps such as Depop.
There are other specialist sites, including Mazuma Mobile, Music Magpie and Zapper, that will give you money for your old mobile phones, CDs, DVDs and games. eBay is a good one-stop shop to sell almost anything.
9. Rent out your car or driveway
More people are ditching public transport for the safety of their own cars and you could make money by offering up your empty driveway as a parking space.
There are a number of apps and websites that allow you to do this, including Kerb, JustPark and Stashbee. Most allow you to set your own price, although some firms take a cut. The monthly price to rent a parking space in London can be £300 or more.
You could also lend out your car if you don't expect to be driving much. This will save you money on fuel and mean that someone else is essentially paying off your running costs. One car lending app, Turo, calculates that its users earn more than £500 a month renting out their car. Other firms allowing you to do the same include Getaround and Hiyacar.
10. Compare supermarket prices before filling up your trolley
Website Latestdeals.co.uk has an app that compares the prices of individual items at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda, Aldi and more. All you have to do is search for the item you want – whether it’s Pringles or paper towels – and compare.
11. Look for the yellow stickers
Once you’ve chosen your shop, it helps to know when you can find the best bargains there. All supermarkets offer discounts – often shown via a yellow or another brightly coloured sticker – on items that are close to their sell-by date.
Different shops release their discounts at different times of day. You can read more about when this is and how the experts play the game here.
12. Get an app that helps you to save
There’s a growing breed of apps designed to help people save more, including Plum and Chip. Banks are getting involved too, with digital lenders Monzo and Starling launching new features to get customers to squirrel more away.
Plum’s Victor Trokoudes said: “One of our favourite ways to save is by setting yourself a savings challenge. The 52 week challenge is a very simple one to set as a new year's resolution. Start by putting £1 into your savings pot in the first week, then next week deposit £1 more than you did in the previous week, and repeat this for a year. You’ll be putting aside £52 in the final week of the challenge and you’ll have a total of £1,378 extra over the course of a year.”
13. Get cashback for shopping online
Sites such as Quidco or Topcashback give you back a percentage of the money you spend when you shop at their partner retailers. You can get your cashback directly to your bank account, PayPal, or as gift cards. Banks such as Barclays and American Express also offer cashback with some of their products.
14. Make your savings grow
Saving will only be harder if you let the value of your money be eroded by inflation. Most banks offer such poor interest rates at the moment that meaning money in cash means its spending power is actually decreasing with time.
Instead you could think about growing your money by investing it. This should mean you actually have to put away less in the long-term. You can learn about how to get started investing here. But remember stock markets can go down as well as up.
This article has been updated with the latest advice for 2022.
