7 tips to beat the rising cost of living

AD| We are currently facing a crisis as the cost of living soars due to an increase in energy prices and inflation. The war in Ukraine has increased the cost of energy prices even more and with so much uncertainty, we can’t be sure for how long we’re all going to be paying more for things we need and use every day.

For some of us, that means we’ll have less for luxuries or less to put into savings. But for others, it means they will struggle to make their money last every month.

There are ways to make a bit of money online. And I’m not talking about selling your soul to an MLM or pyramid scheme. I’m talking about real ways to make some money that can help to compensate for this increase.

What’s increasing in price and by how much?

Energy prices

Gas and electricity will cost an average of £620 more per year.

Petrol

Petrol reached £1.67 per litre on Sunday 20 March and diesel £1.79. There’s uncertainty around what’s going to happen with fuel prices as suppliers struggle to meet demand as the world gets back to pre-covid levels of consumption. Now there’s the uncertainty around the war in Ukraine thrown into the mix.

National Insurance

National Insurance is going up. This is based on salary but as an example: The average wage in the UK is just short of £26,000 and will have to pay an extra £130 in national insurance each year.

Food prices

Food is expected to go up around 1.5% this year.

Rent

Rent prices are around 9.9% higher than this time last year (outside of London).

Stamp prices

Stamps will increase by 10p this spring.

Council tax

Council tax has increased an average of 4.4%, an average of around £80 per year.

Internet and phone bills

Mobile phone bills will rise by around £50 a year and broadband is set to rise by around £30 this year.

As you can see, there are a lot of increases that will leave some families watching their spending. Many families will struggle with these increased living costs and have to cut back on essentails or face debt.

Beat the cost of living

Here are some things you can do to get a bit more cash this year.

AQRU

Aqru is a simple app that helps you earn high rates of interest on Crypto. You can earn up to 12% interest (depending on investment) and watch your earnings increase in real-time. It’s a great and safe way to invest some money and watch it grow!

It’s a simple, safe, and insured app that lets you manage your crypto easily. This is great for a medium or long-term investment. You can learn more about Crypto here.

YouGov and YouGov Safe

YouGov is a survey site that allows you to earn points by filling in surveys. Once you earn 5000 points, you are paid £50 straight into your bank.

It can take a while to get enough points for this, but can use YouGov Safe to get extra points. YouGov Safe is a Chrome extension that allows you to share data with YouGov for extra points. Share your Amazon viewing history, Netflix, Disney+ and more. You can upload your latest data regularly to get those extra points. This then adds on to your YouGov account to help you get to 5000 points quicker.

You’re not going to be getting loads, but I probably get a about £100 a year for not much effort. You can even hold the points in your account and cash in near Christmas or a holiday to help with the extra expense.

Matched Betting

Match Betting is a risk-free way to take advantage of free bets on betting sites. You place a free bet on a betting site, then lay the same bet on an exchange site so no matter what, you win.

It sounds complicated but by taking it slow and using the video and step-by-step guides you can get used to it quickly. People earn thousands of pounds via matched betting. It can be a bit time consuming to start with but it’s a great way to generate regular money.

Find out more about matched betting here.

Stocks and shares ISA

A stocks & shares ISA allows you to invest in a wide range of shares, funds, investment trusts and bonds. The average annual rate of return for stocks and shares ISAs over the past 10 years is 9.64% so it’s much better than just holding your savings in a normal ISA or savings account.

This is better for long term savings, but you can access your money at any time.

Cashback sites

Every time you buy something online, check cashback sites such as TopCashback and Quidco.

You can get a small amount of cash back on things you would buy anyway, like clothes, and birthday cards from Moonpig and Etsy. You can also get quite a lot of cash back on things such as car insurance or phone contracts. I got £90 cash back on my car insurance last year! Get into the habit of checking every time you spend!

GreenJinn & Shopimum

GreenJinn & Shopimum are apps where you can get money back on certain products. You buy the product full price, then scan your receipt and the product after and get the cash credited back.

You can get some things for free and others for money off. A lot of the time these are new products, but they often have everyday items such as 25p off a packet of onions at Tesco. Read this post to see how to make the most of these types of apps without getting drawn into buying things you don’t need and spending more.

Facebook Market Place

Seeling the things you no longer need is a great way to make a bit of extra cash. You can list things on Facebook Market Place for free and get some money for old clothes, toys, baby items and homeware.

Have you ever used any of these methods of making some extra cash?