MILLIONS of households feeling the squeeze are turning towards technology to cut their costs.
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis this week urged us to use a simple trick to fill up our cars for less.
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He said using the website Petrolprices.com can help drivers find the cheapest fuel. But it is not the only site out there that will get you more for less.
From energy bills to grocery costs, Deputy Consumer Editor Holly Mead finds the sites to help you beat the squeeze.
Shopping online
IT is easy to turn to your favourite websites when shopping online – but checking elsewhere could help save you a small fortune.
Sites such as Pricespy.co.uk and Idealo.co.uk allow you to compare prices for the same item at different retailers.
When we checked, they also unearthed better deals and offers than Google.
For example, the cheapest iPhone 13 Pro Max 256 GB on Google Shopping was £1,149, but PriceSpy found one for £959.
Buying groceries
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IF you have been shopping at the same store for years, see if you could save by going elsewhere.
Trolley.co.uk lets you compare prices across UK supermarkets. When we checked, a 720g box of Kellogg’s Cornflakes was £2.50 at Asda, but £3.29 at Iceland.
An 800g Kingsmill soft white loaf was £1.30 at Co-op, but just £1 at Iceland.
You can also set up price alerts and shopping lists to compare the contents your entire basket.
Holiday flights
FOR summer holiday bookings, flight comparison sites can find you the best deals.
Kayak Momondo, Google Flights and Skyscanner let you compare prices across different airlines.
Skyscanner allows users to view by date, so you could find that travelling on a different day might be cheaper.
When we checked on Skyscanner.net, a flight from London to Malaga leaving on July 23 and returning on July 30 was £171. But going from July 21 to July 28 was £107.
Benefits & grants
ONLINE calculators can help you work out if you are entitled to receive any benefits.
Typically, if your household income is less than £30,000, you should be eligible for some help.
Turn2us.org.uk can help you find benefits and grants you might be missing out on.
It estimates that there are £13billion in unclaimed payouts every year. The most common benefits that go unclaimed include council tax support and Universal Credit.
Getting cash back
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BEFORE making an online buy, check if you can get cash back.
Sites such as Topcashback.co.uk and Quidco.com get you money back on your spending.
Set up an account and click through to the website you want to buy from through the cashback site. Cashbackangel.com lets you compare cashback deals.
When we looked, you could get up to ten per cent back at Argos if you used Quidco and £10 back if you went through Topcashback.
Baby nappies
BUYING everyday essentials for the kids can really add up. One of the biggest pressures is the cost of baby products.
Bumdeal.co.uk will help you shop around to find the best nappy prices.
You can choose your brand and size to compare prices and hunt out the best deal.
We found that a 72-pack of Pampers New Baby nappies ranged from £12 at Morrisons to £8.50 at Ocado. You can also check supermarket own-brand products on the site.
Tools & DIY
PLANNING some DIY? Before you head out to the hardware store, see if you can borrow the tools you need, instead of paying for them.
Fatllama.com lets you hire items from people in your neighbourhood.
When we looked, we could borrow a complete toolbox for £2 a day in Bristol and a lawnmower for £5 in London.
You can rent out your own stuff too, if you want to make some extra cash. The site will also let you hire a range of tech from it.
Energy bills
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SOARING energy bills mean that cutting down on your use of appliances has never been more important.
If you are not sure how, head to energysavingtrust.org.uk, which has plenty of ideas. It lays out how much you could save a year with simple swaps.
Turning devices off standby mode, for example, could shave £55 off your bills.
Washing clothes at 30C rather than at a higher temperature will save around 40 per cent of the energy used each year.
Holiday money
DON’T wait until you are in the airport departure lounge to buy those dollars or euros.
Your money will go further if you get the currency in advance. Travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com is a website backed by MoneySavingExpert.
It lets you pick your currency and where you want to collect it from – or have it delivered – and finds the best rate.
When looking to convert £250 into euros in London, the best deal got us €286.75, while the worst was €282.50.
Rail tickets
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TRAIN fares are cheaper when you buy them in advance – and splitting your journey can save you even more.
Split ticketing is where you break the trip down into its individual parts, rather than having one ticket for the entire journey.
It is completely legit as long as the train you are on stops at stations you buy a ticket to. Using Splitmyfare.co.uk, we found a ticket from Bath to Edinburgh for £67.30, compared to £96 standard.
Also use a railcard to get up to a third off.
