IF you are working from home, the furthest you need to go for something to eat is your fridge.
That means you have more free time in your lunch hour – and by using it wisely, you can save yourself a whole lot of cash over the course of a year.
Fundraising executive Clare Elgar, from Southampton, worked out how, to the tune of more than £2,000.
Clare said: “It’s a great habit to get into.
“There are cashback offers, referral links and promo codes to be used.
“I can save for things I enjoy, like travelling.”
Here, Clare reveals how she did it, day by day.
Motivation Monday
SET up one of the many great apps that help you grow your savings, such as Plum. Clare loves it because it helps her save in three ways.
First, Plum will “round up” her purchases to the nearest £1 and pop the spare change into her savings account each week.
Clare says: “It is like the modern version of the spare-change piggy bank.”
This month there was 80p from a Tesco shop of £8.20, another 50p from her local coffee shop and 20p from a £3.80 parking fee.
Her weekly round-ups averaged £7.62 – a total of £30.49 in spare change for January.
Second, every four to five days it will analyse Clare’s spending and set aside an amount – an average of £15.12 for her – based on what it thinks she can spare.
Finally, Plum puts aside a set amount – £22 in Clare’s case – each payday.
She says: “It’s a little-and-often savings account for me.”
YEARLY SAVINGS: £1,200
Tell-a-friend Tuesday
SHARING is caring, especially when you get something back.
Spend Tuesday lunchtime looking into whether your credit card, energy provider or favourite takeaway app will pay you to spread the word to your friends.
Clare said: “I’m with Bulb for my household energy and have referred two people through my unique link. That’s £100 towards my own energy bills.”
She told her friends about her favourite cashback site (more on those later), TopCashback, and has pocketed around £30 from them signing up.
Some firms give your friend a bonus too.
For example, if you have an American Express Platinum Cashback credit card and refer a friend, you get £30 cashback when they sign up, while they get £25 after the first £1 spent on their card.
YEARLY SAVINGS: £160
Wise Wednesday
SWAP your wisdom for wonga by doing online surveys during lunch for firms such as Curious Cat, Populus Live, Swagbucks or Prolific Academic.
This one’s not a one-off – keep it up all year long to earn big.
Populus Live offers £1 for every 5 minutes, providing the survey is completed correctly.
That’s £12 an hour. If you spend every Wednesday lunch break doing that you’ll earn £624.
Each Swagbucks survey pays in points, which can be redeemed as gift cards.
Clare says: “A few minutes a day so far this week while waiting for the kettle to boil and I’ve got 168 points.
“With 1,360 I can get the £10 Amazon gift card I want.”
YEARLY SAVINGS: £624
Loyalty tax Thursday
HIT back at energy, broadband, phone and insurance firms that take advantage of your loyalty.
Most have better deals for new customers so if you have been with your current company for more than a year, switch now.
Just make sure you won’t be penalised for leaving your current provider.
Start with a comparison site.
Using Confused.com to switch her insurance from Direct Line to eSure netted Clare a £30 saving on the year.
She says: “I also used Go Compare (below) to switch from Tesco to Animal Friends for pet insurance and that saved me about £15 a month.
“I switched from Green Flag to the AA for breakdown cover using Topcashback, which saved me about £80.”
By switching energy suppliers from Southern Electric to Bulb last year, Clare’s monthly bill almost halved, down from £90 to £47.
You can get extra via cashback too, as well as from saving on bills.
YEARLY SAVINGS: £806
Free cash Friday
HIT back at energy, broadband, phone and insurance firms that take advantage of your loyalty.
Most have better deals for new customers so if you have been with your current company for more than a year, switch now.
Just make sure you won’t be penalised for leaving your current provider.
Start with a comparison site. Using Confused.com to switch her insurance from Direct Line to eSure netted Clare a £30 saving on the year.
She says: “I also used Go Compare (below) to switch from Tesco to Animal Friends for pet insurance and that saved me about £15 a month.
“I switched from Green Flag to the AA for breakdown cover using Topcashback, which saved me about £80.”
By switching energy suppliers from Southern Electric to Bulb last year, Clare’s monthly bill almost halved, down from £90 to £47.
You can get extra via cashback too, as well as from saving on bills.
YEARLY SAVINGS: £806