Highlights from our 'Saving Money and Cost of Living' webinar

Sponsored by Standard Life

Our founder and CEO Holly Mackay was joined by Standard Life’s Managing Director of Customer Savings & Investments Jenny Holt, and GroWiser Financial Coach Graham Wells. They discussed tips to help you save money, cut costs and make sure you're using all your entitled allowances that you may not have even been aware of!

You can watch the full webinar replay by clicking the link below.

Here are 10 of our top moments from the webinar and some helpful money habits that could help you out this year:

1. We kicked off with our experts' top money saving tips. Watch more below:

2. Try using a budgeting app to keep track of your spending. We have a few recommendations depending on your budgeting style here. You may find GroWiser’s Monthly Spending planner helpful too – you can download it here. Listen to Graham talking about the main jaw-dropping moment when people review their finances in the clip below:

3. Are you missing out on benefits? Jenny explained how the charity Turn2Us helps people who are experiencing financial hardship claim benefits they may be entitled to but don’t know about or how to apply for them. With an estimated £15bn in unclaimed benefits in the UK, their calculator can be super helpful in identifying missed money! Watch Jenny explain in more detail below.

4. The clock is ticking to top up National Insurance years to qualify for full state pension! If you’re aged between 45-70 and have had breaks in working life, the basic rules are that you can buy an extra year of NI credits for a one-off payment of £874 and get an extra £275 a year in your State Pension for every year you live – but you only have until 5th April 2023! Check out your state pension forecast here to see if there are any gaps.

5. Parents – if one of you doesn’t work, who is claiming the child benefits? The non-working parent will get NI credits for this so read up on this – don’t lose out!

6. If you’re under 40, we think it makes sense to consider opening a LISA – some let you start with just £1 and it helps you keep your options open! You can read more about these handy accounts – and the free government top-ups you can get – in our full guide here. Ts and Cs apply so read the small print.

7. ISAs are basically quarantined from tax – so consider saving into these. Our site is jam-packed with further info and suggestions.

8. Don’t forget about the Marriage Allowance – basic-rate taxpayers can give £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to the lower earner and save tax as a couple of up to £252 a year! Read more on the GOV.UK website.

9. Jenny reminded us that if you’re a higher rate earner, don’t forget to claim extra tax relief for any Pensions Contributions in a Self Assessment – and so reduce your taxable income.

10. Keep in mind these 4 key things with regards to your pension – there is lots of helpful info on Standard Life’s website:

• Make sure you’re taking advantage of all the benefits of your pension plan and all your employer offers. Are they matching your contributions? Find out.

• Keep an eye on how much is in your pension, on a regular basis. Know your numbers.

• Getting a bonus this year? Deciding to pay some, or all, of your bonus into your pension could save you paying some big tax and National Insurance deductions.

• Start small - if you’re able to, think about paying a little more into your pension when you get a pay rise or have a little extra savings. You can open a pension yourself and it doesn’t have to be super complicated!

Some of this stuff is complicated. Everyone’s circumstances are different. This is intended to provide helpful ideas and food for thought – not personalised financial advice. Please do your reading and make sure you understand the issues before making any decisions.

That’s all from us, folks! We hope you enjoyed and many thanks to our sponsor Standard Life for making this webinar possible.