HOW TO SAVE $1000 before Christmas

GIVE YOUR BANK BALANCE A HEAD START FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON

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SPEND A DAY NEGOTIATING

Set aside one day to contact your bank, utility providers, phone provider and insurers to ask if you are getting the best deal possible. Before you call, do some market research so you can counter their response with better deals you have found. They won’t want to lose you as a customer, so will likely match or better the deal. One day’s work can reap hundreds in savings.

ORGANISE A CLEAN-UP

Want some quick cash before Christmas? All you need to do is open that cupboard door, scour the shed and pick through the garage. Do a spring clean and sell any unwanted items on Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace that might be collecting dust. You may be surprised at what some of your old ‘junk’ is worth. The rewards are twofold: you declutter and get valuable pocket money to spend on loved ones.

INVEST SPARE CHANGE

There are a number of apps such as Raiz Invest (raizinvest.com.au) that allow you to invest any spare change into a diversified portfolio of assets. How does it work? Card transactions on everyday purchases are rounded up. Say you buy a drink for $1.50 from $2, the 50c change goes towards investing. Download it for free, with no minimum account balance requirement to open an account. There are maintenance fees once you deposit money though.

BARGAIN HUNT