Most people tell us they don't have paper bills anymore, everything is paperless and online. That is great and saves the trees and de-clutters your junk drawer at home, however, it also means you may forget when your tariff is coming to an end. 

When a tariff ends you often get switched automatically to a Standard Tariff and could be paying more! Log on to your account online and have a look if your tariff has ended or is ending soon. If it is then it may be time to switch!

You can use websites such as uSwitch and MoneySupermarket to compare prices and see how much you could save. 

However, be aware that there may be more favourable tariffs available from companies not prepared to pay commission to be included on comparison websites, so if you have the extra time, give them a call and see if they can beat or match other prices you have seen.

It may take a little more work to search them out but it could be worth it if the reduction in bills is significant.

If you are still in the middle of an energy tariff contract see if there are any charges for leaving early and take that into account when searching for better deals.   

Go through everything in your wardrobe and throw out any old or damaged clothes then split the rest into two piles.

The keepers can go straight back on the rail. The reapers are the ones you bought are on a whim but never wore, the outfits that no longer fit you or your lifestyle. Perfect for someone – just not you.

Reap the reward of finding these treasures in the bottom of your drawer by selling them on via eBay or Facebook Marketplace and saving the surprise extra money in your Unify credit union account. If you don't have the time to list every single item why not selling "bundles" of clothes. For example, a bundle of "Dresses -Size 16" or "Trainers - Size 8" and set a price for the entire bundle of items.

If you are also de-cluttering the house, take a moment before taking items to the tip. You may have a chipped coffee table you think is of no use to anyone, but why not save yourself the time and petrol and sell it online for £5-£10 and ask the buyer to collect? You could make some good money from the items you were going to throw away! There could be someone willing to upcycle it or someone just starting out who doesn't mind the chip!

There are a few good reasons to do this. First is to see if there are any payments you don't recognise and to query them! We see lots of people who sign up for free trials for things, not realising that after the trial they agreed to a monthly payment for the service until cancelled. We have even pointed out to members when they appeared to be paying for a subscription twice and they had not realised.

Get a highlighter and highlight all your regular bills. This will include your rent, council tax and utilities however, don't forget to highlight the other things you pay for every single month. That includes loan repayments, phone bills, internet, insurances and subscriptions like Netflix or NowTV. 

Take the time to see if there are anything that you can cut back on or save money on. This could include checking how much data/text messages you use on your phone, and whether the package you have is suitable for this, you could reduce your package if you aren't using what you are paying for. 

Inspecting a bank statement is also good for visualising any spending habits you may not have realised you had. Sometimes people don't realise how much they spend on their food shop for an entire month until they sit and add up all the little transactions here and there. You may benefit from doing one large weekly shop at a lower cost store like Lidl or Aldi than doing daily shops at more expensive shops like your local Co-op or Tesco express. For those who don't drive, you may still find that having to pay for a £5 taxi back to your home from a bigger supermarket will still save you money over doing a daily shop.