Tesco money saving expert says 'don't get lured in' and issues five ways to cut down on spending

A money saving expert has listed five key ways to save money in January. Chris Henderson, savings and payments director at Tesco Bank, has given top tips for those trying to cut down on spending.

Mr Henderson told consumers not to get lured in by January sales and swept away into spending too much money. The expert suggested setting yourself up a cooling-off period. He said: “The endless scrolling through your phone can easily lead to impulse shopping for many, so be mindful.”

He warned of many occasions where households end up shopping for hours at a time, which has led to spending more money than they may have first expected.

One way of breaking out of this cycle, he added, would be to decide whether the clothing item they wanted was a ‘must-have’ for their wardrobe.

Mr Henderson advised not to be lured in by discount offers, adding: “It can be all too tempting to purchase items that you otherwise wouldn’t have brought in sale season.”

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Budgeting was also an important factor and trying to stay within a spending limit each month. He said to try and separate items households buy into different sections and potentially only buy one or two nice-to-haves to help keep track of your finances.

The third way is to check the postage costs because many retailers offer free delivery and returns on orders over a certain value, but that’s not true everywhere.

Mr Henderson added: “Make sure to check what the retailer offers so you don’t get caught out as small additional costs can quickly add up.”

Additional costs can also be easily forgotten about when quickly clicking through ordering an item, he said.

The fourth tip is to shop around and compare prices because window shopping can be a good idea before you hit the buy now button. Double-checking other retailers before purchasing the product is ideal, he claimed.

The fifth tip is earning cashback for your shop on any purchases made such as using cashback websites and browser extensions to earn back a percentage of what you’ve spent through a tracked link if you’re after something not covered by your card.