The UK government announced plans in March to provide every worker furloughed in Britain with 80 per cent of their regular pay for as long as the coronavirus lockdown continues. The state has destroyed jobs, so it should foot the bill – that’s the reasoning anyway.
The problem is that while workers are being promised 80 per cent of their salary up to £2,500 per month, a lot of people need more than that. Furthermore, most people can’t get by on four-fifths of their regular income to pay the bills. They need the whole lot.
Getting into debt while furloughed, therefore, is a real risk. Even if you make £5,000 in regular times, suddenly getting pushed down to £2,500 per month is a big problem. Your income just halved, but your outgoings probably didn’t.
Fortunately, the current lockdown is preventing a lot of spending. You can’t go out for expensive meals or take holidays, so that’s a big chunk of discretionary spending out of the window. But other costs remain.
So what can you do to avoid going into debt while furloughed? Here are some ideas.
Sell Your Old Handsets
Even if you think your old smartphone handsets have no value, it’s worth checking. You can sometimes make up to £150 for your old gear. On top of that, you can often sell broken handsets and make money out of them.
If you sell iPhone 8 handsets, you can often make a large sum of money to put towards your bills. What’s more, you don’t have to go to a shop. You can just go online, see how much refurbishers are offering for your make and model, send it off in the post, and get your cash.
Stick With Just One Subscription
Being furloughed is a bit like having a sabbatical. Instead of undertaking some grand project or going travelling, however, you’re stuck indoors watching the TV. At a time like this, it might be tempting to take out a bunch of subscriptions for purposes of entertainment and convenience. Still, it’s probably not a good idea. Subs can soon add up, and you can find yourself out of pocket.
Reconsider Your Transport Expenses
If you’re going to be furloughed until October or beyond, do you need to continue paying for a car? If you have the option, you might want to consider cancelling your contract or selling it on. You may lose a bit of money in the short term, but you’ll gain overall.
Shop For Cheaper Bills
Shopping for cheaper bills is way easier than it once was. All you do is hop onto a price comparison website and see whether you can beat your current rate. Doing this can sometimes save you more than £100 per month.
So if you do all of the above, how much money could you save in a month? The overall figure realistically comes out at about £200, which is pretty good when you think about it. It could be the difference between having to take out a short-term loan and not.
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