Phone Only? 7 Easy Ways to Keep More of Your Money

How to save money: cancel unused subscriptions

Twenty-four hours early, check your phone: the easiest way to stop forgotten trials. Number seven: unwanted subscriptions quietly billing you each month. Each one has no end date, and renews every billing cycle until you unsubscribe. When you uninstall the app, your subscription won't cancel.

On an iPhone, the list sits under your name, then Subscriptions. On Android, go to subscriptions in Google Play. Pick any you no longer use, and tap Cancel Subscription. A free trial usually takes your card number, then charges if you don't cancel.

Cancel before it ends; one store asks for at least twenty-four hours. Search your email for receipts, and check your card statement to see who bills you. By our count, one page's average of fourteen a month adds up to a hundred sixty-eight a year. Next, a renewal notice worth reading.

How to lower your insurance renewal price

Number six: insurance that renews by itself, where the new price can be higher. The guide that comes with the renewal usually shows how to lower the price. Get quotes from a range of insurers, and compare like-for-like cover. One page suggests asking your insurer to match or beat a competitor's quote.

Paying by instalments could cost ten to 20% more over the year, one page says. By our count, on a thousand a year paid at once, instalments could add a hundred to 200. Subscribe right now so you never miss another practical way to protect your money. Every step and number in this video comes from official pages linked below.

One page says to keep the new cover in place before cancelling the old one. Next, the phone or internet deal that ended.

Lower your phone and internet bill

Number five: when a phone or internet deal ends, the price can go up. After a contract ends, the plan can keep running month to month, one page says. Your bill and contract show the end date and what you pay each month. One regulator's example: fifty a month for twenty-four months, then sixty.

By our count, that's ten more a month, a hundred twenty a year. One page suggests calling your provider to ask for better deals or offers. Many contracts need notice before you leave, so check yours first. Next, a fee on your bank statement.

Avoid monthly bank account fees

Number four: the bank fees that can add up over time, one page says. Ask your bank for its fee schedule, and look for monthly fees on your statement. One page's example: a fee of twelve a month. By our count, twelve a month is a hundred forty-four a year, matching the page's total.

Call and ask the bank to waive fees, or to move you to one without them. Direct deposit or enough transactions can lower or waive the fee, one page says. One page notes a waiver may need a minimum balance, so check what yours asks. Next, money you may have left behind.

Find unclaimed money and lost pensions

Number three: no single place lists all unclaimed money, so your own list comes first. Make one list of every bank, insurer and past employer you've had, and keep an electronic backup. A pension search needs the name of the employer or the pension provider. Bank accounts and insurance policies are common sources of unclaimed money.

Official searches for unclaimed money and lost pensions exist in many places; check yours. One page says its official search for unclaimed money is free. A pension search may give only contact details, not what it's worth. Say Maya finds two old accounts, each charging a fee like that twelve a month.

By our count, that's twenty-four a month, 288 a year. Next, one transfer that saves before you spend.

Automatic transfer to savings on payday

Number two: savings and bills on autopilot, with one transfer on payday. Your bank can move a set amount to savings on a schedule, so you save before you spend. One page's example: twenty each payday, every other week, adds up to 520 a year, plus interest. By our count, that's twenty-six paydays a year.

Then list the regular bills on your statement, and set them to pay automatically. A low-balance alert can warn you before the account runs short. Next, number one: the largest example here, over twenty years.

Investment and retirement fees explained

Number one: fees on your invested money, small each year but big over time, one page says. Fees can be a dollar amount, a percentage or both, taken out each week or month. Find them in the fund's fee table, the plan's fee information and your statements. Fees reduce your account balance over time, so look at how often they're charged.

One page's example: a hundred thousand growing 4% a year for twenty years. With a quarter-percent fee, it ends near 208,000; at 1%, near a hundred seventy-nine thousand. By our count, that's about 29,000 apart. One retirement-fund example moved from two and a half percent in fees to 1%.

For the same performance, it left 81,000 more by age sixty-five. One page says to read the disclosure documents, and ask how to lower fees before changing anything. How much more stays yours once your paycheck runs on autopilot? The next video shows six steps.