As winter looms, many Britons are trying to find ways of getting their hands on more money ahead of energy bills skyrocketing. With this in mind, MoneySavingExpert.com has explained an 'easy trick' to make £400 for free.
The website, founded by finance guru and journalist Martin Lewis, implores people to claim £175 by switching to the Santander 123 Lite account. The Mirror reports that this account in particular costs £2 a month, but you can earn up to £15 a month cashback, which cancels out this fee.
There are three different ways you can get cashback, all of which are capped at £5 a month. The first tier is council tax, mobile and home phone bills, broadband, and paid-for TV packages and Santander mortgage payments.
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The second tier is 2% back on gas and electricity bills, and Santander life and home insurance, then the third tier is 3% cashback on water bills. MoneySavingExpert estimates a home with mid to large bills could earn up to £80 per year, even after the fee.
There are some other eligibility criteria you need to get the £175 switch bonus. MSE explained: "To get it, you need to have/switch two direct debits, log in to online/mobile banking, have a one-off £1,000 going in, then fund £500/mth (for example, by paying your salary in). The bonus will be paid within 30 days of meeting the criteria."
First Direct is also offering a £175 switch offer, but it doesn’t have the incentive of cashback on bills. MSE said the final step to getting £400 free, is to apply for the app-only Chase current account where you get 1% cashback on all daily spending.
"For a family who'd spend £1,000 a month on the card, that's £120 cashback over the year," said MSE. "So use Santander for your bill payments, and then fund this for normal spending."
To boost your finances, see if you can get cashback when opening a new account through Topcashback or Quidco. Cashback sites do what they say on the tin. You'll get money back for a qualifying shop as you complete the transaction via their website.
The cash will come in handy as households continue to struggling against the cost of living crisis. Energy bills were due to rise to £3,549 in October - but they will now be capped at £2,500 instead for two years. However, this is only marginally above the £1,971 level the current Ofgem price cap is set at.
Click here for more news on the cost of living crisis.
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