The cost of almost everything - or so it seems - is rising, and times are hard for millions of us.
Like many others, I often check out Martin Lewis' tips and tricks to see if there's more I could be doing to look after the pennies. Amid the cost of living crisis, the finance guru has repeatedly found himself lost for words and unable to offer much help.
Unlike previous years, there are often no deals or switches to be found. At times, the MSE founder's advice has simply been to do nothing.
READ MORE: Martin Lewis warning to workers over mistake which loses them money
Thankfully, one simple way to bag some cash comes in the way of a bonus, or "bribe", for switching bank accounts. And these deals are usually readily available in some shape or form.
Last month, MSE shared a number of ways savers could get their hands on some free money by moving accounts to a different banking provider. The deals can be found here, though some have since expired.
I opted for the Halifax Reward account, as it offered £125 bonus for opening the account. On top of this, if you pay in £1,500 each month (for me this is covered by my wages), you can also receive a monthly reward of either £5, a cinema ticket, digital magazines or movie rentals.
I chose the £5 per month, meaning if nothing changes I will get an extra £60 cash from Halifax this year, too.
This is the first time I've switched banks since opening my first account with Santander at 15. I'd previously been put off as it seemed like too much of a faff, but it was actually extremely straightforward and took me a matter of minutes.
I imagine banks have realised a complicated switching process would be unappealing. All I needed to do was tell Halifax of my intention to switch, fill in my details and they notified my old bank on my behalf.
They also moved all my direct debits across from the old account. I then had to tell my employer to ensure my wages landed in the right place (this took around 20 seconds).
After a few days, I had £125 in my new account - and with my monthly reward, there's more free cash to come. Thanks, Martin!
You can find the most up to date bank switching deals on MSE here
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