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5 ways to save and lose money in lockdown 

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The Coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on our day-to-day lives. While some of us have been working from home and others on furlough, the lockdown and social distancing measures have changed the way we spend our money. 

We’ve picked up a few great habits including… 

  • There’s no place like a home…gym: As a nation, we spend an estimated £4 billion on gym memberships per year. Since the lockdown came into effect, many have swapped to home workouts for a fraction of the cost, or often no cost at all! Thousands of us have been accessing free resources and classes available online through platforms such as YouTube, with more than 800,000 people tuning in to Joe Wicks’ 9am PE class every day. 
  • Ready, steady, cook: Now that eating out feels like a distant memory, we are getting more and more used to cooking at home. With all of us bringing out our inner Nigella Lawsons, we are undoubtedly spending more on groceries. However, this is still a fraction of the price we, as a country, usually spend on eating out, which is a total of £46bn or £1,000 per person per year. 
  • Leather interior becomes leather sofa: Now that most of us are no longer commuting, our daily travel involves a few steps from one room to the other, rather than a 2-hour journey along the motorway! It is estimated that we are each saving a total of £150 a month by no longer commuting to work, including through cutting costs on petrol, parking and public transport. 

In addition to some excellent savings we are also guilty of making some drastic spending mistakes too. Here are some of the most common and most costly. 

  • Boredom eating becomes boredom shopping: We’re all familiar with ‘boredom eating’ but we’re now coming across the phenomenon of ‘boredom shopping’. Since the closure of high street shops, many people have taken to the web in order to satisfy those retail therapy cravings. All in all, Britons have increased their online shopping by a huge 36% - which is money we could be saving! 
  • Put away the takeaway: Although many of us have become wonderful home cooks, takeaways are still a huge and costly part of the nation’s diet. Not only is overindulging on unhealthy foods impacting our waistlines, it’s also proving tough on our wallets. Another trend that is on the rise is the ordering of subscription boxes, which provide all ingredients for selected meals, delivered to your door. Although this is a convenient and delicious option, this service is often much more costly than doing a grocery shop, and is therefore best saved for a weekend treat opposed to an alternative to food shopping. 

In total, if we stick to these money-saving tips we could potentially save up to £300 a month - and possibly even more. The current lockdown is the perfect time to boost our savings and increase our pension or house fund for the future.

Paragon Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Registered in England number 05390593. Registered office 51 Homer Road, Solihull, West Midlands B91 3QJ. Paragon Bank PLC is registered on the Financial Services Register under the firm reference number 604551