To get the biggest benefit from this, it’s a good idea to sit down and make a list of all your outgoings for each month. Write down all your regular household payments, such as your rent or mortgage, council tax, gas and electricity and so on. You should then add any other payments which can vary, such as petrol or diesel, your telephone bill and mobile phone outgoings. Finally, add any payments which don’t occur every month, as these have a tendency to be forgotten.

The next step is to see where you can make savings. For example, if you currently make several credit card payments every month, you could consider taking out a debt consolidation loan to combine all your outstanding debts together and possibly make a single, lower monthly payment instead.

You can make additional savings in two ways. Firstly you could look at switching providers for all your monthly outgoings. Companies are very competitive nowadays and if they know you are thinking of going elsewhere they will often match the best offer you have found, which saves you the hassle of actually have to move your accounts.

Secondly you can try and reduce your usage of certain services. A good example is your mobile phone bill. Think about what you use your phone for – for example, if you are on a tariff you may find pay-as-you-go will be cheaper. There are also several special money saving deals available for users who send more texts, or make more calls at certain times of the day.

Another way of reducing your outgoings is to keep a record of everything you spend in a day. This enables you to see exactly where your money is going, which can be a big surprise. If you eat lunch out every day, it can really add up over the course of a month. Making your own lunches and taking them to work with you takes time to get used to, but it can save you a lot of money.

In the end, looking at every aspect of your financial life takes some effort, but it will reward you with cold, hard cash at the end of every month. Once you delve deeper into your daily spending habits, you will find there are many ways to increase the extra cash you have available after all the bills are paid.