We want to broaden the cost-of-living conversation – that’s what Think Bigger Than Bills is all about
I’ve spent 30 years working with people who have nothing (or less) and the past 15 years sharing advice on stretching limited budgets. So I feel qualified to say people will struggle to touch the sides of rocketing bills through reducing usage alone.
It may seem intuitive to the media to cover ways to reduce bills when they’re going up but, as ever, they overlook the obvious when it comes to money. Maybe it’s because our finances are so everyday and so ‘everyone’ that it feels like money management is common sense and offering guidance is patronising. Yet we know kids leave school generally bewildered about their dosh, except for what they learn from credit card and buy-now-pay-later companies offering to help them purchase a phone they’ll struggle to pay for month to month.
Organising a budget is far from common sense but the best tips and guidance are quite straightforward. If we know where to find them. And in our experience at Clean Slate, it’s what people don’t know they don’t know that really means they miss out.
Our campaign launched today (19 October), #ThinkBiggerThanBills helps to keep things simple while broadening the conversation about the cost-of-living crisis beyond dialling down the thermostat and sitting in the dark. We’re calling on everyone to consider three things:
- Check your benefit entitlement
- Get online and make maximum use of how the internet can save us big time
- Do a ‘finance 360’ and uncover how to get ahead financially
Benefits
There are £15-16 billion, yes, BILLION, of unclaimed benefits. If people scrabbling through don’t claim them, the underspend just funds government priorities, whether or not they support those struggling most. It has never been easier for people to check what they’re entitled to, although it helps if they are online. The Quids in! benefits calculator is one of a number available where people on low incomes could uncover hundreds of pounds of support they don’t already receive. It’s anonymous and asks simple questions about participants’ financial circumstances. At the end it reveals what might be on offer in terms of benefits, grants and (coming soon) social tariffs. It’s just a guide but in 2021, people who Clean Slate supported accessed an average £278 in unclaimed benefits and grants.
Save online
How much people might save by being online changes all the time. This is partly on account of more people getting online so those being left behind have even more to gain by comparison. While some estimates suggest people new to digital could net an average £800, experts say consumers who are online pay an average £228 less on bills each year. Other tools like benefits calculators and the Quids in! Future-Proof Finance Quiz can be accessed 24/7 online, of course, as can endless access to debt, housing and health advice. Comparison sites for energy suppliers are pretty defunct during the current crisis but we should also remember that switching to cheaper insurance and broadband providers is still easily achieved online.
Money Health Check
During lockdown, Clean Slate worked with 2,500 people on low incomes. Each one took part in a Money Health Check, using the Quids in! Future-Proof Finance Quiz, which takes a 360⁰ degree review of their finances. Even though the quiz only asks non-intrusive, yes/no questions, the responses trigger an action plan of steps people might take to spend less, bring home more, borrow less and save more. On average, participants were around £1,000 better off by the end of the process. They felt more in control and some reported anxieties lifting that prevented them thinking positively about work, their wellbeing or relationships. In short, the future opened up again to them. See Debbie’s story, for example.
All this said, there is no escaping the fact that, for many, ends still won’t meet. By asking people to think bigger than bills, though, we are filling gaps in people’s knowledge about how to maximise their financial wellbeing. It may take off the hard edges and at least provide reassurance that they’ve done all they can.
Image: Bigstock
