5 Ways to Save £1000+ on Travel

Train Travel

Saving: Hundreds of Pounds

12 Weeks before you travel, when tickets first go on sale for your journey contact the rail company selling your ticket or use thetrainline.com.  If you book this early it is possible to save hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds a year on regular travel. 

For example, travelling from Manchester to London can cost in excess of £100, if you book in advance you could get the same journey for under £50 and in some cases as little as £12.50.

Even Cheaper Train Travel

Saving: £100+

Again contact either the train companies or use thetrainline.com. Instead of asking for peak-time tickets between your destination stations, try asking for separate tickets to stations en route. This "split-ticketing", is a completely legit practice and save you even more money on travel.

Generally it works better on the really long journeys, for example Newcastle to London, you would purchase separate tickets from Newcastle to Peterborough (and back) and then Peterborough to London (return), instead of a standard open return for next-day travel.

The only thing to watch out for, is that your tickets mean you actually stop at the station you've purchased for en route.

Buying a Car

Saving: £1000's

An easy way to make a significant saving on purchasing a car is to go for a nearly new one. The first thing you need to do is get a copy of the motor trades price comparison guide Glass's Guide (glass.co.uk), then check the prices of a one-year-old-car. Once armed with this data hit the showrooms and be prepared to haggle for the best price. Tell the salesman you're after a nearly-new car with the majority of the manufacturer's warranty in place.

Doing this can give you brilliant savings, its possible to slice thousands off original lists prices. Car's depreciate in value rapidly and even the year makes a huge difference to price.

However, avoid cars with short warranty lengths remaining, it is important to be covered if you have any difficulties for as long as possible.

Get a Brand New Bike, Tax-Free

Saving: £100+

A lot of companies participate in the government's Cycle to Work Scheme, a simple call to your companies HR department could save you a ton! You could easily knock £100 off the overall cost of a £250 bike, if your bike is more expensive, the saving can be massive.

It worth remembering though, with this scheme the bike isn't technically yours to start with, as you're in effect paying back a loan for up to two years. Only at this point, when you can then buy your not-so-new bicycle at a very fair price, does it really belong to you.

You'll also have to buy the bike from stores participating in the scheme. Your local bike shop may not be a member, so double-check first at cyclescheme.co.uk.

Reduce your Petrol Costs

Saving: £100+

This tip takes slightly more discipline and thought, but is well worth the effort and you can save hundreds of pounds. Basically, change your driving habits and you can cut your petrol bills significantly.

For example:
- Changing up a gear in a petrol car when you reach 2500 revs per minute (2,000rpm in diesel cars) and driving smoothly will use less petrol.

- Slashing your speed on a motorway from 85mph to 70mph saves almost a litre of petrol every 20 miles — over a year, that can easily add up to hundreds of pounds saved.

This will take a while to get used to and requires patience, however, if you want a shorter term fix try petrolprices.com, a website that finds the cheapest petrol for sale in your area.