Save money every month of the year

January

Start the year with a budget

A detailed annual budget will help you cut spending on the non-essentials. Include home expenses; insurance; transport; loan repayments; savings; family costs; clothing; big one-offs, such as Christmas, holidays and birthdays; and a column for any other costs.

For a more detailed guide,  click here to download House Beautiful\'s monthly budget planner Going through your outgoings will show up whether you\'re paying for anything you shouldn\'t. Tim Newhouse from moneysupermarket.com says, ‘Many of us lose thousands in dribs and drabs over the year in direct debits and automatic renewals without even realising.\'

Potential annual saving: £3000 to £5000

Good time to buy: Everything! But if your budget\'s limited, buy tools in the sales so you can make home improvements.

February

Most of us carry a loyalty card in our purses, but how many of us cash in the points? According to moneyexpert.com, a staggering £4.25 billion worth of loyalty points, gift vouchers, credit notes and air miles are going unclaimed. It\'s worth taking time to check the true value of the points you get when you cash them in. Many major retailers, including Boots, Tesco and Sainsbury\'s, offer loyalty schemes to entice shoppers.

One of the most generous schemes is the Boots Advantage card, with cardholders earning four points for every £1 spent, while the Tesco Clubcard scheme gives better value - 1p per point for normal purchases but 4p per point against Clubcard deals.

Potential annual saving: £250

Good time to buy: Garden furniture. It tends to be on sale around now before the sun comes out for spring.

March

Cash in on a clearout

British householders have goods worth between £2.5 billion and £5.1 billion stored in their garages, equivalent to between £501 and £1000 per person, according to comparethemarket.com. So with the impact of the credit crunch, selling these items and others hidden in the loft or under the stairs will stretch your budget further. Your idea of rubbish may be exactly what someone else has been looking for, and there are many ways to find a buyer. The online auction site eBay is one option, alternatively try gumtree.com. Some companies specialise in particular goods, so you may get a better price through them. Try chinasearch.co.uk or thecurtainexchange.net, which has branches countrywide. Commission rates vary, but are usually around 40 or 50 per cent.

Potential annual saving: £1000

Good time to buy: Duvets. As the weather warms up, demand is lower for heavy bedding, so buy one now to make a saving.

April

Go eco-friendly in your home

Turning down your thermostat by 1˚C could cut your heating bills by 10 per cent. And, according to the Energy Saving Trust, the average household could save £250 a year on fuel bills by making simple changes, such as checking for the energy-saving recommended logo when buying appliances.

An electricity display unit costs as little as £35 from shops such as B&Q, and shows how much energy you use doing ordinary things around the house. ‘These also show which appliances are producing the most CO2, or carbon dioxide, so you can work out how to cut down usage,\' says Rob Bell, Energy Doctor at the Energy Saving Trust.

Potential annual saving: £250+

Good time to buy: Baths and showers. Expect savings from companies using seasonal ‘April showers\' to shift stock.

May

Exercise your green fingers

With two Bank Holidays this month, you may be inspired to spruce up your garden. There are plenty of ways to get professional results in the garden at a fraction of the cost.

Send off for catalogues from companies such as Unwins, Fothergills and Suttons, and look for annual plants that can be sown directly into the ground, as they\'ll be considerably cheaper than buying a fully grown plant. DIY chains such as B&Q offer good value on garden furniture, and local salvage and reclamation yards often sell old garden furniture, particularly ironwork, for hundreds less than you\'d pay for new.

Potential annual saving: £200

Good time to buy: Paint and wallpaper. The bank holidays mean plenty of special offers at home and DIY outlets.

June

Sale shop all year round

As well as taking advantage of the summer sales, make use of websites and discount schemes to get money off the rest of the time, too. They cover a wide range of things from days out to clothing and electrical goods. offeroftheday.co.uk provides constantly updated information on the latest and best offers from some of Britain\'s biggest retailers, while at madaboutbargains.co.uk, bargain-hunters share information about good offers.

Also have a look at savebuckets.com, a free online comparison service, which searches millions of products from a wide range of high-street shops, including John Lewis and Amazon. The site also has a function called ‘My Price\', which notifies shoppers by email when the price of an item they want drops to within their budget.

Potential annual saving: £500

Good time to buy: Gifts. Buying gifts in bulk during the summer sales will save money and reduce stress at Christmas.

July

Investigate home entertainment

Before the football season starts in earnest next month, this is a great time to review your TV, broadband and home phone providers, as the larger ones, such as Sky, Virgin Media, and Tiscali, tend to roll out special offers to secure new customers.

Companies want to be the answer to all your home entertainment and communications needs, so they always offer competitive bundled deals in a bid to out-do each other. ‘Cost is a major attraction of bundling up as it can offer significant savings on what you may already be paying for from various suppliers,\' says Michael Phillips at broadbandchoices.co.uk.

Potential annual saving: £135

Good time to buy: Large furniture. Towards the end of the sales, retailers may cut prices in order to shift them.

August

Do some DIY and bargain hunting

The bank holiday weekend is a great time for DIY fans to pick up bargains, as all the main brands drop their prices. So use this month to spruce up a room in your house with a lick of paint, which tends to be one of the most commonly reduced products at this time of year.

Painting three average-sized rooms, which need little preparation, would cost around £120 for paint, brushes and other equipment if you do the work yourself, whereas paying someone could cost as much as £900. A guide, such as Collins Complete DIY Manual, will help you get it right.

Potential annual saving: £900+

Good time to buy: A car. Sales are down and now retailers want to shift stock to make way for the new registrations.

September

Switch utility providers

With fuel costs soaring, make use of any potential savings on these bills. You can save an average of £200 a year by switching your gas and electricity supplier to a better rate, according to uswitch.com, the price comparison site. Free comparison services, such as energyhelpline.com, will help you find the best price.

If you already know which supplier you want to swap to, phone them, tell them you want to change, and then give 28 days\' notice to your current supplier. The switch should take less than six weeks.

‘With approximately 14,000 tariffs on the market, it\'s important for consumers to check regularly that they\'re on the best tariff for their level of consumption\', says Gareth Kloet from confused.com.

Potential annual saving: £200+

Good time to buy: A laptop. With computers now commonplace in schools, electrical retailers offer back-to-school savings.

October

Insulate your home

As temperatures drop you\'ll be turning the heating on, so help keep costs down by increasing your insulation. When recarpeting, invest in Combilux Royale underlay. At £8.95 a metre it will retain heat in your room, and also give your carpet a longer life.

‘It\'s worth ensuring your curtains are sufficiently lined,\' says Shirley Nichols, Furnishing Advisor at John Lewis Bluewater. ‘If you have curtains made from a lightweight material, add a blind to help cut heat loss. Avoid covering radiators with floor-length curtains, as your room won\'t heat up as efficiently as it could.\'

Insulating your loft can save you about £110 a year on energy bills, according to the Energy Saving Trust. Cavity wall insulation saves about £90 a year, and insulated floors can save about £40.

Potential annual saving: £240+

Good time to buy: A dining table. With a lull in sales at this time of year, they can be delivered more quickly and prices drop.

November

Check your home loan

Millions of homeowners stay on their lender\'s standard variable rate (SVR), paying well over the odds for their mortgages. There are various ways to find cheaper deals, but visitors to mortgagemonitor.co.uk saved on average £119 a month last year. This saving was made by finding a rate that was one per cent lower on an average mortgage of £142,500.

Things will be slightly different this year because some mortgage packages have been withdrawn, but it\'s still worth checking. Be aware though that the cost of swapping includes arrangement fees, lawyers, surveyors and exit fees.

Potential annual saving: £1428

Good time to buy: Cutlery, china and cut glass. At this time of year, stores have great discounts on tableware.

December

Stretch your Christmas budget further

Cashback websites can save you substantial sums so it\'s worth registering with them before you start your festive shopping. Internetcashback.co.uk offers cashback on goods from more than 700 leading online retailers, and buyers earn up to 15 per cent of the price of purchases. When your total cashback reaches £40 you\'ll receive a cheque.

Quidco.com also offers cashback - from up to 7 per cent off at Tesco, to 25 per cent off at Bhs. There\'s a £5 subscription to join Quidco, but this is taken annually from your earnings, rather than being an additional charge.

Potential annual saving: £350+

Good time to buy: Homewares. Sales start on Boxing Day, but the economic squeeze means discounts may come earlier.