Episode 5 Right on the Money

Whether you're a spender or a saver,

we could all do with knowing how to make the most of our cash.

So we've found simple advice for you to do just that

and taken it to towns and cities right across Britain.

Whatever help you need with your finances, we are Right On The Money.

Hello and welcome to Right On The Money,

the series that's here

to find easy ways to put more cash in your pocket.

And today, we are in the world's first modern industrial city -

Manchester. We are going to make it our business to make you savvier.

And here's what's coming up on the show.

We go all out to help this hard-working trucker finally

make sense of his finances.

It's just gobbledygook. It's not English.

No, it's just not understandable at all.

Plus, find out how you could be quids in just by travelling

to and from work.

I make between £50 and £60 per month doing it while commuting,

but really the sky is the limit.

Cotton. This is what Manchester was built on.

But last year, it was voted the most popular place in the UK to live.

And the locals certainly agree with that,

they're really proud to live here.

But 20 miles further up the road, we've been trying to help

a couple save enough cash to do up their house.

Ted and Kristine Penlington, from Warrington,

have been happily married for the past 33 years.

And the secret of their wedding bliss is simple.

It's because Ted is away from the house Monday to Friday

working as a long-distance lorry driver.

It's not that you're out of the way, you're out at work.

-There you go.

-And if you don't earn the money, I can't spend it, can I?

I don't have a problem being away all week

cos I know the boss, as I call her, she's safe enough.

We have the two dogs looking after her.

There you go. That's a good boy.

While Ted is away,

Kristine doesn't have the bungalow quite to herself.

Two other residents still need lots of attention -

her two pooches, Sultan and Bella.

-The dogs are quite...

-Mollycoddled is a way of putting it, I think.

-Yeah.

-The only thing I don't do is carry them about, I think.

Well, we always make sure the dogs have got what I call the sweeties.

We only give them dog treats,

not make them jam butties or anything like that.

Give them chocolate, no!

No, we don't give them chocolate or anything.

Ted's just turned 65 and would like to work a little less

and spend some more time at home.

So he's tried to cash in his various pensions, but has always

given up halfway through as he's found the process too difficult.

It's not hard to get your pensions, it's...

near on impossible

because nobody will give you the information you need to claim it.

Recent research has shown that the majority of UK savers

are just as confused as Ted is.

57% said they didn't know when and how you could access your pension.

Time to call in a woman who unravels pensions with the same enthusiasm

others use to tackle a crossword,

personal finance expert Sarah Pennells.

-Hello. Is it Kristine?

-It is, yes.

-Hi, I'm Sarah.

-Hi, Sarah.

-Hello.

And if she can't help these two sort out the retirement plans,

no-one can.

So, Kristine and Ted, you've got three private pensions.

And have you taken any money out of any of them so far?

I've been trying to get my private pensions for five, ten years?

-Ten years, nearer on.

-I sent the form off.

And they sent me a letter saying,

"We can sort this out for you, not a problem, we'll be in touch."

-During all this, they sent you all the forms, didn't they?

-Yeah.

And you just don't understand what they're talking about.

If there's one thing pension companies are brilliant at

-it's not speaking English, so...

-That's it.

I'm not surprised you struggled with it.

Oh, I didn't have a clue.

I think that's hopefully something I can help you out with.

And that can't come a moment too soon

because these two have big plans for their home.

We bought this house about three years ago. Well, the bungalow.

And we want to extend it because it's not big enough

for the dogs and us.

-The big pup, he's grown a bit since we've been here.

-Yes.

And if he lies down on the floor, you just can't get round him.

-We buy more dog food than what we do food.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Hang on, so you spend more on food for the dogs than you

-do for yourselves?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

If they want to extend their house,

Kristine and Ted may have to consider reducing their expenses,

so to get a sense of just how much money they need,

Sarah has a good look around.

This is part of the reason why we need to extend,

or the main reason, is the kitchen is so small.

I mean, as you can see, I can't put anything in it.

There's not enough room for anybody in it.

Only basically two of us can sit in it. And we can't have the dogs in.

We need it done now because a lot of the family come round at weekends,

and you get the two dogs and everybody falling over each other.

There's just nowhere to go.

And in terms of the actual building work and the project,

what would that cost?

We've had an estimate given to us which will cost us about £20,000.

OK.

We will be doing lots of the work ourselves.

That will save money that way.

Well, hopefully, the pension will pay the biggest chunk of it,

if nothing else, like.

Sounds like cracking on with that extension really does

depend on unlocking Ted's pension pot.

But before Sarah tackles that one,

she's going through the Penlingtons' weekly outgoings

to see if there are any savings there to get them

on the right financial path towards their building work.

So, Kristine and Ted, you've been really organised.

I've got your annual statement for your gas and electricity.

-You're on the standard tariff with your energy supplier.

-Yeah.

Have you switched or have you thought about switching?

We have thought about switching,

but we didn't know whether it would make any difference.

If you've never switched, you'll be on the standard tariff.

But it's just not a good deal for customers.

But having had a look at how much gas and electricity you use,

at the moment, it's about £1,000 a year

-for both gas and electricity, roughly.

-Yeah.

The most that you can save if you switch

is about £286.29 a year.

-Wow. Yeah.

-Which is not to be sniffed at, really.

No, it isn't, actually.

In less than ten minutes and with just a few clicks,

Sarah has put almost £300

back in Ted and Kristine's bank.

And if you still never switched supplier, well,

the odds are you could probably get the same.

Savings like those are why 3 million of us

switched electricity supplier in 2015,

an increase of more than 11%.

And there's more switching magic from Sarah as she finds

a much cheaper alternative to the Penlingtons' telephone

and broadband package.

There's a deal that I suggest you could go with

that costs about £220 a year. It's 18.50 a month.

So that's going to save you about £200.

That's great.

Wow, you're on fire today, Sarah.

So there's another £200 in your pocket.

In my pocket.

No, in mine.

It's a good start, but thousands of pounds are needed to begin

the work on Ted and Kristine's house,

so Sarah's on a mission to save the Penlingtons as much as she can...

I've got a little surprise for you.

I've got one more area where we can hopefully save you some money.

-I love you.

-Hopefully.

..as she soon hones in on the vast amount of money trucker Ted

spends in service stations up and down the country at meal times.

So, Ted, tell me about when you do your job,

when you're out on the road.

-What do you spend?

-I average roughly about £60 a week.

The problem is you have to go to either the services

or a truck stop.

And depending where you go, it can cost you

from £5, £7, £10 a go.

Per meal.

Gordon Bennett! That's more than three grand every year

on lunches and motorway treats.

But is there a way to save on that grub with the help

of Kristine's cooking skills?

All right, so, Ted, I've got a little demonstration for you.

This is sort of showing you the kind of meals that you might

buy in a day. Here we go.

That's your £60 - £10 a meal, £10 a day, £60 in a week,

-you reckon, on average.

-On average, yeah.

Now, what we've gone and done...

We've done some shopping at the supermarket.

Guess how much that cost me.

-Not a clue.

-£60.

So we have got for £60...

I think there's probably enough food there to keep you

going for quite a few miles.

Uh, yeah. That'll keep me going for a bit of time, that will, yeah.

So the idea here, Ted, is that you plan ahead and that you know exactly

what you're going to be taking out on the road with you every day.

-Mm-hm.

-And I reckon that with a bit of careful planning

and a bit of canny shopping,

you could probably get that £60 a week down to as little

as £30 a week.

Over a year, that could save Ted and Kristine

a mouthwatering £1,500 and give him a taste of home into the bargain.

But will truck-stop Ted go for it, though?

-It does sound doable as long as...

-You prepare it.

Well, there is one more thing.

I've got sort of my secret weapon, which is...

..plastic boxes. These are going to become your new best friend.

-So you're happy?

-I'm happy.

-I'm happy.

-You're happy.

-Cos he's saving money.

And I'm happy. Cos your saving money.

-The dogs, they're not happy, they lost the treats.

-Brilliant.

Yep, it's great.

Now we don't all drive an articulated lorry up and down

the country, but us Brits do waste a lot of money buying food on the go.

But with a bit of meal planning, we could be quids in too.

And with that £1,500, Sarah has so far managed to save Kristine

and Ted almost two grand,

which takes her to the big one -

seeing what she can do to help unlock Ted's pension pot.

But even for someone who loves this kind of stuff, that's

an awful lot of pension information for Sarah to plough through.

Ted, I mean, that's a lot of paperwork you've got there.

-Have you actually been able to make sense out of it?

-No.

-None whatsoever.

-What's the biggest problem? Is it...

-Is it the language? Just explain what the biggest issue is.

-It's...

just gobbledygook. It's not English. It's just not understandable at all.

-Shall I relieve you of the pension paperwork?

-Yeah, please. Please.

We find out later if Sarah can get Ted and Kristine any closer

to that pension cash.

And as she looks for other savings, she sets her sights on these two.

And we'll be finding out whether Ted and Kristine have managed to

wade their way through all that jargon later on in the programme.

Now, our personal finance expert Simon Read

is a man a little bit like myself who hates jargon with a passion.

As do you, Steve Jenner, from the Plain English Campaign.

They're going to be trying to help our volunteers Debbie

and Ryan de-jargon some everyday documents that quite frankly

-drive us all mad, don't they?

-They do.

And it's one of my bugbears.

Just tell me why there is so much jargon in the financial industry?

I think it's deliberate.

I think the banks, the insurers,

the credit card companies want to trick people into buying

the wrong products, spending too much money on the wrong products,

so they put confusing jargon in every single document

so that people don't really know what they're doing.

-It's time to change it.

-Would you agree with that, Steve?

I'd agree with that entirely.

Here we are, in the Museum of Science and Industry.

This is hard science all around us.

There's nothing really scientific about the financial industry,

it's all about prediction

and almost guesstimates and guesswork.

It seems to me as well there is an attempt to stop people

actually reading through these things

so they don't actually read what things mean.

And because of that, you're basically saying to people,

"I trust you, do whatever you want with me."

And it's really dangerous.

And, Debbie, you've been actually looking at some contracts for us.

What have you found very confusing?

I came across something called joint lives, last survivor.

It sounds like an American movie, doesn't it?

-Joint Lives, Last Survivor, The Sequel.

-A horror movie.

It's actually not.

It's when two lives are insured,

say a married couple or something like that, and the insurance

company will pay out on the death of the second person.

It's as simple as that. Why give it such a title? Which is scary.

-I have no idea.

-What have you come across, Ryan?

I was looking at ISAs and I kept seeing the term compound interest.

I know what it is. I know the theory behind it,

I've studied it at school, but how does it actually work

-in reality?

-Good question.

-It is a good question.

Compound interest is confusing to all of us because we can't

work out how much return on a savings we're actually going to get.

In simple terms,

if you had 10% interest on £100 every year,

you'd think you're getting £10 interest, but the second year,

you're getting 10% of the 10%, which means you're getting... Do you know?

-I can't even work it out in my head.

-THEY LAUGH

-It's that complicated.

-It's that confusing, isn't it?

-Yes.

And what else have you been looking at for us?

Codicil, that was another one that I came across this morning.

Well, strangely enough, I came across this when talking to

a solicitor just a week or so ago in relation to a will.

What it is, it's a document that can either replace a will or it

can add to a will or amend a will depending on which part

of the world you're in.

I only found that out because the solicitor used this word to me.

I hadn't got a clue what it meant.

But because I'm a member of the Plain English Campaign, I'm quite

used to saying, "Hang on, stop a minute, I don't know what you mean.

"Please, explain what that means."

-A lot of people just don't do that, do they?

-That's absolutely right.

-They just say, "Sign on the dotted line."

-That's what happens.

They're scared of being thought stupid or ignorant, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-When in fact, it's going to save them money,

save them lots of worries later on

by actually speaking up and saying, "I don't understand."

I think we need to start fining the big financial institutions

if they don't speak in plain English.

And I think maybe we should get people power for all of us

to say, "I don't understand this."

Rather than just simply signing the forms saying,

-"I'm up with it," say no.

-Thanks a lot, guys.

Hopefully, we'll understand jargon a little bit better.

Now, here on Right On The Money, we're always looking for easy

ways not just to save you money but to make it too.

And today, we've got some corkers for you

that really couldn't be any easier.

They're the sort of thing you can do online,

on your way to work or going about your daily business.

And our technology expert David MacLaren

has been checking them out.

3 million of us spend more than two hours travelling to

and from work by road and rail every single day.

No wonder we get fed up with the daily grind.

Well, I'm about to find out if there's a way to ease the

boredom of that journey to work and earn some extra money on the way.

It sounds a bit too good to be true if you ask me,

but I'm willing to give it a go.

Today, I'm going to test out three ways you can make money on the move.

First up, Nimber -

a delivery service which pays you to be a courier by picking up

and dropping off items on your normal routes to work.

You simply log on and type in the start

and end points of your journey.

Then, a bit like a dating site,

the system will match you with a delivery job along the way.

I've arrived to pick up my first package,

for which I'll be paid the princely sum of £25 to take it across London.

Hello. What have we got here?

-We've got some nice lemonades and iced teas.

-Oh, fantastic.

Thank you very much.

Tell me, what do you get from using a service like Nimber?

Well, we're utilising journeys that are already existing.

Also, it's very quick and convenient to use.

And the price is fair as well.

Aren't you a bit concerned that I might just run off

and drink all of this by myself?

We're all insured up to £500 with every delivery,

so we'll be confident that it arrives.

Typically, how much you can earn depends on the size

and weight of the item and the distance you have to travel.

Right, I'm off on my first delivery.

But before I get to my destination, I'm going to speak to David,

who does these kind of deliveries all the time.

-What are the craziest things that you've had to deliver?

-Livestock.

-When I say livestock, I mean...

-I'm sorry?

I mean cats. Kittens.

-I've delivered three kittens and two puppies so far.

-Right.

And of course, these really are something that you can't find

an easy service for normally.

How many times a week, a month do you do this?

It very much depends upon the schedule

I've got from my full-time job, but typically, if the timings

-and places are right, it can be three or four jobs per week.

-Wow.

Do you have a feel for how much you make

maybe per week or per month, or whatever?

It might be £100 in a week.

Good stuff.

Five miles later, I'm about to make £25

just for delivering those drinks.

Not bad for a morning commute.

-Ah, Fred.

-Hey.

There we go. There you are, for you.

I think I've successfully not broken any of them.

Tell me, why do you use the Nimber service?

For something like this which is maybe a bit big, bulky and fragile,

it's better to get that rather than doing it through a standard courier.

-Yeah.

-And also it's got a personal touch to it as well.

-Well, enjoy your lemonade.

-OK, thank you.

-Have yourself a good day.

-Thank you very much.

-Bye-bye.

-Cheers.

But that's just one way to make money on the move.

For those who prefer a bit of mental stimulation in the morning,

here's another way to cash in on your commute.

So, here I am about to get on the X74 that goes from High Wycombe

to Slough.

Now, I bet you didn't know that you can make a bus journey

pay for itself.

Well, I'm about to meet someone who does exactly that,

and they're going to show me how I can do it too.

When she's not running her own money-saving blog,

Emma Drew fills in online surveys for organisations like YouGov,

MySurvey and OnePoll during her daily journey to work.

Emma, lovely to meet you.

Tell me, how long have you been doing these online surveys for?

I've been doing them for about ten years now.

Wow. And what sort of questions do they ask you?

It could be anything from your age, your household income, what's

your favourite colour, right down to your toilet roll preferences.

HE CHUCKLES

Brilliant. How much could you make, say, per month in doing this?

I make between £50 and £60 per month doing it while commuting,

but really, the sky is the limit.

So to make extra cash by answering a few questions on your way to

work, sign up with a reputable survey company,

wait for the alerts to land in your inbox,

zip through the questions and then claim your money.

A note of caution, though.

Don't ever pay to register with a survey company.

Now, not everybody goes to work by car or by public transport,

but even in that case, there's still a way to make money.

But for this one, you'll have to put your running shoes on.

Sign up to a rewards scheme like Bounts, Running Heroes or

Sweatcoin, then connect to a fitness tracking app on your smartphone.

Every time you run, walk, cycle or go to the gym,

you'll earn points that can convert into vouchers for big name stores.

Personal trainer Jodi has been doing just that for a year.

Jodi.

-Jodi, hi. I'm David.

-How are you? Hi, David. Nice to meet you.

What's in it for you?

Well, at the end of the day,

I'm earning money for doing what I love, going out and exercising.

And in terms of points, what do they make?

-Prizes.

-Correct answer. I need to know more about the prizes.

The prizes are fantastic.

So it's cash rewards -

£5, £10, £15 vouchers for hundreds of stores.

-I've earned about £50, £60 worth of vouchers so far.

-Wow.

Any idea what you're going to spend them on?

I'm going to keep saving up until Christmas and then use them

-to put towards Christmas presents.

-Amazing! What a great idea.

-Right then, shall we go and build up some points?

-Fabulous, let's go.

You lead the way.

Well, if it's easy cash you're after, how about earning

extra money from things already at your disposal? Like Bobby has.

But we'll talk to you in just a moment.

But first, Alex Stephany,

you've actually written a book about the sharing economy.

Tell us a little bit about what it is and how it's grown.

So, the sharing economy

is this new online economy that's being created by people

who are renting, sharing

and selling their assets to one another.

And really, what the sharing economy is doing is it's unlocking

the value in those assets when they're not being used.

So that might be a parking space when no car is parked there.

It might be a car when it's parked, sat, doing nothing.

It might be your home when you're on holiday and your home is empty.

Bobby, this is obviously just exactly what you're doing.

-You are renting car-park spaces.

-I do, yeah.

And how did you get involved in that?

I had this parking space that was available

and one of my friends actually gave me the idea, said,

"Well, have you not heard that you can rent out your space?"

And I thought, "That's not a bad idea, I'll give it a try."

Hence where I started a session online

and I found a number of companies that were offering the services.

So it took literally five minutes,

I signed up and I've been up for about three weeks now

and I already made £100. So it's not bad money.

Are there any costs involved to renting out your car parking space?

No, there isn't besides the commission

that the company would make.

But that's only dependant on, obviously,

if you have rented your space,

and they will take a slight percentage from that.

-So this is big business?

-Absolutely. It's very big business.

A very interesting phenomenon of the sharing economy websites

is that they're really powered by trust.

It's the trust between me and you,

and I will rent you my assets and you will rent my assets.

And even though we'll be complete strangers,

that trust needs to exist.

Alex, I actually hand over my parking ticket when I use them

if there's still some money left on it, does that count?

-Is that part of the sharing economy?

-It is now.

I think people are making money in all sorts of interesting

and creative ways.

Some people are in fact renting out their living rooms to become

offices for other people.

They'll be out at work and then someone else, a freelancer or small

business, will set up shop and work from their home when they are away.

People are also turning their kitchens into restaurants

and cooking for other people. So guests will come round,

they will effectively buy a ticket for dinner.

Are there any potential pitfalls?

Well, people need to really acquaint themselves with the particular

service that they're going to be providing.

Generally, the platforms,

they will have the customer support that is required.

A lot of them will have insurance policies that might protect

not only the person renting out the assets,

but the person renting those assets as well.

With your new-found success, is there anything else you'd

-consider doing in the sharing economy?

-Yeah.

I find that tools would be great.

It would be a great way to share my tools around.

Usually, I'll have them sitting in a garage for ages

and just collecting dust, so why not help someone else?

It can benefit them.

And it might benefit me as well if I can make a bit more on the side.

And in terms of tax implications,

if you are earning this extra money, what would your advice be?

My advice would be to get some proper financial

advice from an accountant, generally,

but with that waiver, I would say this is generally taxable income,

and people need to be aware of that,

but the Chancellor of the Exchequer did introduce two sharing

economy tax breaks in the last budget which are worth checking out.

Brilliant. It sound like there's lots of money to be made out there.

And if you are worried about the tax implications,

then do contact HMRC for more information.

That's great advice, Denise.

And it seems a bit of extra cash might be especially useful

if you're married because a recent survey has revealed

that to have a happy marriage,

it's going to cost you in excess of £267,000.

That's all the money you'll be spending on each other

on things like holidays, gifts an pressies.

But does everybody pay their way?

-You treated me to go to Cuba, didn't you?

-Yeah, Cuba.

Um, and I'm not very good with presents, so I don't know.

Probably some trainers or something.

She probably spoils me more than I spoil her.

Last year...

you bought me a...Mini Cooper.

What do I buy for you? Underpants.

Might spend a couple thousand a year.

But we do love a bargain. We like bargain underwear.

We're really pleased cos we found bargain underwear today,

a good reduction on the underpants today.

Well, she likes champagne every weekend.

-SHE GIGGLES

-Well, we get it for £10 a bottle.

-Don't tell them that!

-Well, £10 a bottle is all right.

Bargain hunting, that's all. I only buy it when I can buy a pack.

We don't buy too much. We just go out for meals.

We've got three kids together, so we don't get much time together.

She doesn't buy me any lavish things.

Rubbish! Rubbish.

Now, one thing that would definitely cause you a problem

in your relationship is

when you keep tripping over your partner's junk.

But fear not because that junk might actually be worth something.

I'm here in a shop in Manchester that specialises

in selling off unwanted items. And with me is owner, Paul.

-Nice to meet you, Paul.

-Nice to meet you, Dom.

Antiques dealer Robert Redford. Is that really your name?

It really is my name.

I'll want to see your driving licence after the programme.

-No problem.

-And Vicki. Vicki, you make a few quid by selling off stuff

-you no longer use, don't you?

-Yeah.

I moved into my house, and eight months into it,

I noticed the shed was getting, you know, really full.

And also with that, I was getting married,

so trying to save for the honeymoon.

So I thought, "Why not get rid of it?"

So I started just selling bits online, and really quickly,

I've just made loads of money.

Give me an idea of the sort of things that sell quickly.

Probably good bits of clothing that might still have the tags on

or clearly it's only been worn once.

You know, anything that's got a name to it.

Even a high street name people like, you know.

UGG boots sell quite quickly,

so, you know, if I've used them for a couple of years

but there's not really much damage, I've sold those for like 60 quid.

And, Paul, gosh, your shop is absolutely amazing.

Give us an idea of the sort of stuff you got here.

Well, we tend to cater for everybody, really. All ages.

Well, from Beano comics to vinyl, record players.

They've come back into fashion,

-the old Dansette record players from the

-'60s. I remember those.

Now, Rob, I've got come to you.

How long have you been an antiques dealer?

-30 years.

-Doesn't that officially make you an antique yourself?

-Probably, yes.

-It does with cars, doesn't it? They become classics.

-You don't need to get personal.

-THEY LAUGH

-You obviously love the industry.

-I do, yeah, cos it's interesting

and you never know what you're going to come up with.

And as Vicki has pointed out, you know, there's

a market for everything that you can possibly come up with.

Things like wristwatches.

I mean, a good vintage wristwatch now will make a lot more money

than a pocket watch made 300 years ago.

Give me an idea of what really sells, what makes the good bucks.

-Telephones, these.

-Bakelites?

Bakelite. One of them is £175.

And actually, I get them converted -

you can actually plug them in and use them as a normal phone at home.

And that's the sort of thing... I've got to be honest,

if I found that in my attic, straight in the bin.

Well, yeah, most people do.

Rob, I'm going to ask you to look into the crystal ball now

and give all our viewers now an idea what to package away

carefully in the shoebox in the attic that they can leave

to their grandchildren that's going to be worth a fortune.

Well, that's a difficult one, but for my own grandchildren,

I think one of the things that may become iconic in the future

and possibly make money as a result are trainers.

You've got classic trainers or special edition trainers

or trainers that cost a great deal of money.

I think, in the future, they will be valuable.

They've even have got a market online now.

I mean, I know somebody in...

not far from here who puts his old trainers on and sells them.

I never thought people would buy old trainers.

Vi, you're the new kid on the block, what would you predict is going to

be a future classic, something valuable to store away?

-Gadgets. So iPods, you know, iPads, things like that.

-Yep.

If you think the first couple that ever came out, they're now worth

more than the ones you buy in the shops now.

We're constantly wanting to renew

and there might not even be anything wrong with the one

you're going to get rid of, so I'd say keep it in a drawer and,

hopefully in, what, five, ten years, it might even be worth something.

-Yeah. Leave it to the grandkids, worth a fortune.

-Why not?

Full of good advice. THEY LAUGH

Thanks a lot, guys. It's been lovely talking to all of you.

Now, earlier on, we met trucker Ted and his wife, Kristine,

who were desperately in need of some help freeing up their pension pot.

Let's see if our advice can sort them out.

And bear in mind, this is not just for them. It could be for you too.

Ted and Kristine have big plans for their retirement.

They want to put an extension on their bungalow,

which currently is a bit of a squeeze with two massive dogs

and visits from their extended family.

Uh-oh!

-ALL:

-Uh-oh!

Uh-oh indeed.

Personal finance expert Sarah Pennells has been going

great guns finding savings to help them on their way,

so far freeing up £1,986

for the couple's coffers.

And they could boost that even more if they cut back on what

they spend on pampered pooches Sultan and Bella.

So, tell me about your two dogs.

-They're really important to you, aren't they?

-Yeah. They really are.

-They're family, aren't they? The babies.

-Yeah.

You're not kidding me, Kristine.

This couple are so in love with their dogs that they spend

more money on food for their furry friends

than they do on themselves.

So, I have seen you giving Sultan and Bella

a couple of treats this morning.

Tell me a bit about what else you would spend on them.

Treats, food, that kind of thing.

I'd say, in a week, probably about £15 a week.

What about their food?

Their food, it depends where you buy it from.

I mean, with the brand that they are on, it ranges from £45, £40.

Which is what they have.

-I'd say it lasts about a month.

-OK.

-It lasts about a month.

So we're talking about £100-ish, or so.

-Does that sound about right to you?

-Yeah.

Britain is famously a nation of animal lovers,

so much so that, between us,

we spend more than £4 billion a year on our beloved pets.

But with building that extension at stake, Ted and Kristine need to

think about splashing out slightly less on some of those treats.

At the moment then, you reckon you spend about £60 on treats a month.

And it's not about saying you can't spend your money on your own dogs'

treats, but if you were to just cut that down by £10 a month,

well, that is £120 at the end of the year.

Yeah. It is a good idea. He likes giving them a lot of treats.

But I'm in agreement with you, we should cut back on them.

-I give them more than you do.

-Yeah.

-He's only got to look at me and

-I'll give him...

-We can cut back on them.

Yeah, we could do. We could do.

Don't give me those sad faces, Bella and Sultan.

You won't escape Sarah's mission to save Mum and Dad money.

Just think about all the space you'll have

when the extension's done.

Right, going home now.

And here's another area where Sarah wants to see if she can save

the Penlingtons some hard cash - driving.

The couple are among the UK's 7.5 million two-car households,

but with Ted spending most of the week in his truck,

do they really need two cars?

So, you've got two cars and one of them sits in the depot

all week while you're out on the road.

What do you pay in petrol or diesel for this car,

say, every week?

Well, at the minute, it'll do me this week now, and then next week,

this weekend coming, I'll probably put £20 in it.

And that'll last me a month.

Wow.

Factor in the cost of petrol, plus the road tax,

MOT and servicing and Ted's car is costing him £1,200 a year,

all for the convenience of doing less than 20 miles a week.

But Ted leaves for work at funny hours,

normally around 3.00 in the morning.

So in his particular case, the car may well be the best option.

The only option really for you, cos of the hours you work,

would be a taxi because, obviously, public transport

isn't going to be an option.

No, it's not going to get me to work at 3.00.

-HE CHUCKLES

-And I've had a look

at a couple of quotes from local taxi firms,

and they reckon that they could

quote you a sort of weekly charge of about £30.

But that's going to be, obviously, about £1,500 over a year,

which it sounds like it is actually not going to save you any money

because you're spending less on your petrol

and on your insurance and car tax.

It sounds like selling Ted's car won't be the right thing to do

just yet.

But if Sarah manages to cash in that pension,

it may well be a different kettle of fish.

If in, say, a couple of years' time or so you're not working,

you know, the other option might be to just hand the car back.

If I'm not doing the hours and I'm not away as long,

-we don't need the two cars.

-Yeah.

So as soon as Ted retires, if he sells the car,

he can look forward

to a yearly saving of £1,200.

But all of that is going to depend on

when he is able to cash in his pension, something that,

like all too many people, he's found completely baffling.

Up until now, that is.

So, with Kristine off to the bingo...

Is everyone ready for our bingo?

..Sarah and Ted are about to focus on sorting that out.

Ted has so far struggled sourcing the correct paperwork to

claim his pension, but Sarah's a dab hand at this.

And after a few clicks, she's found the forms on the internet

and printed them off.

And there's more good news to come.

So I've got a form here that you can use to claim your state pension.

Because you were 65... Was that earlier on this year?

-February.

-February.

-Yeah, February this year.

-OK.

So basically, if you reach state pension age

before the 6th of April this year, which obviously you did,

then if you don't need to claim your state pension,

or don't want to claim it,

then you get an extra 10.4%

-for every year that you put off claiming your pension.

-Hm.

Crikey! That's a top tip.

For those who decide not to claim their state pension as soon as

they turn 65...

6 and 5, 65.

..the government has been adding an extra 10.4% for every year

you wait. Bingo!

1-0 - 10.

Now, the rules on this are changing

and the sweetener to carry on working is only valid

if you reached pension age before the 6th of April, like Ted.

So for him, deferring his state pension for 12 months would

give him an extra £645 a year.

And if you do put off claiming it, it will be more useful for you

-to get a bit extra every week for the rest of your life.

-Hm.

But deciding whether to claim that state pension or wait a bit

isn't always the no-brainer it sounds, which is why Sarah

has called in reinforcements to help Ted decide what to do.

-Ted, Kristine, this is Alan. He's a pensions expert.

-Hello, Ted.

-Hello, Kristine.

-Hello, Alan.

'Sarah hopes that pension specialist Alan Higham can finally help Ted

'get his head round it.

'With the help of some fruit?'

Well, your job income, is taxed, you pay income tax on it.

When you get a state pension, you pay income tax on that.

And your private pension. You've got your job, represented by the apples.

You've got your money from the state pension via the oranges.

And your private pension via the bananas.

'Like almost 1,000,000 people over 65,

'Ted's keen to continue working to bring in extra income.

'But if he does that and claims the money from both his private

'and state pensions, his total annual income will push him

'into a higher tax bracket,

'which isn't what he hoped for his savings.'

All your life, you've wanted to be a high-rate taxpayer,

but in retirement, you're doing it at just the wrong time

cos you'll end up paying 40% on some of your pensioners tax.

Yeah, that's what I was wary of, that I'd end up paying too much tax.

And it works out then that my job is just not worth doing because

I'll be spending it all in tax.

'Alan reckons that waiting another year to claim his state

'pension will work out as Ted's best option.'

If you don't claim it, you've just effectively put it off.

And whilst you're putting it off, it grows and gets bigger.

For Ted, it will get bigger by just over 10% each year.

That's not too bad if you leave that.

That would be a good idea just to leave it.

-Yeah, leave that alone.

-Yeah.

'In the meantime, now Sarah's helped him

'understand what to do, Ted can claim his private pension and,

'better still, get it in a lump sum.

'Having it in one payment means that by the time he does start claiming

'his state pension, his income won't slip into that higher tax bracket.

'And best of all, it gives Ted

'and Kristine the cash they need to get cracking on that extension.'

So it's been worthwhile meeting Alan and having a chat?

-Yes, definitely.

-Definitely.

-It's been a pleasure to meet you.

-Great to see you.

-Thank you.

-Gold stars all around, Alan. Thank you very much.

-Thanks, Sarah.

Ted's chuffed to bits

to have finally got his pension all figured out

and that he won't lose more than he'd hoped to the taxman.

And if you're in doubt about your pension,

Citizens Advice offers free guidance and support.

As for the Penlingtons, they could save a whole

pile of cash by following the rest of Sarah's advice.

£286 by switching their gas and electricity supplier.

£200 by changing their broadband provider.

£1,500 if Teddy gives up his motorway lunches.

Oh, tough one.

£120 by cutting back on Sultan and Bella's treats.

That's a grand total of £2,106,

which will go up another £1,200

when Ted stops work and gives up his car.

-Good luck.

-Yeah, thanks.

-Job well done, Sarah.

-I'll speak to you again soon. Take care.

-Yeah.

-And you.

-Bye.

-Thanks, Sarah.

-Thank you very much. Bye-bye now.

-Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

-I think it's marvellous.

-It's...

I feel like 10st lighter.

I didn't have 10st to lose, but I do feel 10st lighter.

-The extension, now it's a go.

-It's going.

-It's definitely going up.

-Yeah, it's going up.

And I can't shout about the kitchen being small.

I'm the happiest man on the planet at this minute.

I feel the happiest man on the planet.

Now, trucker Ted is on the road,

but Kristine is here with us along with Simon Read.

Kristine, what's this whole experience been like

for you and Ted?

It been a relief to finally get everything sorted out

and to get some money for what we wanted to do.

So you've learned a lot from this whole experience?

Definitely learned a lot.

We needed someone to explain everything to us,

and we finally got it through you.

Ted was spending four times as much as you were on food

when he was on the road.

Has the Tupperware made a really big difference to you?

It's made a great deal of difference.

He's now eating proper meals like curries and pea soups,

braised steak and onions,

and stuff that he can eat and it doesn't have to be expensive.

I mean, tackling personal finances for anybody is a bit daunting.

We don't know where to start, what to do. Actually, we switch off.

Most people do. Where do people start?

Do you know what? They should start with ambitions.

They should start with, "What do I want to do with this?"

Because it's all about money and making the most of money,

giving yourself choices.

You know, some people live from day-to-day and then they say,

"Well, I can't afford a holiday, a car, a home,"

because they spent all their money. They haven't planned at all.

-They made the wrong choices, to be honest.

-Yeah.

The fact is you can have the home, you can have the car,

you can have the nicer time if you plan for it.

And the longer you plan or it - it's important to start in your 20s

when you're thinking about pension planning -

the more likely you can achieve your dreams.

It's just not a very sexy subject, though, is it, really?

But do you know what, it is sexy when you think about those dreams.

When you think about, "I want the holiday, I want the home,

"I want the car, how can I achieve it?

"Well, I save money here, there and everywhere

"and then I can have what I want." That's what it's all about.

Pension is just a savings scheme.

So I suppose it's the moment of truth, Kristine.

Are you anywhere near getting those home improvements done?

At the moment, within the next fortnight, the extension starts.

-Wow. Good news all around, I think, isn't it?

-It's very good news.

-Good luck with that.

-Thank you.

Well, if you'd be interested in having one of our experts

come round to sort out your finances, then e-mail us at...

Now, we can't promise to get to everybody who gets in touch,

but if it is money-saving tips you're after,

here's a good place to start.

Our website has everything you need to sort out your spending.

We've teamed up with the Money Advice Service

to bring you easy-to-use moneysaving tools

to plan your budget, calculate the cost of your car

or credit cards and give your money a complete health check.

Download them at...

..where you can also take our interactive spending test.

And you'll find plenty more tips

and advice to keep your finances on track.

Well, Simon's still with us and he's going to answer some

questions from people we've met today.

And first up, Simon, is Sandra from Bolton.

She says, "My train to work is frequently delayed."

I've been there.

"Can I get a refund or money back, and how do I go about it?"

OK, well, you know, if your train is delayed,

you have the right to have money back. You know, the train

operator hasn't delivered the service that it promised you.

If it's delayed by half an hour,

you should get up to half your money back. If it's delayed

by more than an hour, you should get all your money back.

And it's quite simple to apply for it.

Now, you have to contact your own train operator.

Just go to his website, find out what you need to do and do it

quickly because you've got 28 days to get this money in as well.

So you just need to do it as soon as it happens

and you should get your money back pretty soon.

John from Salford says he thinks he's in the wrong council tax band.

What can he do to make sure he's in the correct one?

OK, there could be lots of reasons

why he's in the wrong council tax band.

It may be that when the valuation was set,

this was back in 1991, it was incorrect.

It may be that the property he's in now has been changed since then.

In which case, it could change bands.

It's quite easy to check out

whether you're in the right band by going to the valuation office.

They have a website. They show you how to do it.

You can apply, or appeal, the decision.

There is a warning, though.

Sometimes people are re-rated into a higher band.

So you need to be sure about what you're doing

because it could be a costly mistake if you go the wrong way!

It could be a bit of a shock, couldn't it?

-It's a gamble, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Thanks, Simon.

And thanks to all our guests today and the people of Manchester.

-Join us next time for more moneysaving tips. Bye-bye.

-Cheerio.