Martin Lewis reveals how you can save hundreds with his ‘5 minute direct debit challenge’
15 June 2020, 12:25
Martin Lewis has urged people to try ‘5 minute direct debit challenge’ to save hundreds.
Martin Lewis challenged This Morning viewers to save money by checking their direct debits on the show today.
Talking to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, the Money Saving Expert urged spenders to check where their money is actually going each month.
He said: "If you're paying for something you don't need, or didn’t even know you paid for, STOP!
"In just five minutes you can check if you’re chucking money down the drain with MSE’s direct debit audit."
Martin then went on to explain the three different types of regular payments viewers should be looking out for.
These include direct debits - which are set up to give permission for a company to take different amounts of money from you each month - including energy bills.
Next on the list was standing orders, which give an instruction to your bank to pay an individual or company a fixed amount each month.
And lastly, a recurring payment is when you give a company the long number on your debit or credit card, which gives a company the ability to take a payment on the permission date.
He said: “Go to your bank account now and you should be able to see your direct debits and standing orders, do a google and see what the company is if you don’t recognise it.
“If you don’t want it, or don’t use it then you should stop it.”
Martin Lewis warns of 'millions of redundancies' in August
He went on to warn that recurring payments can be trickier to cancel as they aren’t listed on your bank account, but can be tracked with apps such as Smart bill and Yolt.
While Martin admitted sorting through what to keep and what to stop can be a tricky, he said you should simply ask yourself - do you need it? Is it worth it? And can you get it cheaper somewhere else?
Revealing that people have saved hundreds from trying out the challenge, Martin said: “A cameraman on one of my shows once admitted to me: ‘I found I pay £1,000s in council tax on my OLD home.’
“I’ve heard of people paying insurance for fridges they chucked years ago, old mobiles they don’t use and many more.”
He also gave examples of unused TV subscriptions, gym memberships and magazine subscriptions which could save people hundreds of pounds a year.
Find out more information here!
