And yet, there are hundreds of small changes that most people could make that would help. And here lies the problem; so many things you could do, it's easy to get overwhelmed, do nothing, and carry on as before. So, here are our top five areas to consider making changes. All of them are topics in themselves, and it's up to you to decide how deep to delve but make a start, and you should be able to realise savings.

Tip One: Maximise your Income

This is a topic in itself, but to break it down, maximising income might be achieved by:

Make sure you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to. 

Social security benefits are complex. They are a system of overlapping schemes that ensure that people's income doesn't fall below a certain level matched to their needs. Unfortunately, achieving this is far from straightforward. As with anything that relies upon government departments and technology, errors are commonplace.

You can find out what you are likely to get by using various calculators and tools online - provided by charities and claimants groups, and they can be really useful in working out (with some margin for uncertainly) things like:

• Am I getting what I should be entitled to? If not - where is the difference?

• Have I been underpaid due to an error or just not claimed?

Tip Two: Find your inner accountant

Maybe you've used an accountant or know one. They don't have a reputation for being the most interesting of people, which is probably undeserved. But they do usually share the same mindset. It's an occupational requirement that they are laser-focused on the detail. If you've considered yourself to be financially comfortable until recently, then you may well have not bothered with this detail, knowing that, in the end, your income will cover or exceed your expenditure. However, if you face a change of circumstances, or even if the current financial squeeze is leading you to spend more than you've got coming in, now is the time to "find you're your inner accountant". That means going through all of your spending with a fine-tooth comb.

Our article on keeping a budget is an excellent place to start, and there are plenty of online tools that can help you. Ultimately it's about making decisions, deciding what you "need" against what you "want", and finding cheaper ways of achieving the same thing.

Tip Three: Hypermile

"Hypermiling" is the art of getting the best possible mileage from your car. Because electric vehicles are inherently more efficient than petrol or diesel cars, you'll have less control over what you can achieve if you've gone fully electric. However, for petrol or diesel vehicle owners, depending on their "normal" driving style, a change of driving habits could offset some if not all of the recent increases in prices at the pumps. 

Drive steady

Accelerating quickly at the lights or lurching up and down from higher to lower speeds on the motorway will use more fuel. Instead, accelerate gently, drive in the highest possible gear for your vehicle and maintaining a steady speed will help reduce your fuel consumption. On a longer journey, this could add up to considerable savings, which will add up the longer you keep to the habit. 

Drive smooth

Keep your steering, braking, and accelerating as smooth and gentle as possible. Anticipating what will happen in front of you is not just good for safety. It's good for the economy too. This means you are less likely to brake sharply because braking is simply converting the energy the car has accumulated (and you have paid for) and converting it into heat.

Air conditioning

In slow traffic or about town, air conditioning can add considerably to fuel consumption; by as much as 10%. On the open road at speeds above 50 mph, opening windows may increase drag to the extent that it would be better to close them and allow the car to cool down slowly using air conditioning, perhaps using its economy setting. Air conditioning systems use the most energy (and ultimately fuel) when getting the inside of the car down but less in maintaining a cool temperature. 

Top up your tank

While it's tempting to fill up your tank every time you head to the petrol station, only topping it up with the fuel you need can help you save petrol and money as you won't be adding any unnecessary weight to your car.

Lighten the load

Heavy vehicles use more fuel, so keep your load as light as possible. Equally, if you have a roof box fitted or bike rack, these add weight and generally have a terrible effect upon the aerodynamic performance of your car, so if these were installed for your holidays, make sure they are removed afterwards.

Tip Four: Reduce your domestic energy consumption. 

Leaving aside the vexed question of whether to fix your energy deal or shop around – long promoted tactics which have become less straightforward and vexed given recent energy market volatility, there are a range of things you can do to reduce your energy costs by reducing consumption. 

The critical thing to remember about these steps is that the summer months are arguably the best time to begin to make them. That's because by the time the winter months approach and with another eye-watering increase in the energy price cap in October 2022, the level of savings will only increase over time, as will the cost of doing nothing.

Aside from these steps, you can access a range of other government support, which we'll be covering in another article. 

Tip Five: Sell your junk

This comes a lot easier for some people than others. According to figures from eBay, the average home contains £4,000 of unwanted items, but just a fifth of people are canny enough to sell them. So if you have decades of clutter filling your home, why not have a thorough declutter, turn your trash into someone else's treasures and sell it online - for cash? A range of online services enable you to sell CDs, DVDs, old mobile phones, books or clothes and for larger items, local listings services, Facebook Marketplace and eBay.