Money saving tips for your commute
Save some money on your daily commute with our tips.
Having to commute to your work or university? Check out some of our tips on how to save a bit of money.
Let us know if you have any to share in the comments below.
Car share If you travel between two towns or cities the likelihood is that there are other people doing the same. You can use a website such as Liftshare to match your journey with others around you and therefore reduce the cost of commuting by car. Make sure you read the FAQs carefully before meeting someone for the first time.
You could also try asking around your friends and colleagues to see if anyone does a similar journey. You never know this could be the beginning of a new friendship.
Split tickets Strangely it is quite common for train tickets to be cheaper when 'splitting' them. For example if you are travelling from point A to point C and your train goes via point B then it can be cheaper to buy two tickets, one from point A to B and one from point B to point C. This can also apply to season tickets so it's worth reading up on. You can read more information on the Money Saving Expert website.
Change mode of transport
If you have various transport choices for getting to work then you should work out which is cheapest. Cycling to work is becoming more and more common, especially as many employees can take advantage of the Cycle to Work scheme saving money on buying a bike and its accessories.
Take a drink rather than buy
Rather than stopping at your favourite coffee shop on the way to work why not get up that little bit earlier and make a drink at home. If you don't have time to drink it stick it in a flask and drink on way to work. You'll save yourself a few hundred pounds over the course of a year.
Free parking Some train stations do provide free parking, but if you travel from one which doesn't then have a look around for alternatives.
It might mean walking for 10 minutes extra, but you might find it's possible to get a free parking space rather than paying for parking nearer the station. Use a website like Parkopedia which shows you alternative parking in the area, just put the location in that you want to search and it displays a handy little map.
Cashback and points If you book your travel online there are loads of sites that will allow you to collect cashback or points. Sites like TopCashback and Quidco are simple to use and can make you a bit of money by just going through their sites first.
Likewise it is also possible to collect Nectar points when booking some trains in addition to the cashback that you can earn.
Let us know if you have any to share in the comments below.