Economic uncertainty seems to be our one constant at the moment, leaving everyone concerned about their own financial security. Keeping everything as efficient as possible is now a top priority. We’ve listed three ways you can save money, as a mechanic or auto technician: organise, outsource and claim your tax rebate.
They’re not revolutionary new ideas. But, in the midst of doing your job and everything else, it can be hard to remember to take stock. Investing a bit of brain power and a few hours can save you a substantial amount of money.
Organise your receipts and paperwork
Set aside some time for business organisation. Practically, this means going through that ever-growing stack of paper and deciding whether to shred or file it. And then actually file it. After a long day, it’s understandably tempting just to chuck all your invoices and receipts in a corner to sort out later. And once this builds up, the sorting out job just gets bigger and bigger. But once you’ve got a system in place that works for you, it’ll make your life so much easier and tidier.
If you receive receipts and finance agreements via email from your tool provider(s) it’s a good idea to keep them in a folder so you always have a copy for insurance purposes and for when you need to make your next tool tax rebate claim.
Go through your van, car or toolbox and make sure you’re not adding weight by carrying around tools you either don’t use or need fixing. Only carrying what you need saves you money on fuel usage and wear and tear on your vehicle. You know it.
You may also be able to streamline your outgoings. Check all your direct debits to make sure you’re not paying for anything that isn’t really serving you well.
For example:
- Do you ever read that trade magazine you subscribe to?
- Have you got your insurance, internet and mobile renewal dates in your diary, with enough time to research better deals?
Schedule yourself a couple of hours to sit and read your bank statement. Look at every monthly outgoing and assess whether it’s staying or being cancelled. The monthly amounts may seem inconsequential, but look at the yearly figure (it all adds up).
Outsource to help save you time
Think about how much time you spend on things that aren’t your area of expertise, like book keeping. Would it be more cost effective to outsource this to a specialist? It’s worth finding out how much they cost and how that compares to the amount of time you spend on those tasks.
Instead of wracking your brain trying to make a clam capital allowances for the tools and toolboxes you have bought for the last 15 years you could be doing overtime, doing some self employed work or just spending time relaxing.
Saving time is saving you money and the annoyance of trying to juggle everything while doing your actual job.
Claim all your tax back
Hopefully your paper organisation session will unearth some receipts you can add into your claim’s evidence.
Many employed mechanics under PAYE aren’t claiming all their expenses. This is often because HMRC’s work expenses and relief regulations are quite complicated.
You can usually claim a tax rebate for most work related costs. But it’s common for people in the auto trades to miss things that apply to them, just because they don’t know all the ins and outs.
