Give yourself a pay rise with these money saving tips and tricks, including discounted entry to Colchester Zoo and finding cheap petrol stations to help you survive the aftermath of the Christmas blowout.

Christmas has come and gone and for many it is now the long wait for January pay day to arrive – so why not take matters into your own hands by saving some extra cash this month.

Each new year there are more and more people seeking debt advice according to the Citizens Advice Bureau in Ipswich, but there are a number of quick fixes families can make to balance their finances.

Megan French, consumer expert at MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “After the indulgence of Christmas, there’s never a better time to kick start your finances and give yourself a money makeover.”

Take advantage of online deals

Online sites such as Groupon and Wowcher have a number of deals in Suffolk which will save you splashing out unnecessary money on days out, food and drink, health and fitness and more.

Children can save 29% on their entry to Colchester Zoo using Groupon, or 39% on their entry to Go Bananas.

There are a number of local gyms also offering discounted prices if you sign up around the festive period.

Superhero Fitness in Felixstowe are offering 10% discount when you sign up with a friend or one month of half price membership when you sign up in January.

Overhaul your finances

Are you spending an excessive amount on parking? Drive down costs by finding the cheapest petrol station. PetrolPrices.com is an online website which lists that day’s cheapest petrol stations in your area – helping you to plan ahead and save cash.

Could you also swap some of your branded food items for supermarket own brands, or perhaps cut down on the amount of food you buy by reusing leftover foods instead of throwing them away.

Planning meals and making shopping lists is also a good way of ensuring you don’t purchase things you don’t need and avoiding unnecessary items that are on offer just to tempt consumers.

You may also be entitled to a tax rebate – workers in service industries including nurses, hairdressers, construction workers and people in the food and retail sectors could all be due some cash back.

This could be because you have had to pay for work-related expenses such as business car mileage. To check if you are entitled to a rebate visit the gov.uk website and use the Check if You Can Claim tool.

Megan French added: “There are plenty of ways to cut costs, such as switching your energy or doing an audit of your direct debits to make sure you’re not paying out for things you don’t use, which can all add up to save £1000s.”

Make use of your subscriptions

Do you have a number of monthly subscriptions including gym memberships that you rarely make use of. Note them down and set a challenge of using them more this year to make sure the money you are spending is worthwhile.

Applications such as Spotify offer a family bill which offers one low price for you and up to five other people who live at the same address. So instead of each family member having a separate account why not combine and split the price.

Netflix also allow up to five different profiles on one account, so it may be worth seeing whether family members or friends are willing to share the cost.