Jump Start January: Week 1: Day 6

OK Jump-Starters, it’s Day 6 of Personal Finance Week. Know what that means? It means it’s time to claim something back.

Are you owed anything by friends, family or companies? Is there a refund that you can claim for unwanted or faulty goods, or service issues such as late or cancelled trains? Was there a ‘send off for this free gift’ deal associated with a recent purchase?

Or have you been overcharged for something, mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance, or offered a perk or bonusthat hasn’t arrived yet?

Or maybe you have a job where you can file an expenses claim? Or perhaps you’re self employed and have loads of receipts that need to be organised so you can include them in your tax return? Or is a client overdue on a payment to you?

It’s time to put in that claim, and get your money back. As always, keep it clear and to the point, and polite. Keep records of what was said or written too, just in case you need to escalate a claim.

At Golightly Gardens, I’ll be getting all my receipts in order for my tax self-assessment this afternoon, and going back over my bank records to make sure I haven’t missed anything important. It isn’t going to be tons of fun, but I’ll have the radio on and make a pot of tea, and it will get done in no time at all. Besides, the weather’s going to be rubbish according to the local forecast, so I don’t mind getting back a bit early and getting this particular chore out of the way.

I’ve done it many times before, and it’s far more painless than you might think (as long as it isn’t sunny and gorgeous outside), and it’s worth it for the peace of mind. The deadline is 31st of January and it will be nice to see the back of it before that, rather than doing everything in a rush and a panic later. Now, where did I put that shoe box with all the receipts in it?

What are you going to claim back? How’s your Jump Start going, generally?

Alternative activity: If you can’t think of anything to claim back, find yourself a freebie. Try a site like MagicFreebies, ‘like’ the facebook pages of your favourite brands, or visit the beauty counters at a department store and ask for some free samples.

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The pennygolightly.com Jump Start 2013 ebook is now available at Amazon. You can use it all year round, and it contains all kinds of extra tips and resources to make your Jump Start January go with a bang. We’ve put loads of work into it and we’ve deliberately kept the price nice and low – please buy one and help support this site. There’s more information about the ebook here.