It’s not widely known that if you wear a uniform at work that you have to subsequently wash at home, you can claim a reduction in tax anywhere from £20 to £140 a year. The government will give you that figure every year to cover the expense of having to wash your own clothes! This is in more official parlance, termed the Fixed Rate Expense Allowance, which changes your tax code to increase your pre-taxable earnings.

You won’t get this without asking for it, so you need to write to your tax office (your HR or wages department will be able to tell you which this is, if it isn’t written on a document you have to hand such as a P60). Once you know you need to contact, it’s game on.

To find out if you qualify and to access a list of the occupations that benefit from this – and there are a lot – click here. You’ll be presented with a very long list on Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs website which shows the industry and where necessary the type of work within that industry, and how much you are entitled to claim.

Find the address of your tax office. This is fairly simple, the HMRC website has a little tool you can use to pull up the relevant one. Click here to access it.

Finally, make your claim. I’ve put together a template letter you can use to make your claim. If you’re a Google member, just select ‘File’ > ‘Save as New Copy’ to edit it, change the required points, then print it out. If you’re not a member then you’ll need to select ‘File’ > ‘Download Document As’ and choose whichever word processor you normally use, then make your changes and print it out.

You can also backdate your claim, but results vary. See the old rates and work it into your letter depending on your circumstances. HMRC will write back to you after a fashion, confirming your claim.

Literally 10 minutes of your time, an envelope and a stamp could net you up to £140 a year. Simples!

Did you already know about this?

• My Financial Meltdown: Part 3
• My Adult Life in Graphs
• Reclaim Bank & Credit Card Charges
• 2p Petrol Duty Increase Coming
• Personal Finance: Pessimist or Frugalist?

Just a very quick call to all British vehicle drivers – this is your last opportunity to fill up before the 2p tax increase hits on Midnight Tuesday September 1st. If you’ve got room in your tank and money in the bank then find your nearest cheapest petrol station and go fill up. Depending on how much you buy, you could save a few pounds in one go. (source)

• Why Rate Chasing is Worth It
• A Fundamental Question
• 10 Economic Predictions for 2010
• Petrol Hedging - Update
• Petrol Set to Hit £1.50/litre by Summer

The RAC has issued a warning to motorists, and I’m not entirely shocked. Sources are reporting that it is expected the price of petrol will rise to £1.20 or more per litre by Christmas. This is not only due to the 2p duty increase, but also the general rising  cost of oil.

So, it’s time to update my hedge from 115.9p to 125.9p as of my next fill, with authority to myself to begin withdrawing from the fund when prices hit £1.20. You may still think “what’s the big deal?” about rising prices, like a lot of my colleagues. “It’s only a few pence” is something I hear regularly. But when you add up the cost over the year, it really does hit your bottom line.  Let me show you:

If you purchase 50 litres a week (an average tankful in an average family car), right now at 104.9p/litre you’d be spending £52.45 at the pump per visit. If this rises to 120.9p, you’d spend £60.45 instead, an £8 increase. That’s an extra £32 a month just filling the car up, which is a staggering £384 a year. Yes per litre it’s “just pennies”, but those pennies soon add up to become a huge amount of real pounds.

You can find some of my tips to reducing your cost of motoring here but the real saving comes from simply using the car less. Walk more, and group your trips to make less journies in total.

• 2p Petrol Duty Increase Coming
• 6 Mistakes That Doubled The Price of My Car
• Hedging Against Pump Price Increases
• Dig Yourself Out of Debt: Spend Less Than You Earn
• 7 Reasons My Friend is Poor