Money Stuff - Save Money, Make Money, Keep it all in Check!

Cash Saving: Limit your food spend at work

2008-01-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

Cash Saving: Limit your food spend at work

It might seem a simple one but I recently totted up exactly how much I could save by cutting out my daily work food spend and taking food from home instead. Here's how it goes:

Usual Way - Buy Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks & Drinks
Monday - Canteen Toast (£0.80), Sandwich, crisps, drink (£3.05)
Tuesday - No breakfast (£0.00), Pie, crisps, drink (£2.98)
Wednesday - Bacon Butty (£1.85), Sandwich (£2.05), Chocolate (£0.50)
Thursday - Canteen Toast (£0.80), Baked potato, crisps, chocolate, drink (£3.55)
Friday - McMuffin Meal (£2.59), Pub lunch (£7.00)
Total cost: £25.17

New Way
Take breakfast - toasted teacakes (£1.00)
Make sandwiches - loaf & ham & cheese (£3.95)
Take crisps - (£1.99)
Bag of apples - (£0.99)
Drink work water - (£0.00)
Total cost: £7.93

Just by doing that I've saved £17.24 on one week. Multiply that by your working year and you could save a grand total of £827.52 per year!!!

You can go on holiday for that.

Managing merriness: how did you spend Christmas?

2008-01-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

An article by Melanie Taylor of Gregory Pennington, a leading UK Debt Managemant solutions company:

After a cautious start to December, UK shoppers indulged in a last-minute burst of spending for the Christmas season – which many are paying for as they enter the New Year.

Children aren't the only ones who have a hard time waiting for Christmas. For retailers everywhere, it's the most important time of year – the time when shoppers are most likely to throw caution to the wind and really splash out. In 2006, for example, December's credit card borrowing accounted for 60% of the annual total.

So the retail industry held its breath as we approached Christmas 2007 with shrinking disposable incomes and credit increasingly hard to come by. Some analysts thought that financial uncertainty would lead shoppers to cut back on their Christmas spending. Others predicted they'd be more likely than ever to treat themselves during this once-a-year festival of good living and bad judgement.

It turned out that the second group was right, largely thanks to a last-minute burst of spending. According to MasterCard, Christmas shoppers spent 3.8% more in 2007 than in 2006 – the biggest increase in the last three years. Market research firm IMRG reported that 4.4 million people went shopping online on Christmas Day itself, spending £84 million, or 269% more than last year! And according to Experian's Retail Footfall Index, numbers of Boxing Day shoppers were up 25.1% compared with 2006.

Now that the party's over…

Poor start to a New Year

For some, a penny-pinching New Year is a price worth paying for all the festive celebrations. Others find that a few days of fun simply cost too much, and promise themselves they'll cut back this year – the Christmas season can be a valuable wake-up call, emphasising the need to stop living beyond our means and get our debts under control.

For increasing numbers of people, paying for Christmas is more serious than a few hefty repayments. Fees for unauthorised overdrafts, charges for bounced payments, maxed-out store cards with interest rates of 25% or more – it can all add up to a lot of money and a lot of hassle. A MoneyExpert report found that 10% of almost 2,000 respondents were still paying off credit card debts from Christmas 2006 as they entered December 2007!

Why do we do it?

Why do so many of us feel compelled to blow our budgets at Christmas? Advertising? Experts reckon that marketing during the festive season cost around half a billion pounds. Peer pressure? 47% of CreditExpert's respondents felt there is social pressure to buy expensive presents. Or is it simply a feeling that we owe it to our partners, to our kids, or to ourselves?

Resisting the urge to splurge is never easy, especially in a society that's grown more and more used to easy credit – but whatever the reasons, it's the individual who decides what to spend, and the individual who foots the bill. A bit of self-control can save us from a serious financial 'hangover' when the party's over.

One thing's for sure: a lot of people would be enjoying a better start to the New Year if they'd spent just a little less enjoying the end of the old one.

Article Credits:
Melanie Taylor is associated with Gregory Pennington. For more information about debt management, debt advice, Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), basic bank accounts with a debit card facility, loans and remortgages, please visit http://www.gregorypennington.com/

Delicious Debt Resources

2008-01-11T04:20:00.000-08:00

I love del.icio.us for it's social book marking resource, and I often use it to find top online resources. I decided to get in on the action and get my own list of financial resources together. I started with a list of debt resources:

Online Debt Information

Debt Terminology

2008-01-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

In light of the recent credit crunch and gloomy outlook for UK consumers I though it would be interesting to take a quick look at some debt based terminology for use in some future posts. I came across this useful Debt Consolidation Glossary over at Debt Advisers Direct. Enjoy . . . and look out for our upcoming debt management posts!

Advanced Investment: Forex Trading

2008-01-10T09:46:00.000-08:00

Forex Trading

I've always been intrigued by the world of online trading, and after reading this excellent introduction post over on Financial Independence I'm even more intrigued.

OK, so Forex Trading offers some serious risk, and it's not something that would suite everyone, but if you're intrigued like I am - pop over and have a look at the post:

How to Trade Forex

Extra Cash: Become an Extra

2007-12-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

Well seen as I've just been on Coronation Street (yes indeedy), and I know a few people who earn a decent crust from the 'extra' industry, I thought I'd mention the opportunity for getting into the field.

Extras can earn about £40-£80 per day, all that's required is sitting around until the Director goes large with your scene.

Quick Tip: NEVER part with any money to become an extra. Keep bugging the right people and the work will come!

http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1_____ENXX252&q=become+an+extra&meta=

Extra Cash: Start a Washing & Ironing Business

2007-12-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

In the 'Extra Cash' series, we'll be looking at ways ordinary folk like you and me and earn a few extra squid at home. Here's the first in a whole host of ideas:

Start an Ironing Business

1 - Find some busy friends or acquaintances

2 - Tell them you can wash, iron and return all their work wear for the following week over the weekend

3 - Charge them £10.00

4 - Roll that out across 10 people

5 - Earn an extra £100 a week!! - £400 per month!!! - £4800 a year!!!

Top Tip: Buy Next Years Christmas Presents Now

2007-12-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

Got some time off this Christmas? Got a few spare quid? Here's a tip that'll save you BIG TIME next Christmas so you can spend more money on your immediate family:

1 - Make a list of all the peripheral Christmas presents you need to buy (auntie's, friends, distant relatives)

2 - Get £100.00 cash (or whatever you can afford to spare right now) - come on . . . we know you got some Christmas cash from somewhere.

3 - Visit the following shops:

Boots - all 3 for 2 gifts are uber cheap
Tesco - all gifts are on sale
TK Maxx - the 'clearance' section is BULGING
Highstreet in general - the highstreet shops seem to offer the best bargains at the mo

Get out there and bag those SALE items . . . also grab some of the following:

Christmas Cards
Christmas Decorations
Wrapping Paper
Christmas Partyware
Indeed - ANYTHING CHRISTMASSY!!!

***Happy Christmas***

Change Your Shopping Habits for Massive Savings

2007-12-20T07:19:00.000-08:00

The weekly shop is a cost we all have to bare, but simple changes in your shopping habits could help you make big savings and give you the opportunity to invest your money elsewhere.

Here are a few simple tips to help you make more of your shopping budgets:

1 – Check how much you’re spending at the moment
Check back through your bank statements to see how much you’re currently spending on groceries – this will help you to set a new budget and target the savings you want to make.

2 – Set your budget
Set yourself a shopping budget at the outset. Specify exactly how much you want (or can afford) to spend on your groceries.

3 – Create a meal planner
Sit down and think about what you’re going to have to eat over the coming days. You’ve got breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacking to plan for – think long and hard and give yourself plenty of variety – you don’t want to get bored half way through the week and blow additional cash on fast food!

4 – Write shopping list
Use you meal planner to write a shopping list (this will be your secret weapon in avoiding overspend at the shops). Put two columns on your shopping list, one for the ‘target’ price of the item and one for the ‘actual’ price of the item.

5 - Go shopping with steely determination
You know what you used to spend, and you know what you’re going to save with your new budget. . . So stay strong and keep the faith. Ignore those BOGOFs, sales promotions and 3 for 2s – you don’t need them (unless they are on your list and come in under budget)!!!

6 – Do something useful with your savings
Now you’ve made your savings, do something useful with them. Don’t fritter it away on lottery tickets, cigarettes or alcohol – why not start a holiday savings account or save for a new sofa or something?

Making savings is all about measuring your spend, setting goals and then re-measuring in order to judge your success. In the past 6 month’s my family has managed to save over £700 just by being more careful over our weekly shops – enough to make sure we have a VERY nice Christmas!

Save More Cash in 2008 - Part 1

2007-12-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

Save More Cash in 2008 - Part 1

Financial reports suggest that 2008 is going to be tough on the economy. If it’s tough on the economy then it’s probably going to have a detrimental affect on the majority of the UK’s population.

It makes sense to start bedding down and working out ways to save more cash in 2008. In this article I went back to basics and asked a good friend of mine, a single parent of two to share her three most prudent money saving tips:

1 – Monthly & Weekly Budgets
”I have a set amount of money to spend each month and I always make-sure that I sit down and decide exactly what is happening with it. I’ll start by listing everything that’s going out in priority order and ensure that all essentials are paid for upfront, with the optionals and nice stuff coming out of what’s left. If stick rigidly to my budget and in the 2 years I’ve been doing it I’ve not once had to revert to any type of borrowing.”

2 – Remember You’re Not a Celebrity
”I blame a lot of people’s credit problems on the ‘celebrity culture’ that the media has glamorised in recent years. People are spending more on things they can’t afford because they’re getting this stuff rammed down their throats everywhere they go. Time to get back to basics and remember that you’re NOT a celebrity!!! Be realistic about your income and live within your means, you really don’t need to spend £1000 plus on a handbag!”

3 – Everyone Deserves a Treat
”Everyone deserve a treat, but a treat’s not a treat when you do it all the time. In our household we have one special treat weekend every month where we either go out for the day either shopping or to somewhere special. It’s all in the budget and it’s always much appreciated when it comes round!”

We'll be asking more people for their financial wit and wisdom over the coming weeks.