Cash Saving: Limit your food spend at work

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!