Tag: saving

Money

5 Ways to Boost Your Finances in 2018

JayneLeave a comment

No matter what happened in 2017, a new year has begun. For many people, organising theirfinances will be a new year’s resolution. After all, Christmas is an expensive time of year and we can end up spending huge amounts of money over the festive season.

January can be a tough month for finance, but it doesn’t have to be. PPI claims, gathering unwanted gifts and reviewing your current account is all part of the plan to have a healthy bank balance in 2018.

It’s important to have some extra money to pay for financial emergencies and events throughout the year. Thankfully, there are some great ways to boost your finances this year — and these five ideas can all be done right now! So, why put off getting that cash boost?

  • Try a New Way of Saving

The website Apartment Therapy came up with a new way of saving in small amounts. It’s a simple, yet effective way for people to save money from the very first day of the year to the very last. It’s not too late to start either! It’ll be incredibly easy to get on schedule quickly if you start soon.

The idea is simple: For each day of the week, you save some money. You increase the amount saved each day, but when the week restarts, you start all over again. The amounts below are the recommendations about how much to set aside every day:

Sunday £1

Monday £2

Tuesday £3

Wednesday £4

Thursday £5

Friday £6

Saturday £7

When Sunday arrives, you start back at £1. This way of savings means you will have £28 a week, equating to nearly £1500 by the end of the year. Find a big piggy bank or set up a direct debit to a savings account and add £28 a week. You’ll be so grateful by the end of the year and taking it out in small amounts every week can make the saving that much easier.

  • Make a PPI Claim Today

The PPI deadline is getting ever closer. While we’ve all seen and heard the adverts about payment protection insurance claims, the reality is that there are still thousands of people who haven’t claimed PPI. Many consumers were unaware that PPI was sold to them alongside a mortgage, credit card or loan. It’s so important to check old bank statements and find out if you’re due a refund. It could well be thousands of pounds; a substantial amount to boost your 2018 finances. Even if you no longer have the paperwork, you can still find out if PPI was added to your account.  Make your PPI claim today before it’s too late!

  • Sell Unwanted Christmas Gifts

Are there still some Christmas gifts at home which you know you won’t ever get around to using? Those bath salts from your secret Santa might be lovely, but you’re not really a bath person. Selling unwanted Christmas gifts is an excellent way to make some extra money and make sure the gift doesn’t go to waste. Using eBay or even Facebook to sell gifts can be a good boost of income and is very simple.

  • Cash in on Gift Cards

Instead of presents, you may have received some gift cards for Christmas. Some of these can be really useful, but, if you got a gift card for a shop you rarely use, you can cash it in online. Websites such as Zeek will show you various options about how to get cash for your gift cards. Although you’ll never receive the full price, the cash can sometimes be much more worthwhile than the card.

  • Switch Current Accounts

Years ago, the thought of switching current accounts was too much effort. Now, however, thanks to the Current Account switch guarantee, changing current accounts is swift and easy. Most banks are signed up to the switching guarantee, making it a painless experience.

The best part about switching bank accounts is the great rates that banks offer to entice you. Rates do change regularly and there are terms and conditions, so be sure to check on websites such as Money Saving Expert for the best deal.

So, why put off getting some extra cash in 2018? Whether you’re possibly due a huge refund from PPI claims or can sell £50 worth of unwanted Christmas gifts, making use of these finance-boosting tips can make a huge difference. Start making money today!

Holidays

Having Great Adventures While Travelling On A Budget

JayneLeave a comment

A Strategic Approach

Even if you’re in debt, you’ve got to go on a vacation every now and then. If you’re clever about it, you can do so without seriously compromising your payback strategy. You may always have that dream vacation to Australia on the backburner, but just because you can’t go Down Under, doesn’t mean you can’t have the same kind of adventure on a budget vacation.

One of your best bets in this regard is going to involve getting assistance from professionals who understand your situation, who can give you the proper information to help you inform your travel plans, as well as helping you to look for the best hotel deals to fit your budget, however small.

According to Debt Academy, “When you are overwhelmed and consumed with worry about debt, you need answers. And more than answers, you need solutions. Debt Academy is committed to helping everyone struggling with crippling debt so that you can hold your head high and not avoid another call from the ‘unknown number’.”

Once you have the right answers, you can ask some additional questions. As in something to the tune of: “Now that I’ve managed to consolidate my debt into a single monthly payment of $1,200, after expenses, I have $200 a month left over! What kind of vacation can I put together with $200?”

Possibilities

Well, with $200, you might be able to finance a weekend trip somewhere. But with $2,400, you might be able to spend a month in a fine locale and really get your emotional and psychological well being back where it should be. How can you turn $200 into $2,400? Well, in a word, save.

It’s hard to save money when you’ve got debt, but it’s not impossible. Perhaps establish a secondary revenue stream through the internet. Provided your wages aren’t affected, and you’ve just got debt, it’s possible to pay all your bills and save a little, too. It just involves cutting on creature comforts.

Take coffee and food at a chic coffee shop, for example. If you buy something from such a place daily, you’ll spend three dollars per visit at least, which is $1,095 over the course of a year. Instead, spend $95 on a Sam’s Club-sized tin of your favorite coffee and a machine, and save $1,000 for a vacation!

Once you’ve managed to secure a vacation “nest-egg”, however small, now it’s time to determine where you’ll go. You want to find areas where you can get the best amenities for the lowest price. Well, in some scenarios. Sometimes you may be interested in camping somewhere exotic. But if you’re going the resort angle, you may find some decent options.

Affordable Vacation Packages

You can find some great, affordable vacation deals on this website which offers some low rates. This is certainly worth looking into. As you’re researching potential areas where you might want to travel, you might also want to look for options that have similar discounts. Think of it like vacation “Big Lots”.

Are you familiar with “Big Lots”? Well, this is a department store that sells overstocked items and those which have been discontinued, but yet must be moved. You can get great discounts.

Sometimes you’ll get something at a quarter of its initial selling value. Sometimes with vacations, if you go to a resort town in the off-season, you can get some excellent rates. Additionally, there are sometimes rolling promotional packages during the “in” season as well. Whatever your budget, there are ways you can have the vacation you need on the budget you’ve got.

Money

Saving Money – 5 Tips on How to Maximise Your Stash

JayneLeave a comment

savingHusband and I have got a few major expenses coming up in the next few months; our car is unlikely to get through it’s next MOT so we need to get serious about buying a new one, plus we have to buy our LPG in bulk because we live off the grid, so we need to do some saving. Saving money is all well and good in theory, IF you’ve got money “left over” after all of your other expenses are taken care of. We’ve had to do a bit of financial jiggling to allow ourselves a chance to save, and I thought I’d share some of our money-saving ideas with you:

Check Your Deals

Lots of us have monthly Direct Debits which go out of our account without us even thinking about it but you could be paying over the odds if you’re not on the best deals available. Speak to your mobile company, TV provider, insurance companies and utilities to make sure you’re only paying for what you use instead of frittering money away needlessly.

Get a Loan

Sometimes, it’s easier to get a loan and deal with an extra monthly payment than it is to find spare cash to save. SwiftMoney Payday loans with no credit check would allow you to buy what you need and deal with the cost later. As long as you keep up with repayments you’ll potentially even improve your personal credit.

Give Up Takeaways

Husband and I have a tendancy to be a bit lay with cooking at times and resort to takeaways a few times a month. We’d save a significant amount of money if we stuck to only using the food we bought in our weekly shop rather than supplementing with take-out food and it would probably also be healthier.

Walk More

Living where we live means that we have no choice but to drive everywhere – our nearest shop is over 2 miles away! However, there probably are a few journeys I could take on foot by parking somewhere when I take Sausage to school and doing some of my errands on foot instead of driving here there and everywhere. Fuel is one of our biggest expenses, so it makes sense to see if there’s a way that we can cut this down.

Shop Somewhere Cheaper

Although I have a well-documented love affair with Aldi, I do also have a tendency to buy stuff from Waitrose because it’s the shop closest to Sausage’s school. This means that I spend well over the odds on certain things for the sake of convenience but I reckon I could save a packet if I stopped shopping in more expensive shops.

BONUS TIP: £2 Jar

The other day, I was in a shop and I heard a lady ask for her change in £2 coins. She told the cashier this is because every £2 coin she got went into a big jar and if she forced herself to save these specific coins it really helped her to save money. I’m planning to get a big jar or bottle for us to save our change into and hopefully this will give us a little stash towards the car.

Do you have any great tips for saving? Do leave me a comment below.

Christmas

Vouchers This Christmas

JayneLeave a comment

We love Christmas, here in the Mum’s the Word house, and we try each year to make it a big deal for the girls. However, one thing that I try to maintain is that although Christmas is a big event, it doesn’t have to cost the earth. I see posts of Facebook of people having spent literally thousands of pounds on toys and Christmas experiences and it seems bonkers to me. I try to start planning in advance to make sure I get the maximum for my money and I thought I’d share some tips with you here:

Second Hand

I know people sometimes blanch at the idea of giving second-hand things for Christmas but kids, especially smaller ones, don’t know the difference. Toys like Jumperoos are often for sale in local groups and can be used again and again, saving you money and ensuring your kids have great quality toys.

Voucher Codes

Keep an eye out for discounts throughout the year, especially for large department stores, like Debenhams promo codes, and buy things early to put away for Christmas. Someone I know buys things whenever she sees something which would make a good gift and keeps it all in a specific cupboard, which she empties out at the beginning of December. Last year, she’d bought so much stuff that she had TOO MANY presents and ended up giving a load to charity!

Make Things

Handmade gifts are a great way to keep costs down and often mean so much more than some random piece of tatt that you could buy. If you’re REALLY organised, you could even forage for fruit, makes jams at home, jar them and make them into festive gifts, costing you next to nothing!

Secret Santa

Another good way to keep costs down is to buy presents for the kids in the family but do a Secret Santa for the adults. Set a limit of say, £20, that way everyone gets one decent quality gift, everyone saves money and no-one feels left out!

Start Saving

This one might not necessarily SAVE you money at Christmas as it doesn’t exactly limit your spending, but starting a Christmas fund in January is a really good idea. Put in as much as you can afford each week or month and by the time it comes to shop for Christmas, you’ll have a good chunk of money saved towards it, lessening the burden of finding funds in December.

Do you have any great tips for saving money at Christmas? I’d love to hear them so please do leave me a comment below.

Money

Saving Money Around the Home

JayneLeave a comment

Save money by washing your own car. Despite my unhealthy relationship with almost daily trips to Waitrose, I am a gal who likes to make a saving (and in my defense, my of my Waitrose obsession is thanks to the FREE coffee and newspapers!). I’ve been making a few little changes here and there lately which have helped us to conserve the pennies, which over the course of a year will hopefully turn into pounds, and here’s just a few of them:

Energy Efficient Bulbs

Switching out your regular bulbs for energy-efficient ones (Bulbs2Go offer a great range) can save you a surprising amount of money – according to current research, replacing your bulbs can save you around £100 a year, which is pretty significant!

Only Use What You Need

This may seen like an obvious one but only using what you need of something can really help you to save. For instance, only filling the kettle with the exact amount of water you need means you aren’t spending money to heat water unnecessarily. Equally, I know SO many people who just chuck in a capful of washing gel or softener, when most of the newer concentrated solutions actually need far less for a whole wash. Measure properly and I guarantee it’ll last longer.

Turn Off Radiators

If you have rooms of the house, i.e. a dining room or downstairs loo, which have radiators in them but hardly get used, turn the rads OFF! Paying to heat spaces which are rarely occupied is a false economy and you can always turn them back up for half an hour before dinner so that it’s cosy while you’re in the room.

Get Selling

So many of us have got clutter sitting around, taking up space and hardly being used. Be ruthless and have a really good clear-out of the things you no longer use and work out what’s sellable. Facebook selling groups are an easy, commission-free way of making a buck off of your unwanted goods and you’ll be making money whilst decluttering your living space.

Do It Yourself

Do It Yourself doesn’t just apply to decorating and jobs around the home – take a look at areas where you’re paying someone to do something you’re capable of doing yourself and make a cut back. Buying expensive coffees on your way to work? Buy a travel mug and make your own. Paying someone to valet your car? Get your rubber gloves on and get stuck in! There are many things that you can do yourself rather than paying and if you have the time you can make a huge saving.