Entries Tagged 'frugality' ↓

1. Making your own food for lunch and long train journeys can save a lot of money. It will probably taste much better than the stale cheese sandwiches which pass for food on British Rail.
2. You could save money on holiday by taking part in holiday exchange CouchSurfing.com Also enables you to experience the real local culture rather than a sanitized hotel experience
3. Try to get travel insurance as part of a bank account. By upgrading my Halifax bank account they were willing to offer free travel insurance. Travel insurance is highly recommended given how expensive foreign medical treatment could be.
4. For the regular commuter it will be advisable to get a season ticket which will offer big savings. Note it is possible to get a loan specifically for a season ticket. It will still be cheaper even with interest payments.
5. The bike is the cheapest and most efficient mode of transport, especially for short journeys, you can also avoid parking charges and park wherever you want (within reason of course)
6. Look at The Beauty in Your Own country. My fellow countrymen always seem keen to fly off to distant parts of the world. But, they often ignore the chance to visit beautiful places in their own country. True, we might have just a little bit more rain in England, the weather isn’t quite as hot as the Caribbean; but, you will be saving money on your airfares
7. Look to share car journeys with others. Splitting the cost will make a big saving given the price of petrol. Continue reading →

With the price of oil rising above $100 and more increases predicted in the coming year, it is worth considering how we can save money from driving and buying petrol.

Do I need the Car?

50% of journeys take less than 1-2 miles. Rather than get the car out, why not cycle or walk. Often for city centre journeys it is just as quick. On short journeys car engines are at their most inefficient and use a corresponding higher % of petrol. Reducing these short trips can save alot of money, you may even get fit as an added bonus.

Car Sharing

Many cities are offering incentives for people who share cars. For example, car sharing lanes. The reason is that it makes sense from both a congestion and economical point of view. For journeys that you make consider how you can share the journey and petrol costs with other people.

Continue reading →

Despite slight falls in house prices, most first time buyers still face a mammoth task in saving for a deposit. Nevertheless, the break in rising house prices, at least, gives young aspiring homeowners the opportunity to try and save sufficient funds for their first mortgage deposit. These are some suggestions to save money for a deposit, some more painful than others.

Live with parents / relatives.

This may not sound very appealing, but, it can potentially save significant sums on your monthly rent. As this can be the biggest % of your monthly outgoings, it makes sense to look closely whether you can reduce your monthly rent. If moving in with your parents is not an options, look carefully to see if you could find somewhere cheaper to rent. Even a 10% reduction in rent, can save £100 a month. Don’t move to a place where you would be unhappy, but, cheaper doesn’t necessarily mean worse.

Make Saving A Priority

Rather than spending money and saving what is left over. Make it a priority to put aside a certain amount each month. This could be the first priority after receiving your paycheck. By making saving a priority it is possible to make real savings each month.

Continue reading →

1. Stand Back and evaluate each use of Electricity.

The best advice to save electricity consumption is to work out which aplliance uses the most and consider how essential it is. Often we use items out of habit, but, it is worth making an impartial evaluation of whether it is necessary to use.

2. Choose temperature carefully.

The biggest savings can be made by turning down the air conditioner and heating. Rather than have the heating on full blast, wear an extra layer of clothing in winter. Get used to the heat in the summer.

3. Timing.

Many people leave the heating and air conditioner on when they are not in the house. This is quite wasteful as most of the heat evaporates. Invest in a good timer and don’t forget to override it when you go away. Heating can be turned on before you need it, but, can probably be turned off before you no longer need the heat.

4. Boil the Minimum

When boiling the kettle or a pan of water, don’t just fill the kettle to the top; fill it for as much as you need. It will be quicker to boil and save significant amounts of money.
Continue reading →

Saving money does not mean we have to have a lower quality lifestyle. Often money is spent on inessential items. Here are a few tips to save money the easy way.

1. Getting Fit Need Not be Expensive.

Unfortunately losing weight and getting fit is not just a matter of paying £40 a month to join a local gym. Make sure you will regularly go before signing a contract. Many people pay up for a year, and then realise that they don’t actually want to go. Also, If you enjoy running on a treadmill you will probably enjoy running around a nice park - and you don’t have to pay for the privilege.

2. Phone Costs

If you pay a high rent for your landline, but rarely use it for calls consider getting rid of it completely and just use a mobile. For long distance calls you can use an internet phone service like Skype. Saving on your landline rent can be worth upto £150 a year.

3. Mobile Phone Costs

Make sure you get the right pricing plan. If the contract is £30 a month, but you rarely use it you would be much better off with pay as you go. If you still have a landline, it is probably cheaper to ring other mobile numbers from that rather than your mobile.

4. Internet Provider.

There is increasing competition in the provision of internet. Make sure you don’t get tied in to an uncompetitive deal. Many companies are now offering a combination of services - phone, internet and TV. If you use all three services this can be a good way to reduce your total bills.

5. Re Mortgage.

Never forget to look at your most expensive bills first. You should start looking into remortgaging 3 months before your introductory period ends. It is expensive to remain on the lenders highest rate for even just one month.

6. Get Rid of What you Don’t need

I was paying for cable TV for several months without really thinking about it. In reality I spent most of the time flicking through channels trying to avoid adverts. I cancelled my subscription and instead subscribed to a DVD through the post scheme. This means I get to watch what I want, and save money.

7.  Avoid Impulsive Spending.

It is easy to buy things on the spur of the moment but then later realise we don’t actually need them. This is especially true when we go on holiday. But, just because we are on holiday doesn’t mean we should buy things we don’t really need or want. Tips to avoid overspending.

Featured Blog Carnivals

• Carnival of Debt Reduction highlighted an article on  “Top 10 Tips for reducing and eliminating debt” - Thanks to Mr Credit Card

1.  Don’t stay on existing accounts out of loyalty.

If you stay with your existing mortgage company for the duration of the mortgage term, they will thank you very nicely for paying much more than necessary. It may be a bit of hassle to remortgage; but, if you could save £100 a month, then you would be a fool not to. The same principle applies to a savings account. Every now and then review your options to get the best interest and savings deal.

2. Price Comparison Sites

For electric and Gas providers you can check out various price comparison sites to make sure you get the most competitive deal. If a salesman later comes round to try and sell you a new energy provider, there is no need to listen to his salespitch, because you know you will have the most competitive price.

3. Take advantage of 0% finance Credit Cards

For the past 4 years I have been transferring £4,000 from one credit card to another. This debt has always been held at a credit card which offers an introductory rate of 0%. True, they do charge a 2% balance transfer fee. But, if you get a card which offers a 12 month introductory rate, you could make a profit just by saving the balance in a high interest account. When the 12 months is up, I switch it to another card. I usually don’t spend anything at all on the credit card. However, a word of caution: don’t be greedy and try to get too many cards. This can adversely impact on your credit rating.

Continue reading →

Do you have significant debts as a result of overspending? If you do, you are not alone. Modern society makes it particularly easy to spend more than we really should. However, if you want to clear your debts and have greater peace of mind, it is important to tackle the root cause which is overspending.

These are several tips to help avoid overspending.

1. Be Aware of How much money you spend.

Many chronic spendaholics live in denial about how much they spend. If you realise how much you spend on various items, this alone may be sufficient to reduce your spending. For example, on a night out it is easy to spend much more than you think, especially if you pay for drinks and food on cards. - Quite often, friends think they must have lost some notes, because the money has disappeared so quickly. Often the problem is relatively cheap items, that we buy often: coffee, takeaways, mobile phones e.t.c. Go through your bank accounts, credit card statements and add up how much you spend on different items and decide whether you really want to spend that much money.

2. Avoid Impulsive Spending.

If you are in the habit of spending on impulse make an effort to have a moment of reflection before buying anything. If you see something you would like to buy, try waiting a day before actually committing yourself to buying. If you really want it, you will come back. This also gives you the chance to find other things that may be better.

3. Don’t spend time where it is easy to spend money.

If we spend alot of time in certain places we will be drawn to spend money. This spending is mainly to relieve our boredom and not because we need to buy it. Therefore, don’t spend every lunch break wandering around your favourite shops. Go to a garden or place where there is little temptation to spend all your money.

4. Have Clear Objectives when shopping.

Before going shopping have a clear objective of what you need to buy. This means that you will buy things because you need them, rather than because they “look nice”. Don’t go into the city centre without a clear objective.

5. Give Items Objective ratings.

Before purchasing any item give it an objective rating of how much you need and value it. If you are honest in your valuations you will think carefully about buying things which are less than 8 out of 10. It is good to combine this suggestion with leaving things a day. This means you will go back to buy the things you really need and value the most.

6. Avoid Spending by Habit.

Quite often a lot of our spending is a daily habit. However, this spending could easily be unnecessary. For example, if you buy a takeaway coffee everyday, why not invest in a coffee machine. Just because you spend $10 a day on lunch doesn’t mean this habit has to continue for ever. Try taking your own lunch. Reevaluate all your habitual spending patterns and decide whether it is necessary.

7. Give yourself strict income limits.

If you really have trouble controlling your spending it will be very effective to give yourself strict amounts of income per week. This will work most effectively with cash, because it is easier to monitor. If you learn to live on $80 per month, you will value money more and learn more frugal habits.

• 10 Painful but effective ways to reduce debt
• Top 10 Tips for Reducing Debt

Do you really need to pay off your bills and reduce your monthly outgoings? Some cuts in spending are relatively painless, like for example, switching your gas and electricity supplies. But, if you have done all these easy methods, and still need to save money, here a list of other more painful sacrifices.

1. Live With Your Parents / Relatives

Yes, you may get nagged for not tidying your room, but, it could be a small price to pay for saving upto $1000 a month. Due to expensive house prices, the cost of mortgage repayments and rent can take a very high % of your income. Living on your own may give you greater independence and freedom, but, unfortunately it is tremendously expensive. If you can bite the bullet and spend some time living with your parents, you can save potentially thousands in lower rent and mortgage payments. This can enable you to save up for a deposit or pay off your mounting debt. Of course, this relies on your parents being willing and able to let you stay; but if it is an option it can make a big difference. No one likes having to tell their parents what time they will be getting back, but, is it worth paying $1000 a month just for this freedom?

2. Cycle to Work.

Transport costs in getting to work, can become a high % of our disposable income. We may feel transport is an indispensable part of our expenditure, But, if we work less than 10 miles away there is no reason why we cannot cycle to work. True, it is not so pleasant when it rains or when cars seem indifferent to our existence on the road. But, cycling has some great advantages - very low running costs, no taxes to pay. Cycling will keep us fit, without having to spend money or time going to the gym. In some cities you may even find that cycling to work can be quicker than driving or getting the bus.

3. Give up Drinking / Coffee.

Have you ever made a new years resolution to stop drinking alcohol / coffee? We know it will be good for our physical and mental health, but, it is also very good for our financial health. Many people spend far more on drinking than they may realise. The costs add up and when we are enjoying ourselves, we don’t keep a very accurate record. However, if you can stop, or at least cut down then you may be pleasantly surprised at the improvement in both our physical and financial health.

4. Cook For Yourself.

A takeaway is quick and easy way to get food. But, the cost can soon add up. Even only 2 or 3 takeaways a week can soon add up to more than $50 a week. It makes a big difference over the course of the year. As an added bonus, cooking for yourself is probably more healthy as well.

5. Tear up your Credit Cards.

Credit cards make spending easy. With credit cards, you don’t have to think about parting with money for another 6 weeks. It makes shopping painful. If you have no credit cards but have to go to a cash point and withdraw the money. It makes you think twice about parting with so much hard cash. It will make life a little more inconvenient but will make a big difference in saving money.

Continue reading →

 When to Save Money and when not to save money: The opportunity cost of saving money

My father’s income is 4 times greater than mine. Yet, if I have to pay $1 (£2) for car parking I do not mind, yet my father does mind, and will perhaps walk along way to avoiding paying the dollar.

The problem is that when we get into a mind set of saving money, we can sometimes loose perspective. There is an apocryphal story about how Bill Gates wouldn’t travel first class because he thought it wasn’t worth it.

Both of these are good examples, of saving money in the wrong place. Everything we do has an opportunity cost. If we pay $1 for car parking, the opportunity cost is that we cannot spend the $1 on other things. However, the opportunity cost of walking half an hour to avoid paying $1 is that we loose 30 mins that we could spend on something more productive.
Continue reading →