Finance Roadmap » Savings

Penny pinching is in these days

David Allen — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:59:52 +0000

Although the old way of spend now and pay later is still on the minds of many people, there is a new wave of people who want to sit back and save as much money as possible, rather the old way of spend, spend, spend.

Behind this new thrifty lifestyle is the use of the internet, there are comparison websites on the net to cater for virtually every occasion from satellite TV to pet insurance. Net savvy computer users are making good use of all of these comparison services in order to make huge savings.

Most people have different types of insurance, broadband, cable or satellite TV and mobile phones, each one of these services can be reduced substantially. This means that if the average household carried out one of these searches for all of their services they could save hundreds of pounds each month.

Source [Telegraph]

Cutting the cost of utilities

David Allen — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:03:31 +0000

There is no doubt that the cost of electricity and gas will be rising over the next few years, even though there has been a slight drop recently the prices will always begin to creep up again. However, there are things that the average householder can do to reduce this costs.

The only problem is that in order to save money, there is a need to spend some cash or as we like to say invest in your future.

The optimum amount of investment would be around £15,000 but clearly under the current circumstances this is clearly out of the question for most people, but there are smaller more practical investments that can be made as well.

The first one would be to invest in an insulating jacket for the water heater, for a few pounds this will pay for itself in no time. For more enthusiastic investors there are solar panels and wind turbines which can make a big difference, but at a price.

Source [UK Net Guide]

Spend or save in the credit crunch

David Allen — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:31:11 +0000

There are two different ideas here, the first is to save and cut back on all expenditure, this would seem to be sensible as the current financial climate is unsure and in some cases very fragile.

Therefore, by saving money this could make sure that if the worse happens then you have something to fall back on.

But the other side of the coin is completely different, in order for the economy to recover the is a need for people to go out and spend in the stores and buy services etc, if this does not happen, then the economy will just get worse.

This is a serious matter, but at the end of the day, it is better to have money to fall back on, rather than having none at all.

Source [Free Online Advisor]

Downturn means more people keeping chickens

David Allen — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 06:51:10 +0000

Is it a sign of the economic times or the fact the people want to go free range, that there has been a marked rise in the amount of families who have decided to give up some of their garden to chickens? The idea being that for giving the birds the leftovers from diner, they will provide fresh eggs every day.

However, this is not in the country, this is urban hen keeping. This form of egg production has really taken off recently probably in the last year of so. There is no solid reason behind but being able to produce fresh free range eggs for a fraction of the price has to be something to do with it.

The maths is easy, the average hen will set you back about £10 to £12, but they will lay over the three hundred eggs per year. All they need is somewhere safe to sleep and food. For family it is clear to see that keeping chickens can be a productive method of saving money and providing a good quality food.

Source [Guardian]

How to save money

David Allen — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:58:55 +0000

If there is, just one thing that we should have learned over the past few weeks it has to be that we should always try to save some money for those rainy days. They may not come all that often, but when they do, it is something that many people wished they had done.

The problem is that while having cash in the bank is great thing, it can also be a burden. This is because the consumer society that we live in these days means that many people want everything now, this makes saving very difficult.

In order to save there is a need to review your outgoings and see where these can be cut back if necessary, which for some people is a hard thing to do. Or so they may think!

The secret is to spend less than you earn, only buy things as and when you need them, do not be tempted with the latest technology and cut back on extravagances. However, most of all write down your income and your outgoings, this will give you an overall picture of where to start.

Source [Effective Money Saving Tips]

Moving abroad is good for the kids

David Allen — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:47:46 +0000

It is a simple fact of life that living abroad can be good for your family’s lifestyle and more importantly the family finances. In research carried out for the HSBC they found that not only are ex-pats happier with their new lives, they are in fact better off too.

The cost of raising children abroad is a lot less in Spain, India and China, whereas countries that have large finance centres are in fact the most expensive places to bring up children with the UK being the most expensive, followed by UEA and Hong Kong.

But one of the main advantages of bringing up children abroad is the fact their lifestyle is going to be better with many parents report that their children are able to play outside and generally have a better lifestyle that other could envy.

Source [Offshore]

Watch what you spend and then save

David Allen — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:46:03 +0000

If we could chart to prices of everyday objects over the past year we would notice that there is a gradual increase, yes things are gradually getting more expensive, we may not notice it but eventually the penny drops and suddenly we are thinking how on earth did that get so expensive.

Clearly most people are going to be able to keep up with these constant increases and eventually it is going to get to the point where some everyday products are going to just too expensive to even consider buying within the weekly shop.

However there some little things that can be done which will save money on the weekly shop in the long term. Take for instance tins and dried foods. These can be bought in bulk for two reasons, they stay ok for a long time and buying in bulk is going to be cheaper.

Clear out a cupboard and fill it up with tins and anything else that is long lasting and save money in the process.

Source [Web Atlantis]

Keeping business finance on track

David Allen — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:10:10 +0000

Whatever the size of your business, keeping up with your finances is of paramount importance and yet sometimes for the small businessperson, it can seem that keeping on top of the finances is more like a part time job.

However, there is no escape from this chore, no matter how much it is disliked. The business finances are a very important part of working for yourself. Fortunately, there is some help out there, which should make the job a lot easier, like these below:

Keep Your Bills in One Place
Pay Your Bills on Schedule
Read Your Credit Card Statements
Take Advantage of Automatic Payments
Computerize Your Chequebook
Get Overdraft Protection
Cancel Unused Accounts
Consolidate Your Accounts
Establish Automatic Savings
Clean up Your Files

Source [Oarticles]

Hundred billion notes on eBay

David Allen — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:02:28 +0000

For some people being rich is the be all and end all of everything, with the ultimate goal being a millionaire. However, these days just being a millionaire is so common as there are so many of those around, now a multi billionaire that is a completely different story.

Nevertheless, it may not be as hard as you think, because becoming a multi billionaire will only cost you around £40!

Yes, it is true that you can buy literally anything on eBay, including a hundred billion dollar note!

These are real currency, but may not buy you much as they are from the troubled African state of Zimbabwe. The country is experiencing hyperinflation, which has made saving worthless and buying simple things a total nightmare for the people.

Source [AOL]

Now is the time to save money

David Allen — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:47:54 +0000

In times like this, there are many people who had wished that they have saved some money to make things a little bit easier, but in most cases this never really happens. The reason being that when the times are good it is all too easier to go out and spend on those things that we probably could do without.

So now that things are taking a down turn, then maybe it is time to be thinking about saving as much as you can for that rainy day. It is not going to be easy, but then again if it was wouldn’t everyone be doing it?

So as this is going to be an exercise in holding back on the spending there may be some help required to get the whole thing going, see below:

Spare Change Matters
Let Technology Help You
Learn the Trading Game
Save Electricity While Living in the City
Entertainment is Cheap, NOT

Source [Managing Money Tips]