Ok, ok so the headline grabbed you – but today I do want to bring forth some of the benefits of Winter, so we don’t all fall into a gloomy mood! Bet you thought there weren’t any but here are some of the reasons that I think Winter is worth appreciating:
- Food – Summer food is light, colourful and fresh but let’s also remember that it can be more expensive too. In Summer we’re more likely to be outside and with outside, comes expense! In Winter we have the chance to bulk cook again, get that slow cooker out, dust it off and start thinking what delicious warming meals you can make. Here are some of my favourites: Chilli Con Carne, Beef Stew, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chilli fajitas with avocado, yoghurt and cheese, Sweet Potato Lentil and Carrot soup, Lentil and Bacon Soup, Chicken Curry, Roast Chicken (stretchy – as one ‘stretches’ to around 3 meals plus lunches!), Homemade Rice Pudding and Lemon Curd. So start looking around for ingredients now – you can still make healthy but inexpensive meals to claw back what you spend in Summer, or, put towards the Christmas festivities.
- Hobbies – Yes that’s right, we finally have the time for those things that were put to one side, like the game you wanted to play a bit more of, the tv series you wanted to catch up on, photography, listening to music, perhaps for the more energetic even working out a bit more. How about making beauty products? You can see on the right hand side menu of this blog many entries from me, most of which I have more time of in Winter, so why not give it a go and make something that will save you money on gifts, or on your personal beauty budget for 2010?
- That follows on nicely to Budgeting. Yes that’s right – even more time to make sure the tax man, supermarket, insurance company, mortgage company, bank, restaurant and high street don’t have quite so much access to your extra pennies. Now is the time to set up your budget and stick to it. Plan ahead for 2010 for the things you really, really want, rather than those things that ‘come up’ each month and end up being where most of your hard earned dosh goes. Is your insurance coming up in the next few months? Set yourself a reminder. Is your credit card interest free period ending? Make sure you remind yourself of that too. Yahoo, Outlook, your phone or even a trusty paper diary will help you keep on track. Mainly though get that budget spreadsheet going – see www.moneysavingexpert.com for his free one, or contact me and I have one that works well in addition to the one Martin Lewis provides. In fact see my username on MSE (EagerLearner) and you will see my spreadsheet linked to in my signature there for you to download instantly.
- This leads onto cashback sites – once your budget it set up, claw back even more on top of that by using these sites. You want to buy a laptop? Rather than walking into your PC World store for example and buying the one you want, can you go via a cashback site to the PC World site and get the laptop you want online? I did this last weekend, and will earn around 3% cashback plus another 1% cashback from my credit card. This will get me £20 off for no effort at all! Christmas is coming so use cashback sites as much as you can. When insurances come up for renewal, cashback sites will give you hundreds of pounds back in your pocket. Same thing for switching energy suppliers (FatCheese is offering £110 to switch to Scottish Energy which I will seriously consider in the new year).
- Christmas – Of course, I’ve already mentioned it about but it needed it’s own entry. So many chances to make someone feel special by making them something, to save on gifts, to spend time together, eat good food and have fun. It’s not always easy as family gatherings can sometimes be stressful but try to get back to basics and ignore advertising and other people’s standards – no huge amounts of money needed just patience and agreement, plus possibly a love of homemade wrapping paper and experimental gifts!
- Home – Yes that’s right – your home! Seeing as you are now indoors more, what can you do to make your home a nicer, warmer place to be? Are there odd jobs to be done? What about money saving ones like DIY that could save on heating? I’m a renter but as soon as I have my own place, I’ll be spending time improving my place and adding personal touches. Thicker curtains, improved heating, better kitchen storage ideas, homemade surface sprays, homemade beauty products, and your lush homemade cooking will all make you proud and save you money!
That leads me to think that Winter is a great time that we all need – it’s natural to want more duvet days, shelter from the rain, wind and cold, cosy up and enjoy relaxing more. Watch that (rented or borrowed rather than bought) dvd box set, tuck into your homemade stew and fill up the water bottle!
I hope you get some inspiration and that some of the links through this site help you, please click sponsor links too if they are of interest as they support this blog.
Next blog entry will be about my soap making adventures, more Christmas ideas, home hobbies and what we can do in the coming months to enjoy Winter some more… Do share your ideas so far so we can all discuss and try new things!
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Gorgeous Christmas Gifts for £0.25p each!
Hello everyone and sorry for the delay, we have had so much on lately.
I saw Marks & Spencer have now got their Christmas decorations up and many stored are selling cards and wrapping already. It reminds me to start getting small things, plus we have agreed no gifts to family and only very small items for friends. It seems in this climate everyone is trying to save!
So here are two ideas you could make now, for Christmas, or who knows even a ghoulish Halloween if you used green and orange colourings...!
SOAP MAKING
Castille Soap
Around 3 weeks ago I made some soap from scratch, so in a week these will be fully cured and it has worked well, I will let you know. These were made with olive oil, beeswax, goats milk and essential oils of chamomile and geranium so should be ideal as both a gentle face wash and shampoo too, which my dry hair will love.
I think the cost worked out £1.50ish for 6 soaps, all natural and multi purpose.
Bath Melts
Another thing I did was to make some bath melts, these were as a gift for a friend and she loved them. The pic on this article is not the ones I have made, but they would look similar if I had spent more on the single 'roses' rather than crushed ones.
Time required: 5 minutes – melt and pour!
50g Cocoa butter
50g shea butter
Rose petals
1 drop of rose essential oil per melt
Sprinkle some rose petals into bottom of each heart cavity in a mould.
Melt shea and cocoa butter together in a pan and pour carefully into pan
Place 1 drop essential oil in each heart
Allow to cool overnight
I bought all the ingredients from ebay, including a heart mould with 9 cavities. One tip I recommend is buy a reasonably deep mould, whatever the shape,as some of the ones I made were thinner as I had added too many petals, so they were fragile. Tip number 2 is don't add too many rose petals!
Once the hearts cooled overnight they looked fab and my friend loved them. I had enough of the shea/cocoa liquid left to pour into a lip balm pot, to which I then added 1 drop of lemon essential oil, and also gave to my friend. So lovely, it smelt like lemon meringue!
You could not have more natural ingredients! I imagine all the bath melts and lip balm cost £2.50. You would pay much more in store. I made 9 hearts plus one lip balm so roughly £0.25p per item on ingredients from now on, now I have invested in the mould.
Not only are they less costly, they could be more environmentally friendly plus the person you give gifts to knows you have spent time considering what they like, as opposed to vouchers, Argos purchases, mistaken gifts etc. You also get the chance to choose 100% organic ingredients, locally sourced etc.
I will post more info about the Castille Soap once I have used it!
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Santa recommends... ebay and thinking ahead!
Autumn is here and we’re all left wondering what wardrobe we have for this kind of interim weather… or wanting to go and spend more on a new wardrobe! Keep an eye out for good bargains in 2nd hand stores in preparation for the cold, as this is the time folks start getting rid of last years winter coat for that ‘must have’ new coat this year…
Aaaanyway today’s topic is more about preparing for Christmas. Yes, that’s right – I said that word! In all seriousness though, you have September, October and November paydays, to use towards spreading the cost of Christmas. So here are my top tips for a cool yule that won’t break the bank:
Make food items for foodies
Vanilla extract made for pennies by soaking 3 split pods in vodka for 4 weeks, peanut butter and chocolate, Christmas cookies, your own alcohol like home made Baileys and so much more. You could make some rum butter, gingercake, lots of yummy things, so much tastier and cheaper than store bought… some creative wrapping or a basket from the £0.99 store can perfect the look, perhaps reuse some ribbon from a gift or some brown paper from an item you received in the post.
Make Beauty Products
As you all know I love making lotions and potions. You can make lip balm in less than 2 minutes, face lotion in less than 10, heavenly face scrubs in 10 and some delightful butter melts for massages and bathing for pennies. My secret weapon is to borrow library books and scour the internet for ideas and then buy the items from ebay. How about a luscious face oil for a few pennies, rather than £30+ in the stores? Plus that way you can customise it to the recipients exact skin type.
Buy most Gifts online Through Cashback Sites
Those of you in the know, already realise that when you buy from HMV or Boots, that if you did it online through a Cashback portal site, you could get 5-10% cash back in your hot little hand, for the same items you would normally buy on the high street. So for Christmas, buy the normal stuff you would usually, but via cashback websites instead, the sites in my Guide (see the Cashback section on the right).
THAT way January will be fun as you will have cash back on it's way to you!
Those are just some ideas, I don’t want to inundate you now, seeing as we’re only in September, but start preparing and a) it will be less stressful, b) it will be cheaper and c) you can dedicate more time to choosing the right present with thought, rather than a last minute gift card. Have fun with it, and get creative!
I will intermittently write a few more ideas just to get the creative thought process going, you never know what we might all come up with!
Aaaanyway today’s topic is more about preparing for Christmas. Yes, that’s right – I said that word! In all seriousness though, you have September, October and November paydays, to use towards spreading the cost of Christmas. So here are my top tips for a cool yule that won’t break the bank:
Make food items for foodies
Vanilla extract made for pennies by soaking 3 split pods in vodka for 4 weeks, peanut butter and chocolate, Christmas cookies, your own alcohol like home made Baileys and so much more. You could make some rum butter, gingercake, lots of yummy things, so much tastier and cheaper than store bought… some creative wrapping or a basket from the £0.99 store can perfect the look, perhaps reuse some ribbon from a gift or some brown paper from an item you received in the post.
Make Beauty Products
As you all know I love making lotions and potions. You can make lip balm in less than 2 minutes, face lotion in less than 10, heavenly face scrubs in 10 and some delightful butter melts for massages and bathing for pennies. My secret weapon is to borrow library books and scour the internet for ideas and then buy the items from ebay. How about a luscious face oil for a few pennies, rather than £30+ in the stores? Plus that way you can customise it to the recipients exact skin type.
Buy most Gifts online Through Cashback Sites
Those of you in the know, already realise that when you buy from HMV or Boots, that if you did it online through a Cashback portal site, you could get 5-10% cash back in your hot little hand, for the same items you would normally buy on the high street. So for Christmas, buy the normal stuff you would usually, but via cashback websites instead, the sites in my Guide (see the Cashback section on the right).
THAT way January will be fun as you will have cash back on it's way to you!
Those are just some ideas, I don’t want to inundate you now, seeing as we’re only in September, but start preparing and a) it will be less stressful, b) it will be cheaper and c) you can dedicate more time to choosing the right present with thought, rather than a last minute gift card. Have fun with it, and get creative!
I will intermittently write a few more ideas just to get the creative thought process going, you never know what we might all come up with!
Friday, 28 August 2009
Extra Revenue Streams – Why We Should All Have Some
This month our spending was higher than normal, but yet less than this time last year. Why? We decided to be one of the millions that decided to take a Staycation, ie: not go abroad this year and stay instead in the UK.
This saved us around £800 compared to a beach holiday in Europe, so it may set a trend for years to come! We still had great food, relaxing atmosphere and lovely adventures, so it seems that the ‘extra’ £800 for say Greece, would then seem to account for the ‘sunshine’ element, which is quite a lot really. I am impressed we stuck to it and will definitely try another staycation for those kinds of savings. Needless to say, the staycation means more money has remained in our savings accounts, which is very unusual at this time of year!
In August after we returned from Staycation, I still diligently logged all my spending at www.spendingdiary.com and am pleased to say I am on target to reach the end of the month with my £100 ATM money (see articles in the ‘Money Saving’ section of the right hand menu for some inspiration on this small but effective money saving technique). In September I will try to reduce this to say £90 and see how I get on. It means I should have some ‘extra’ in the bank account at the end of September to transfer to savings.
Apart from that, I am focusing on Extra Revenue Streams. This means that apart from my normal income, I try to find other ways to bring in cash. One of the main ways is through Cashback Sites (see righthand menu). In August I received around £21, and this all goes into savings. To me this is free money, so I either spend or invest it, to make sure it doesn’t disappear on silly things that I struggle to remember later on.
We should all try to have these as it helps you have some extra cash, in case your main income changes or stops altogether.
For another Extra Revenue stream, I am also learning about Google Adwords, which are now on this Blog. I hope you don’t mind but even if you only click one link that is of interest on the Google ads, this helps me out immensely and shows readers are enjoying what I write and what appears on the blog.
Amazon is another stream, which in August earned me £6.80 for some books I sold, this has also gone into savings.
Even if you can only add small amounts, set yourself up a spreadsheet that inspires you – log every extra bit of money you can earn there and make sure it gets saved, or at least spent on something that can bring you future savings (say special offers on food, maybe some hair clippers, or special offers on clothing you know are worthwhile).
Your comments would be so welcome on sharing what ways you create extra revenue for yourself – how can we all do more and motivate eachother?
This saved us around £800 compared to a beach holiday in Europe, so it may set a trend for years to come! We still had great food, relaxing atmosphere and lovely adventures, so it seems that the ‘extra’ £800 for say Greece, would then seem to account for the ‘sunshine’ element, which is quite a lot really. I am impressed we stuck to it and will definitely try another staycation for those kinds of savings. Needless to say, the staycation means more money has remained in our savings accounts, which is very unusual at this time of year!
In August after we returned from Staycation, I still diligently logged all my spending at www.spendingdiary.com and am pleased to say I am on target to reach the end of the month with my £100 ATM money (see articles in the ‘Money Saving’ section of the right hand menu for some inspiration on this small but effective money saving technique). In September I will try to reduce this to say £90 and see how I get on. It means I should have some ‘extra’ in the bank account at the end of September to transfer to savings.
Apart from that, I am focusing on Extra Revenue Streams. This means that apart from my normal income, I try to find other ways to bring in cash. One of the main ways is through Cashback Sites (see righthand menu). In August I received around £21, and this all goes into savings. To me this is free money, so I either spend or invest it, to make sure it doesn’t disappear on silly things that I struggle to remember later on.
We should all try to have these as it helps you have some extra cash, in case your main income changes or stops altogether.
For another Extra Revenue stream, I am also learning about Google Adwords, which are now on this Blog. I hope you don’t mind but even if you only click one link that is of interest on the Google ads, this helps me out immensely and shows readers are enjoying what I write and what appears on the blog.
Amazon is another stream, which in August earned me £6.80 for some books I sold, this has also gone into savings.
Even if you can only add small amounts, set yourself up a spreadsheet that inspires you – log every extra bit of money you can earn there and make sure it gets saved, or at least spent on something that can bring you future savings (say special offers on food, maybe some hair clippers, or special offers on clothing you know are worthwhile).
Your comments would be so welcome on sharing what ways you create extra revenue for yourself – how can we all do more and motivate eachother?
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Changing Hobbies for Changing Times
There was once a time when I would spend all my time in the shops on weekends, desperate to fill my bags and bring home rewards for a hard working week. I would really feel disappointed to return empty handed. I would feel bored at home and literally feel that if I was at home, I was missing out on something.
The same thing went for holidays or breaks, I would plan them ahead and look forward to my time off as a reward for hard work. Nothing wrong with this at all, if we can afford it and if we have no other bigger aims in mind for the cash.
These days though, I see that the last 3 years have changed how I see things. I was fortunate enough to find moneysavingexpert.com before the credit crunch hit, and so had around 18 months of 'practice' saving money and building an emergency savings fund before I actually saw the financial storm roll in and crash upon our shores.
Instead of expensive shopping and holidays I have now started to enjoy these more credit crunch friendly hobbies:
- Making homemade beauty items (saves a fortune, sometimes goes wrong but still saves so much and is more natural for my skin).
- Scouring charity shops for clothing and vintage plates etc - it also gives me inspiration for items we might like in our future home.
- Reading (I get out library books, which saves a fortune on books and is greener too)
- Visiting places in England instead of holidays abroad, or if we do go abroad, we spend as little as we can
- Making homemade cleaning products, not only cheaper but greener too
- If we go out for dinner we try to use a voucher like 241
- Never paying full price for a movie (get a free Orange SIM card on Google and then go to the cinema on Wednesday with a friend to get a free ticket).
- Scrapbooking (well, gluing onto paper!) ideas for our future home
- Growing tomatoes, basil, coriander and parsley (will try garlic this Autumn)
- Laughing at marketing on adverts which claims you 'need' an item to feel great, young, sexy, successful etc etc
- Homecooked meals - I cook in batches and then freeze to save time in the week when we are more tired. I really enjoy cooking when I get into the mindset - radio on, focused, relaxed, just need to make it happen more!
- Games and times together with my husband - planning ahead, getting to talk properly and feel connected is completely free and enables us to feel we're not just working the 9-5 grind all the time.
- Plan ahead - To avoid buying things new, I am following what Amy Daczyn from 'Tightwad Gazette' suggested - think ahead of items you might need. It hasn't happened fully yet but I am working on it, thinking now of items I might need in Autumn/Winter and keeping an eye out for them.
I do find it hard not to just sit and watch TV when I get in thoguh, so I am learning to be more productive with my time, like I have a list of things I 'Need' to do, but I also want to create a list of things I 'Want' to do. These can replace the need for shopping or over indulging, so that when I do want something special, it won't feel like I have been greedy!
How do you avoid spending money these days - have you replaced certain hobbies with others? Have you learned new skills? Are your family and friends supportive and encouraging? If we can all exchange ideas I am sure we can learn alot!
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Are you prepared for the bleak winter of 09?
Ok, so the title sounds scary but the truth is, with job losses, increased costs, energy prices changing all over the place, Swine Flu panic and strikes, we’re all at a loss as to what the next 6-12 months will bring.
I know of people whose mortgages have reduced by about half, and instead of saving the cash, they are preferring to go on expensive holidays. Normally I would be tempted by the same thing in their situation, but in the current climate? No chance.
If you do not have an emergency fund to be your safeguard in this recession, please start one. It is better to have something as a buffer than nothing. It means if you are ill, or your partner is ill, or your washing machine dies, or your car just suddenly stops, you have a stash to cover the problem. Even worse – what if you are ill for several months, or you lose your job?
I started saving £5 a month many years ago when I earned £80 per week, my rent was £40 of that. It was back breaking work and very hard to put that £5 aside, but I did it. The years went by and I increased the amounts as I could, I couldn’t yet afford a pension yet so at least I thought I should increase the savings slowly.
That idea stayed with me and I kept it going. That £5 a month turned into a thousand after a few years which made me feel I could cope if I lost my job and needed to look for another one.
These days, the recommendation is that you have 3-6 months worth of salary just in case. It means if you lose your job, or want to change and walk away from the job, you feel safer.
Savings rates are not amazing right now, but the main reason to do this is for protection, not rates.
So no matter what the next 6-12 months bring for us all, please make sure that if you are paying any debt obligations, you also put a little aside for the emergency fund. You will feel better and able to look ahead and not worry as much about what will happen. We are all in the same boat, so worth having a lifejacket!
I know of people whose mortgages have reduced by about half, and instead of saving the cash, they are preferring to go on expensive holidays. Normally I would be tempted by the same thing in their situation, but in the current climate? No chance.
If you do not have an emergency fund to be your safeguard in this recession, please start one. It is better to have something as a buffer than nothing. It means if you are ill, or your partner is ill, or your washing machine dies, or your car just suddenly stops, you have a stash to cover the problem. Even worse – what if you are ill for several months, or you lose your job?
I started saving £5 a month many years ago when I earned £80 per week, my rent was £40 of that. It was back breaking work and very hard to put that £5 aside, but I did it. The years went by and I increased the amounts as I could, I couldn’t yet afford a pension yet so at least I thought I should increase the savings slowly.
That idea stayed with me and I kept it going. That £5 a month turned into a thousand after a few years which made me feel I could cope if I lost my job and needed to look for another one.
These days, the recommendation is that you have 3-6 months worth of salary just in case. It means if you lose your job, or want to change and walk away from the job, you feel safer.
Savings rates are not amazing right now, but the main reason to do this is for protection, not rates.
So no matter what the next 6-12 months bring for us all, please make sure that if you are paying any debt obligations, you also put a little aside for the emergency fund. You will feel better and able to look ahead and not worry as much about what will happen. We are all in the same boat, so worth having a lifejacket!
Monday, 20 July 2009
How to organise with no time!
Ok, we have all been there – trying to get stuff done, it all piles up and you suddenly have a moment where you think ‘How can I even make a start on all these things’!
I have been a bit like this lately – lots of things I had in my ‘head’ list but never wrote down or if I wrote it down it was on a post it note I lost under a pile…
So today marks a new start – I will write more down and every day take a few minutes to revise the list and see what I have still to do.
The key with this will be to mark each item with a deadline date. With out that, items just sit on the list. I can cross them off, then by the end of the week write a new list for the week ahead, hopefully with less items (ha ha, as if that will happen!).
This isn’t just for regular things like collecting dry cleaning (which by the way is a pet hate of mine, I don’t buy an item that needs dry cleaning as all I can see is expensive bills in the future each time it needs to be dry cleaned!) – anyway – this list is also for hopes, dreams, research and more.
Make A List
So your list might be a mix:
- Book dentist
- Call friend to arrange movie
- Research soap making courses
- Buy birthday present for brother
- Check phone cashback
- Pay tax bill
Each one needs a deadline date, or you might mark the item with several asterisks to show a higher priority – say 3 asterisks (***) for important, two (**) for important and one for normal (*).
Online and Technology Helpers
Also Yahoo mail offers a calendar which might help you get organised too, as well as mobile phone applications etc which can buzz a reminder at you at a set time. I use these mobile reminders especially for appointments, as a written down note will not get me there guaranteed for the set time! Very important especially if your dentist charges you for cancellations/not showing up!
Plan Time & Money
Obviously if you have a month coming up with lots of tasks to do with birthdays, it would be an idea to budget that cost in ahead of time, so you know you will need more time for research as well as the extra cash to spend. If you research a few months in advance, you might be able to pick up the items cheaper at car boot fairs, on Amazon 2nd hand etc etc.
Set Days
Another things that I would like to do, for housework especially, is set a day to do certain things. For example, Tuesdays might be 5 minutes polishing and dusting when I get in from work.
Get Help
If you are really struggling, who can you ask for help? Even small things removed from your list and onto someone elses' can help you tackle the other tasks much better. You may feel embarassed to ask, but often people realy don't mind - to you it's something huge in your mind, to them it's something they can handle easily and it's such a relief to you, plus they feel good for helping out.
Sit Back and Assess
See how it works for you – one persons method may not be the same as someone else’s best way to do things, you can chop and change to suit.
We all fall short of the super-organised ‘ideal’ and I know that for me both writing things down and having a Household Binder helps a lot (see the Organizing category on the right for more info)…
I have been a bit like this lately – lots of things I had in my ‘head’ list but never wrote down or if I wrote it down it was on a post it note I lost under a pile…
So today marks a new start – I will write more down and every day take a few minutes to revise the list and see what I have still to do.
The key with this will be to mark each item with a deadline date. With out that, items just sit on the list. I can cross them off, then by the end of the week write a new list for the week ahead, hopefully with less items (ha ha, as if that will happen!).
This isn’t just for regular things like collecting dry cleaning (which by the way is a pet hate of mine, I don’t buy an item that needs dry cleaning as all I can see is expensive bills in the future each time it needs to be dry cleaned!) – anyway – this list is also for hopes, dreams, research and more.
Make A List
So your list might be a mix:
- Book dentist
- Call friend to arrange movie
- Research soap making courses
- Buy birthday present for brother
- Check phone cashback
- Pay tax bill
Each one needs a deadline date, or you might mark the item with several asterisks to show a higher priority – say 3 asterisks (***) for important, two (**) for important and one for normal (*).
Online and Technology Helpers
Also Yahoo mail offers a calendar which might help you get organised too, as well as mobile phone applications etc which can buzz a reminder at you at a set time. I use these mobile reminders especially for appointments, as a written down note will not get me there guaranteed for the set time! Very important especially if your dentist charges you for cancellations/not showing up!
Plan Time & Money
Obviously if you have a month coming up with lots of tasks to do with birthdays, it would be an idea to budget that cost in ahead of time, so you know you will need more time for research as well as the extra cash to spend. If you research a few months in advance, you might be able to pick up the items cheaper at car boot fairs, on Amazon 2nd hand etc etc.
Set Days
Another things that I would like to do, for housework especially, is set a day to do certain things. For example, Tuesdays might be 5 minutes polishing and dusting when I get in from work.
Get Help
If you are really struggling, who can you ask for help? Even small things removed from your list and onto someone elses' can help you tackle the other tasks much better. You may feel embarassed to ask, but often people realy don't mind - to you it's something huge in your mind, to them it's something they can handle easily and it's such a relief to you, plus they feel good for helping out.
Sit Back and Assess
See how it works for you – one persons method may not be the same as someone else’s best way to do things, you can chop and change to suit.
We all fall short of the super-organised ‘ideal’ and I know that for me both writing things down and having a Household Binder helps a lot (see the Organizing category on the right for more info)…
Friday, 10 July 2009
The 6 month Review - What can we reduce?
Hi everyone,
Well one minute we think it’s Summer and the next – it’s Autumn/Winter! The last couple of weeks have been strange weather-wise and also personally, I am a big Jacko fan so the new hit me hard, hence lack of updates, my apologies for that.
Anyway today is green day, so today’s focus is about what you can start to live without and reduce resources. As times get tighter and we see the news headlines talking about more job losses, higher cost of living and the lack of mortgage lending, cutting back is on all our minds.
Are there any items you would be able to do without? Those little niceties that you think you ‘need’ to buy but can in fact either make at home, buy second hand, or not buy at all? Not only would they declutter your life, they would leave more cash in your purse.
Examples…
Take aways
Coffee on the go
Magazines
Sweets and chocolates
Snacks like crisps
Bus fares or taxi fares
Beauty of make up products
Outings to the pub
All of these slowly drain away from our pockets and don’t seem like much but can amount to a lot over the year. We have all heard the Starbucks quote that a take away coffee every working day can cost around £650 a year – sounds very painful that way!
So for me, this is my 6 month review on how things are going. Below are the things I have either started to make myself at home, or stopped buying completely:
- Washing up liquid – make at home for a fraction of the cost (see right hand menu for how to make this) – now just costs around £10p per litre.
- Handwashing soap – same as above
- Kitchen counter spray – same as above… barely costs 1p per bottle now.
- Magazines – I probably buy one every 3 months now, if that.
- Clothes – I have bought almost all my clothes in the past 6 months from second hand stores and all are of good quality, saving me at least £200.
- Washing powder – I buy the big boxes on an offer then cut it with half of soda crystals (around £0.69 per KG). This means one box has lasted us over 6 months, at a cost of around £5.50 for washing all our clothes for half the year.
- Paper towels – stopped buying and now use small rags cut into squares – has saved around £4, not much but it all counts.
- Beauty products – I make my own now from shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba or almond oil and some essential oils plus some kitchen cabinet ingredients. Although it costs a little in raw materials, I estimate that it has still saved me around £30 these past 6 months, possibly more. See right hand menu for recipes – the beauty oil alone that I made saved lots! I have made lip balm, moisturiser, cleanser, exfoliator and beauty oil from around 6 ingredients, amazing really and so natural, no preservatives as I can just make them when I need them.
- Foods – sounds daft but I used to buy Hummus a couple of times a month – I make my own now for a fraction of the cost then freeze it in small pots for as and when I need it. Other examples: Chilli oil, vanilla essence, tomato and onion chutney and more – these have saved us at least £20 compared to store bought.
- Movies – We rarely pay full price for a movie – get a free sim card from Orange on Google and this gives you half price movies every Wednesday when you take a friend. We also see a lot of free movie previews which cost nothing. Savings are around £50 so far this year, compared to paying ticket prices.
- Energy - Obviously with teh warmer months there is less expense, but we have decided to keep our direct debits as they were so we can have some money on account over the next few months. Also, we have made conscious efforts to always turn off rather than leave items on standby, I charge my phone at work etc. Plus being outside more means less use of gadgets inside.
- Plant your own - we have planted green beans, basil and tomato which are all going well. Savings so far probably £1 as we have only used the basil, but once the tomatoes ripen in 4 weeks or so I am hoping we will save more.
- Amazon - selling books I had read but were still in good condition - have sold arounf £4 worth, nothing much but then I haven't bought many books this year either...
Hopefully these give you some great ideas to continue with and maybe make some cuts or have different ways at looking at your spending / making items at home. Be it honey lip balm, vanilla essence or delicious chutney, once you start to see the product marketing for what it is you can save lots more money!
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Reducing Costs and Stashing Savings
Hello everyone, it has been an eventful month with lots going on, so I am sorry for not having posted recently.
June has allowed me to take some time to analyse spending for these past 5 months and compare to previous years. The results are pretty amazing, even though I do say so myself! I hope that by sharing this information it might inspire you to get more out of your budget and put aside more even if just a little, for a rainy day. All savings in this economic climate are valuable protection against the unknown future.
Some years ago I set up a Budget spreadsheet and on it I log the 'extras' we buy, ie: the non-essentials. I have one spreadsheet for me and one for the joint spending. On my personal spreadsheet, I can see the following:
TOTAL Personal'Frills/Non essentials' Spend for the year + Average per month:
2006 - £5365 (£447 per month)
2007 - £3444 (£287 p/ month)
2008 - £3548 (£296 p/month)
2009 - £763 for 5 months (average £153 per month)
So as you can see, there has been a drastic reduction in 'silly' spend since I have started to be more aware of what I was spending on non-essentials and I have focused alot more in the last 3 years. There has been little suffering yet it's saved me an average £2,000 from 2006 to 2007 alone on non-essential spending. Around £294 less spending per month comparing 2006 to 2009!
TOTAL JointSpend for the year & Average per month:
The below include bills and all household spending:
2006 - £5058 (£421 per month)
2007 - £4209(£350 p/ month)
2008 - £4552 (£379 p/month)
2009 - £1652 for 5 months (average £330 per month)
This is a reduction of £90 per month comparing 2006 to 2009, which would be over £1,000 per year in savings if you averaged it out!
Now we are leading a more purposeful life and saving more, and inflation has not affected our joint finances because we have been more creative, therefore allowing us to put exactly the same money in every month since 2006 (£400 per month) and even take money back out into savings at the end of the month. This goes towards our house deposit fund and the way I see it, each £10 saved is another couple of pillows or money towards durable items like good quality pans, growing our own veg etc.
For 2009, I have spent £52 on clothing in the last 6 months, and £30 on charity, almost half of my clothing spend! Lunches and naughty snacks have cost me £95 which is shameful and I want to reduce those much more...
www.spendingdiary.com is a great site you can use if you find budgeting boring or hard to do. It really helps.
Personally, I like to take out £100 in cash on the 1st of the month, allowing myself another £100 in the bank 'just in case'. My £100 in cash has to cover everything that is not a bill. Going out, clothing, snacks, magazines, books and dvd's, all the fun stuff. I then make a note of what I have spent in cash and when, normally on my way home from work in a quiet moment.
Normally, the other £100 stays in the bank for times when I need to pay for something via debit card, but most times, quite a decent amount of that is left in the account at the end of the month, maybe £60 is left. I either save this, or sometimes buy shares or take it out and keep it at home for special treats like going out for dinner or a movie.
So by using this ATM machine rule, I have saved around £300 so far this year, proving that my thoughts last year that I 'couldn't possibly do any better in 2009' wasn't true...
Any extra cash I have come in (on top of my wages) from cashback sites for example, goes straight to savings, I have trained my mind to not even think of it as real money. I also would never consider buying anything off the highstreet now *IF* I can buy it online through a cashback site. See my Cashback Sites section on the right for more info on hwo this can save you some money.
I hope that this inspires you and if you are a homemaker or work a full time job, there are savings to be made in small tweaks here and there that do add up. Make a start, see how you like it and then try and challenge yourself week by week... perhaps keep a log if this motivates you.
June has allowed me to take some time to analyse spending for these past 5 months and compare to previous years. The results are pretty amazing, even though I do say so myself! I hope that by sharing this information it might inspire you to get more out of your budget and put aside more even if just a little, for a rainy day. All savings in this economic climate are valuable protection against the unknown future.
Some years ago I set up a Budget spreadsheet and on it I log the 'extras' we buy, ie: the non-essentials. I have one spreadsheet for me and one for the joint spending. On my personal spreadsheet, I can see the following:
TOTAL Personal'Frills/Non essentials' Spend for the year + Average per month:
2006 - £5365 (£447 per month)
2007 - £3444 (£287 p/ month)
2008 - £3548 (£296 p/month)
2009 - £763 for 5 months (average £153 per month)
So as you can see, there has been a drastic reduction in 'silly' spend since I have started to be more aware of what I was spending on non-essentials and I have focused alot more in the last 3 years. There has been little suffering yet it's saved me an average £2,000 from 2006 to 2007 alone on non-essential spending. Around £294 less spending per month comparing 2006 to 2009!
TOTAL JointSpend for the year & Average per month:
The below include bills and all household spending:
2006 - £5058 (£421 per month)
2007 - £4209(£350 p/ month)
2008 - £4552 (£379 p/month)
2009 - £1652 for 5 months (average £330 per month)
This is a reduction of £90 per month comparing 2006 to 2009, which would be over £1,000 per year in savings if you averaged it out!
Now we are leading a more purposeful life and saving more, and inflation has not affected our joint finances because we have been more creative, therefore allowing us to put exactly the same money in every month since 2006 (£400 per month) and even take money back out into savings at the end of the month. This goes towards our house deposit fund and the way I see it, each £10 saved is another couple of pillows or money towards durable items like good quality pans, growing our own veg etc.
For 2009, I have spent £52 on clothing in the last 6 months, and £30 on charity, almost half of my clothing spend! Lunches and naughty snacks have cost me £95 which is shameful and I want to reduce those much more...
www.spendingdiary.com is a great site you can use if you find budgeting boring or hard to do. It really helps.
Personally, I like to take out £100 in cash on the 1st of the month, allowing myself another £100 in the bank 'just in case'. My £100 in cash has to cover everything that is not a bill. Going out, clothing, snacks, magazines, books and dvd's, all the fun stuff. I then make a note of what I have spent in cash and when, normally on my way home from work in a quiet moment.
Normally, the other £100 stays in the bank for times when I need to pay for something via debit card, but most times, quite a decent amount of that is left in the account at the end of the month, maybe £60 is left. I either save this, or sometimes buy shares or take it out and keep it at home for special treats like going out for dinner or a movie.
So by using this ATM machine rule, I have saved around £300 so far this year, proving that my thoughts last year that I 'couldn't possibly do any better in 2009' wasn't true...
Any extra cash I have come in (on top of my wages) from cashback sites for example, goes straight to savings, I have trained my mind to not even think of it as real money. I also would never consider buying anything off the highstreet now *IF* I can buy it online through a cashback site. See my Cashback Sites section on the right for more info on hwo this can save you some money.
I hope that this inspires you and if you are a homemaker or work a full time job, there are savings to be made in small tweaks here and there that do add up. Make a start, see how you like it and then try and challenge yourself week by week... perhaps keep a log if this motivates you.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Fat Cheese - Cashback New Kid On The Block!
Hi all,
Today I have another interesting cashback website for you - they're called FatCheese, a strange name but they seem to have good offers!
(If Cashback sites are new to you and sound confusing, don't worry - it's a great way to make money online and buy items you were going to buy anyway - see the Cashback Sites section on the right hand side).
A few sites as you all know just get you in on good offers and then once you start to use them, you see those offers dissapear. Some of the sites remain more loyal to customers than others. It seems FatCheese are aiming to be a real contender, with enough going on to keep us all interested, plus with quick customer service response as well but this is my first impression after a couple of months.
Customer service has not always been great with these types of sites, nor do they always share 100% of what they get from suppliers with us. So far my queries have been answered quickly, and my transactions are tracking smoothly, so I thought it was time to write about them a little more.
From what I can see at the moment, they have a good selection of offers on, it might be that some of them are of interest to you now, but you can always take them up another time if you don't need them at the moment. However, these ones seem particularly good, 3 of which involve no spend at all.
Some of the Best Offers at FatCheese today:
- Sky+ at £75 cashback. You can get a free Sky+ box plus £25 Tesco voucher so overall this is worth quite alot - IF you were planning to subscribe to Sky+ anyway.
- Hastings Direct Car Insurance. FREE £20 MOT voucher just for getting a quote, so there is no actual need to take up the offer if yous insurance is not yet up but you want to get an idea of prices.
- T-Mobile FREE SIM cards. £1 cashback for ordering two FREE SIMs. Costs nothing and is useful too if you need some SIMS.
- Gala Bingo. £20 cashback for each new player depositing and wagering a minimum of £5. Essentially you would get £15 free in cashback terms.
- Synovate. £1.35 cashback when you register, easy and quick to do.
As always make sure you clear your cookies effectively (ie: delete all cookies before you log in to the cashback site to make any purchases or register for no-spend offers such as the above SIM cards or Synovate / Hastings Direct) - see my Cashback section on the right-hand side menu for more tips, or request my full guide.
In addition if you follow my referral link:
Fat Cheese
You will get access to an extra £5 to use Coral, currently it's £5 cashback but the above link will give you £10. This will be credited in due course on your statement. You may of course like to check other sites for what they offer, I just thought I'd mention this little extra if relevant to you as that extra £5 effectively pays for your admin fee on FC.
Soon they will be offering a full 10% cashback on purchases at Play.com which is a great offer, given that you cannot get any cashback for Amazon. This means if you buy a £15 DVD from Play.com via FatCheese you would get £1.50 back, reducing your price to £13.50...
I would love your views on this site once you have started to also use it, so we can all comment on whether they may be serious contenders to Quidco!
They seem to offer 100% cashback rather than 'share' the cashback' with members. They do charge an admin fee but I think overall this will still be worthwhile, especially with the kind of offers they are starting to make available.
As always over the coming weeks I will keep you updated on any other sites and will also be updating my cashback site Guide with more info, removing the sites that have been failing members and updating with fresh offers and new sites.
Enjoy the sunshine out there today!
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