Sally's Savings Blog Personal Finance Blog for Reducing Debt

Top Expenses You’re Paying Over the Odds For – And How to Save More

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There are all kinds of expenses to pay for in a busy modern life. From rent and utility bills to car insurance and clothes, it seems as if all of your salary goes on the essentials you need to survive. Perhaps you think that you can’t cut your expenses any more than you already have, but there are probably several things you’re spending too much on. Sometimes your essentials aren’t quite as essential as you think, or you can change the way you spend on them. Even expenses like electricity and water bills can be carefully managed so you can cut them down.

Food

Food is, of course, essential to our everyday lives. But it may surprise you that you can save money on your food in ways you haven’t thought about. Some ways of saving might require you to change the way you think. For example, one way to make the most of your food budget is to avoid buying branded products. Many unbranded products, such as supermarket own brands, are no different from the products with big names. The ingredients are the same, and the taste is often the same too, but the price is much lower. It might be hard to let go of your favourite brands, but doing so will save you a lot of money. You can also save money on food by planning meals in advance to help you avoid the temptation of frozen and ready-made foods.

Household Bills

There are plenty of sensible ways you can cut down on your household bills. With the price of utility bills rising, you obviously want to reduce them in any way you can. Of course, you need to keep your family warm, clean and fed, which requires water, gas and electricity. But you don’t need to push your bills to their limits. Avoid putting the heating on unless everyone is still cold with a jumper on. Don’t run the water unnecessarily and take showers, not baths. If you look at stats on cutting your water bills, you’ll find that you could save 50 litres of water by cutting your shower time by 5 minutes. Turn lights off when you aren’t in the room and don’t leave things on standby to save electricity.

5857345827_ecf5d1853a_zPhoto source

Cars

If you drive, your car is probably one of your biggest expenses. There’s the cost of buying it, the insurance, tax, fuel and maintenance costs. You may think that all these costs are inevitable if you want to be able to drive, but there are ways to cut back. To begin, consider buying used cars instead of new. If you’re careful about buying and make sure to research and check each car, you can get a decent vehicle for a much lower price. Buying several used cars in a few years could end up cheaper than one new one. You should always shop around for insurance too, and get the best deal on any maintenance costs. Don’t always go with the first company you find.

Supermarket money saving challenge

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Food prices always seem to be on the rise and a trip to the supermarket can be an expensive experience. There are a number of ways to ease the cost each month though by using coupons, loyalty cards, shopping at certain times of the day and setting challenges and goals.

The best place to start is to look at how much is being spent each month at the moment. Gather all the till receipts over the coming month and add it all up. Online personal finance software is a great tool to assist you. Include trips to any store where food is sold including local corner shops where quick visits for bread and milk have taken place.

After you have all the receipts, challenge yourself to reduce your spend each month. Start with a small reduction such as £20 and then take it from there. Many people aren’t aware of how to reduce their spend and so see the bills increase rather than decrease as items become more expensive.

A great way to save money is to find out when fresh produce is reduced each day. Every supermarket has certain times of the day when fruit, vegetables, bakery items, meat and dairy are reduced. There will then be a further reduction a few hours later when day to day items such as bread can often be bought for pennies.  Although the items are short dated, they can be put in the freezer for the future. Don’t be shy about asking what time the reductions take place – they don’t keep it a secret and will be happy to tell you.

Signing up for a supermarket loyalty card will mean that you save as you shop. All major supermarkets have a scheme and it’s about finding the best one for you.  You’ll be rewarded with money off vouchers or codes specific to the items you regularly buy and you can often use them online as well as at your local store.

If you buy branded or premium labelled items, there is a good chance that you could just be paying for the name or the packaging. Many own brand or budget brand items are often very similar to their more expensive cousins and you can save by ‘downshifting’ each time you shop. If you currently buy branded baked beans for example, switch to the supermarket own brand. If you buy own brand, downshift to the budget equivalent. Try the product and if you like it, carry on saving by buying again or even continue downshifting another level. If you feel you and your family don’t like a cheaper product, return to the previous one but carry on saving with all the other items you put into the trolley.

When you decide to organise your finances to start to save money on the shopping each month, you may feel you need an emergency injection of cash to pay such things as utility bills to give you a fresh start. Consider guaranteed payday loans as a way of easing your way into your new financial adventure as they will provide the solution to a financial shortfall. You can then start to save your way to financial freedom from your visits to the supermarket and know you will easily be able to afford to repay the loan on your next pay day with the savings you’ve already made.

This article was provided by http://www.thewigleyfamily.com

How to Save Money on Your Mobile Phone Insurance

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Mobile phone insurance is viewed by many as a scam which results in you throwing hundreds of pounds away for no need. However, those that have lost mobile phones early in their contracts may beg to differ. If that happens, you either have to live with an old phone for an extended period of time or shell out a huge amount of money to replace the phone. And if you are looking for a new mobile phone, why not visit uSwitch? Go to uSwitch.com today to find the best iphone deals.

So how do you ensure you are getting the best deal on your iPhone insurance cover or new HTC insurance policy? Below are some tips on how to make sure you get the best deal on your insurance cover, so that next time your phone goes missing or is broken, you don’t find yourself with an empty wallet trying to replace it.

 

Shop Around!

 

The biggest mistake many people make is accepting the offer of insurance from their network when they commit to a contract and buy their phone. The large networks will usually offer insurance at a highly inflated price which is not competitive, but most people accept their offer simply for the convenience of it all being packaged in one place.

 

However, if you look around and do some investigation with independent insurers you will likely find far better deals out there with them. They are incredibly keen to get your business and steal it away from the likes of Orange and O2 and will offer you great prices and incentives to peel you away.

 

Already Insured?

 

Many people rush into accepting insurance when the offer is laid in front of them without doing the necessary investigation into what cover they already have. Most people will have house insurance cover which could already cover things like gadgets and mobile phones. If not, there is usually an option to simply add those things on at a fraction of the price which will be offered for individual mobile phone insurance.

 

Beware of ‘Free’!

 

When you speak to a salesperson about buying a new phone they will often throw in a lot of offers to try and sweeten the deal and make you more likely to commit to a contract with them. From free dongles to free insurance cover, these offers are made to push you into the purchase. However, because they are add-ons and not what the consumer has originally requested, very little questions are usually asked about them. The offers aren’t usually as good as they seem, particularly in the case of insurance. Often this is an offer of just one month’s insurance, which then becomes chargeable and is added to your bill once you are committed to your contract. Beware!

 

The key is to always ask lots of questions and do lots of research. If you do that and are aware of these points then you can be confident you’ll come out with a great deal on your mobile phone insurance.

Learn How UK Students can Control their Finances in 3 Simple Ways

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Inflation is driving the world crazy for sure and many students today feel the pinch of it. Millions of students around the world today believe that education has become a highly expensive affair. And there are thousands of cases where students end up repaying huge amounts of student loans that they had taken during their college and university days. If you are against student loan and want to handle your expenses on your own, you will need to look out for various ways to save money. Many students in the UK think that they have to pay high fees for the higher education that they will pursue for their future. But they definitely have options that can help them bring down their cost of living so they can save more money.

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5 Top Tips to Avoid Lead Theft

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The value of lead as progressively increased over the years and as a result the rates of theft have also. The material can be used for a variety of reasons and it can be found in numerous locations including town halls, old houses and churches.

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The Danger of the Minimum Payment Trap

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Most credit card holders are enticed to resort on paying off the minimum payment for their monthly credit card dues. Minimum payments may sound really good and they may come off as a kind offer from creditors. In the long run, however, they tend to be a borrower’s worst nightmare.

Where Does the Danger in the Minimum Payment Lie?

There is nothing more enticing than being able to spend a four-figure amount of money and have the choice of paying it in the lowest possible three-figure amount you can “afford.”

If you look at it from the perspective of a person how is keeping up with credit just so he or she can avoid paying fines in times when giving something more seems to be a little too far beyond what the person can pay-out, then this can be advantageous.

This is as when one gets to pay the minimum payment, no fines will be acquired by the account holder for that month due to delayed or missed payments. Thus, this is a great way to help card holders get by.

However, “getting by” can turn to be destructive especially when one can actually afford to pay way beyond the minimum. The amount of the unpaid part of the debt due that certain month will add up to the original amount of debt and the interest will grow over along with the borrowed amount.

In the end, by being comfortable in the notion of being able to pay the minimum one actually traps himself in a quick sand of bigger debts and higher interest rates to cope with.

How to Avoid Being Stuck in the Gripping Claws of the Minimum Payment Trap?

Being stuck in a quick sand of debts is one of the most frustrating things a person can ever grapple with in his life. This is especially when it comes with a regret that pierces the person with the question “why I didn’t I take full control of these dues when I had money to spare?”

At everything, being cautious and mindful of one’s spending and debt repaying habits is the best way to go. Of course, one must learn the difference between needs and wants. Most of the times people tend to splurge credit card borrowed money on wants than needs.

Also, being true to that goal of getting debts paid and beating repayment time-frames surely helps a lot when it comes to taking yourself away from the troubles of grappling with and barely coping up with huge amounts of money to pay-off.

Put a feasible budget plan together and be faithful to it. Keep funds in the bank or set-up credit card repayment systems that will automatically direct funds to repay your outstanding balance.

While there is ultimately nothing wrong with opting to go for the minimum payment on certain and inevitable situations, there will always be ways so that you can get yourself together to stay away from credit card troubles. Besides, the fact that you are granted by your creditor that certain credit limit, goes to show that you are actually capable of paying something beyond the minimum each month.

Written by www.personalfinancenow.co.uk and www.thesavingsblog.co.uk

A New Playing Field for Financial Advisors

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The rules of financial advice are changing, with some financial advisors more keen to continue playing than others.

New regulation – the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) – will mark the beginning of a new era in how clients pay for and receive financial advice. Payments to Financial Advisors will no longer be commission-based, and in an attempt to stop the trend of mis-sold advice incited by product bias, all costs to clients will be agreed upfront.

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