Showing all posts tagged budget

In General, MoneySaving

Money, Money, Money

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on 7 Comments

photo by John Althouse Cohen via PhotoRee

I was always the one who got excited by a new school year when I was younger. Brand new sharp pencils, the smell of the new books and that first clean page on the exercise book. Apart from the fact that I don’t wear school skirts rolled up short or indulge in ridiculously heavy eye make-up any more, little has changed, I still love a new year!

Every January I lovingly unwrap the new calendar and fill in it and get the diary set up (this year it’s a Dodopad Pax – for a stationery tart such as myself, this is like heaven!). Then it’s money time!

I’m told money can’t buy you happiness. I’m sure it can’t, but being skint can make you pretty miserable too. After Kieran was born I gave up my well paid career to work from home. An income that disappeared overnight was a challenge and a half and taught me a lot about not only how to budget better and save but also about my attitudes towards money. Even now, with my income restored I’m still careful and hate waste.

I set myself a few tasks at the beginning of each year:

  • Ring / contact all providers (ie gas/electric, phone/broadband/ insurances etc) and check I am on the correct / cheapest tariff / packages
  • Adjust budget accordingly
  • Use the new budget to update the standing order payments for savings.

Three simple steps when set me up financially. I do check tariff info throughout the year and when contacts expire but it’s important I start the year off properly.

Record keeping.

My business books are always kept up to date and I file my tax return in May every year (I like to get it out of the way). My household books are run the same way. I use free bookkeeping software to track my spends. Knowing whether or not you are keeping within your budget is important but looking closer can be helpful! Last year I looked back at my spends and realised I was doing a lot of top up shopping, despite doing a weekly shop. I was going mainly for fresh fruit and veg and while there I always managed to pick up some unneccesary items. Looking at this I decided to have a veg box delivered weekly and this has saved me a fortune.

This is just one example that shows how a bit of planning and organisation can make a big difference.

I enjoy my new page at the beginning of the year and getting organised. What do you do at the beginning of the year to start it off on the right foot?

In General

5 budgeting tips which will ultimately save you money.

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

*This is a sponsored post.

After my eldest was born I gave up my very well paid job so I could work from home instead and still be with my son. Needless to say our finances took a hammering as a result of this and as a consequence we had to become pretty savvy when it came to budgeting and cutting costs. These five tips are what we found saved us the most money.

  1. Don’t skimp on insurance, by taking a few minutes to compare home insurance, car insurance, and even pet insurance you can make sure you have the cover you need. As much as we all balk at paying out for insurances we all kick ourselves down the road when something goes wrong and we end up paying bulk amounts to repair or replace something that could have been covered by our insurance.
  2. Don’t assume the best deals are for new customers. Mobile phone companies especially have their own retention teams. If you aren’t happy with what you are paying it is worth giving them a ring and seeing if you can switch tariffs. It’s not always possible and it depends on your contract but I’ve saved as much as £10 a month by taking the time to ask.
  3. Keep an eye on your usage. Send in your own gas and electricity meter readings so that your bill is more accurate, bills are estimated otherwise and you can end up paying out more than is necessary. The same goes for broadband usage. Your provider can tell you how much of your download allowance you are using each month. I have previously been on an “all bells and whistles” unlimited package (because I assumed I needed it) but as we rarely download I wasn’t actually using much at all and reduced my package cost by £15 a month!
  4. Grocery shop online. I used to think this would cost me more as I had to pay for delivery. In actual fact I save an average of £14 a week shopping online, rather than in store. Grocery shopping online gets easier and easier, the items you use regularly are stored online for you to add to your basket, you can keep an eye on exactly how much you are putting in your basket and you can say goodbye to impulse buys. Online food shopping is also good for the waistline!
  5. Cancel the un-necessaries! When starting a diet the first thing you do is cut out the rubbish, stop eating cake and stop buying crisps. When giving your budget a makeover you do pretty much the same thing. Cancel the magazine and newspaper subscriptions (you can read them online most of the time anyway), downgrade the Sky package (how often do you watch the Movies?) and make your own takeaway food rather than having it delivered.

I refuse to pay more than I should so take a few minutes to think about the above and make sure you don’t have to either.

 

 

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