It’s something millions of us are encouraged to do as soon as possible, but can saving for retirement really make a difference? In short, the answer is yes. Even setting aside a seemingly negligible amount of out monthly or weekly pay packet of, say, £5 or £10 a time can add up over time. Saving… Read more
Viewing category: Personal Finance
How Does the new Help to Buy Mortgage Scheme work?
Homeownership has been an unaffordable aspiration for millions of people in the UK. A combination of stagflation (low wage growth and high inflation rates), sky-high property prices in large parts of the country and trepidation on the part of mortgage lenders has made it hard for people to get onto the first rung of the… Read more
How Much Does Getting a Dog Really Cost?
So a few weeks back we got a puppy…. It’s a well known fact that children are expensive. From expensive childcare, private schools, food and the latest fashion. Oh yeah and that’s not forgetting the bigger house that you will need to buy and the increased holiday costs from now until… forever? Before I agreed… Read more
Third of Brits Can’t Meet Unexpected Bills
Asda Money highlights recent official figures which show that more than a third of Brits were unable to meet unexpected expenses in 20111, as the economic climate continued to take a toll on consumers’ finances. The data from the Office of National Statistics showed that the number of people in the UK who could… Read more
INFOGRAPHIC: Bankruptcy around the world – how does it work?
Sometimes, things go wrong. Businesses fail, marriages break down, bright ideas don’t pan out as expected… Emotionally, it can all be pretty traumatic, but at least there’s one thing you can be glad about these days: if your dreams come crashing down and you end up with plenty of debt and nothing to show for… Read more
Doing the Credit Card Shuffle
No, it isn’t the latest summer dance craze. The credit card shuffle is a technique used to minimise the interest that you are paying on credit card debt, fairly simply and easily. It can be used whether you have one or multiple credit cards, or if you have a credit card and an overdraft. Here’s… Read more
4 Ways to Save Money This Summer
Summer time and the living is easy…. yeah freaking right! This song definitely needs updated to consider the recession and the fact that so many young people are struggling to get jobs. While summer is definitely my favourite time of year, there is always the temptation to spend lots of extra money. Here are my… Read more
3 Ways to Inflate Your Lifestyle – Doing the Right Thing with a Pay Rise
Lifestyle Inflation Sucks Lifestyle Inflation is what happens when unnecessary spending balloons to match a growing salary. Essentially, you start to spend more in everyday life without ever realising! Do you remember the days of being a student? If they were anything like mine, loan day was a good one… A couple of heavy nights… Read more
Cover Yourself: Five Reasons to Invest in Boiler Insurance
In a time when families all over the country have to scrimp and save as much as they possibly can, it’s no wonder people are cutting back on things that they don’t think they need. Luxury items in their shopping basket are a distant memory and insurance policies that they deem unnecessary are put on… Read more
Cutting Back on Fixed Costs – The Gym
Click HERE for Part 1 Click HERE for Part 2 Any Personal Finance Blog will tell you that the fundamental key to financial freedom and success is to make more money than you spend. There are a number of fancy ways to say this and different equations that can be used, but the basics… Read more
The Future of Payments
In the last few decades we have come on leaps and bounds in how we use money – in terms of how we store it, spend it and keep it secure. It was Barclaycard which introduced the very first credit card in the UK back in the 1960s, sending cards out to all their customers… Read more
Insolvency – What are Your Options?
If you’re unable to pay your debts, then, technically, you’re insolvent. But of course, you may simply be having debt problems; this is another thing altogether. Obviously, it’s important to differentiate the two, but if you’ve reached the stage of being insolvent, there are various things you can do to combat it. Perhaps the best… Read more