Which part of my regular expenditure would it be most wise to cut back on in light of the credit crunch (mortgage excluded)?
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37lovebunny posted
Given the rapidly-rising costs of some types of food, I would suggest you take a look at which foods have gone up in price, and then see if you can make some cost-efficient substitutions. You might try listening to [url]this podcast |http://www.fool.co.uk/money-talk/money-saving-tips/2008/07/01/fight-back-against-food-price-rises.aspx for tips.
Posted on 25 September 2008 |
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0TMFNicki posted
why not try having a look at our [url]current discounts and deals|http://www.fool.co.uk/news/money-saving-tips/2008/09/19/current-discounts-and-deals-73.aspx article for lots of tips for saving money!
Posted on 25 September 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0phogey posted
Without knowing what your regular expenditure is on it's probably impossible to answer specifically - I don't eat take away pizzas or anything similar so I wouldn't save much with TMFLena's help! BUT - what I did when belts had to be tightened was list the general categories of my expenditure and "score" them according to how long I could live without them. Then I detailed the lowest scoring categories and "scored" the individual items. The lowest scoring items are the best (and easiest) candidates to eliminate to cut expenditure. Of course you could get all PC and cut out smoking, boozing, driving and sex..........
Posted on 26 September 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0cantonaisking posted
I agree with all the above, ie vices, none essentials, take aways etc. also i have answered a question in another Q&A and copied most of my answer below as it works for this question aswell
:stack up your debts and look at how the interest is applied to the debt and what the interest rate is, pay off the highest rate possible and eventually your required minimum payments will reduce . if debt is not the problem look at all your direct debits, most people can get rid of the 'do i need it or want it?' direct debits. do you need sky tv or just want it? etc etc.if you do have sky is your internet with with another company...why? it is free for sky film/sport subscribers. do you have a packaged current account with a fee? do you use the benefits?, hospital/dental plan fees how much do you pay per year against what you claim back? ,stop charity dd's (if your conscience lets you) .if you are on a mobile phone contract make sure you know that companys number that you can text to get a free update any time so you know how much talk time / texts you've got left until the next billing date, then ration your calls accordingly (ie O2 send blank text to 21202 and it replys for free). if you've loads left use your moby instead of land line at home. All the financial press harp on about changing energy provider, get cheaper insurances etc etc..listen to them. become a tight wad. if you cant cook, buy a cook book and learn!!!! miles cheaper in the long run than packaged food, be prepared to shop at several places ie Aldi for whatever you can then your normal shop for the rest. look at what you buy every week and then try shopping monthly buying the bigger bags/ bottles/tubs of stuff, doesnt take long for the savings to add up.look at your life covers ...have you got lots of accidental death policies that you get tricked/talked into when you ring your banks call centre or have you got a proper cover that will pay out for any death cause and be better value for money. very rare that there is simple answer to reducing outgoings, but a combination of the above all adds up in bits and sneaks up on you to give a good overall reduction without drastic lifestyle changes.
Posted on 03 October 2008 | Love 0 loves
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114ThatLindseyGuy posted
Satellite and cable TV! There's never anything worthwhile on it and Freeview is, well, free!
Besides that, its always good to check you're getting the best possible deal on gas, electricity and communications.
Posted on 05 October 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0jamesunsen posted
Do you have a gym membership? Do you use it?
Get a bodyweight workout routine instead, to do at home, this also saves travel time and petrol costs.
Posted on 06 October 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0davidjupe posted
I recently looked at the cost of home and contents insurance and managed to reduce mine by over 50%. I found that the companies I approached where very keen to discount their initial quotes and by increasing the excess slightly I made big savings.
I also had four cycles insured for their full value as named items which was costing me £168 per year. I have now removed them and rely on their basic cover of up to £1000 per bike. It is a slight risk but one I am prepared to take to make this kind of saving.
Posted on 07 October 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0Adelphi1968 posted
Apart from the above, some things are obvious:
Take a packed lunch to work and don't buy from sandwich shops i.e. I like soups and whilst Morrisons had an offer recently of 4 tins of Baxters soups for £2 I bought a load - 50p per day for lunch and in the winter great!
Go through all your insurances - bldgs and contents cos. are one of the most expensive. A friend at work recently saved £250 pa.! just by switching cos. Confused.com is great!
Then car insurance, travel insurance etc.
Then as has been mentioned go for sky or cable and threaten to cancel contracts as you have been offered better. I agreed to have my Broadband speed reduced as I was not getting what they said I was. I reduced the rental by £7 and the speed was the same, together with TV package reduction on channels we didn't watch and got very low rate international calls at weekend I saved £21.
Go to the discounted outlets like Next & M & S, you can save a fortune and when booking your hols, consult Martin Lewis who has great tips on getting the price down.
Energy costs - what can I say, they are all out to get you so change to low energy bulbs, turn your central heating on and off when you really need it rather than letting it run on the clock. Reduce radiator temperature valves in rooms you don't use.
Buy things like toilet rolls kitchen rolls from wholesale warehouses and get at discounted prices.
That should do for starters!
Posted on 07 October 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0SlowClimber posted
You have to have a life as well as a budget.
I have already gone through my expenses and cut things down to a level where my budget is tighter than most of my friends and if I cut anything else out I will start resenting my budget. I have also changed energy suppliers, reviewed insurance policies, turned the heating down and put in energy savings bulbs. I could cut out the odd meal out but then I would resent it so I leave room in my budget to go out a couple of times a month. To me budgeting is a bit like a diet. If you are sensible you can save a lot of money, if you are too tight then you end up having a blow out every once in a while to make up for the fun you have missed out on - which can cost more than just having a sensible budget.
If at the end of the day you can't afford all of your expenses you might need to look at extending the term of your mortgage to give you a little more room to manover.
However if you haven't taken the time to do some proper budgeting then you really should do so. I just went through my new partners finances and they were a mess. Accidental damage insurance he didn't want but hadn't got around to cancelling for years. Life insurance at double what he wanted as he hadn't noticed his work pension included this already. An old dial up internet connection that he doesn't use as it is too slow - he goes to the library instead. Savings sitting in a low interest current account. Credit cards set up to minimum repayments so he has to manually pay the balance each month - if he is away or disorganised he gets charged interest on money he doesn't need to borrow. A final salary pension which will not pay enough for him to retire on that he isn't topping up with added years....
Posted on 09 October 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0jamesunsen posted
Unfortunately I had to give up my dentist! If I get an abcess I go to my GP for antibiotics and pain relief!
£500 to keep a tooth for an extra 4 years?
better in a bear market
Posted on 13 October 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0MouseMac posted
Bottled water should be top of anyone's "must go" list. There must be people still doing it, since the aisles are jammed with the stuff.
If you are totally hooked on cuddling a water-bottle everywhere you go, fill it up from the tap!
Still unconvinced? There are more bugs in your average bottle of high-carbon-footprint water than would be permitted in UK tapwater. Does that help?
Posted on 06 November 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0kashmie8821 posted
Try with the luxuries which you shouldn't feel guilty about giving up eg. vices, cigarettes, eating out etc.
Posted on 13 November 2008 | Love 0 loves
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0markmortadviser posted
What's wrong with takeaway pizza's? My local does BOGOF for £7-£9 for TWO large pizza's & calories per £1 must be THE best value you can get!! (what's the smiley for tongue in cheek??)
Posted on 10 March 2009 | Love 0 loves
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0Smokey posted
I do agree with most of the comments about cutting back on food shopping. One of the most rewarding for me (and my other family members) is big savings on all utilities, all on one bill (which helps with monthly budgeting, you can see exactly where your money is going and where you can cut back if you need to.) You get a better discount all combined, not only that they offer a cash card (Not a credit card) You put as much as you want on it, use it at over 50 retail outlets, food shopping and petrol, you get 5% or more cash back on what you spend the following month off your utility bill bringing the cost of your bill down. You also get a further 0.5% off for every member you get to sign up. I personally signed up 30 family and friends (And still signing now) and get a rewarding 15% off on top of everything else. All my signees are getting the same benefits.It's certainly worth looking at. This is the link www.Telecomplus.org.uk/moneyladder. Good luck!!!
Posted on 20 September 2009 | Love 0 loves
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