Friday 17 March 2017

Managing your finances - top tips

These days when the cost of living is becoming higher than the wage we earn, especially in jobs where staff are paid minimum wage, and the minimum living wage, it can be a really black hole we find ourselves in, how do we cope? How do we manage? And if you have a family to support it can be really bleak. Firstly if you find yourself in any serious financial situation that threatens your home security - Seek help - burying your head will not resolve the problem only make it worse in the long run.



1. Budget - easier said than done, but having an idea of what is actually coming in helps to spread the costs of what goes out, going into the supermarket with a clear budget will help you make sensible choices rather than keep adding to the trolley, having a meal plan for the week also helps you identify just what you need to buy and sometimes creative planning can save money.

2. Look at outgoings - hard to make cuts i know but can you live without the top TV package, phone package if it is up for renewal, subscriptions, sometimes just looking through your direct debits can help sort essential from luxury spends. Making sacrifice now may mean a less bleak outlook in a few months time. 




3. Work from home opportunities - nowadays there are many ways you can work from home, and if it helps you bring in some extra income that is a bonus, working from home can be done around family needs and potentially save on childcare costs, it is easy to search and research what is available on many different sites. 

4. Sell - how many of us have got stuff lying around that we no longer use, one person’s junk is another person’s treasure as they say! List it on local sale sites on Facebook pages or on Ebay, you may be surprised how much you can make.




5. Be creative with presents - if your children are anything like mine then they get so much at Christmas and Birthdays, so why not ask some people to help out by buying practical gifts, clothing, swimming lesson costs paid for, money towards that school trip it all helps in budgeting.

6. Get creative with activities - not all activities need to cost us, most kids love an adventure, we just need to learn to use our imagination and come up with some cost free fun, depending on where you live and the time of year, woodland walks searching for the Grufallo, picnics up the mountains, trips to the skate park, and as a bonus it always helps to tire out the kids.



7. Short term loans - sometimes you just cannot get away from that unexpected bill that needs to be paid or to bridge the gap until payday, so taking out a short term loan from a company like Cash Lady for pay day loans bad credit it can help make the money last the month, taking out short term loans is not advisable if you have no long term means of improving your financial situation, but companies like Cash Lady are a well-established and reputable short-term loan lender who care about their customers and want to ensure they have an easy journey and know all information about committing to a short-term loan.