Today I’m reviewing a new book called Extreme Frugality by my blogging colleague Jane Berry, also known as Shoestring Jane.
Jane runs a popular blog called Shoestring Cottage which follows her journey towards making a creative, happy and sustainable life on much less. She also runs a YouTube channel as Shoestring Jane, where she shares her thrifty life and money-saving ideas. And she is also a writer for the estimable Mouthy Money site, to which I am a regular contributor myself.
Extreme Frugality is divided into 13 main chapters, as follows:
Chapter 1: Frugal Foundations
Chapter 2: Stuff, Stuff and More Stuff
Chapter 3: Cooking and Eating Like Grandma
Chapter 4: Granny’s advice – ‘Make do & Mend’ and ‘Waste Not, Want Not’
Chapter 5: Buying Second-Hand and Getting Everything for Less
Chapter 6: Slashing Your Monthly Bills
Chapter 7: Making a Frugal Home
Chapter 8: The Frugal Cleaner
Chapter 9: The Frugal Garden
Chapter 10: Frugal Fashion: Dress for Less
Chapter 11: Frugal Fun and Travel
Chapter 12: A Frugal Christmas
Chapter 13: Health and Well-being on a Budget
There is also a section of references and resources at the end.
As you may gather, Extreme Frugality aims to show you how to develop thrifty habits (as our grandparents had to). The author says the purpose of doing this is to cushion you against hard times, be creative with what you have, buy just what you need, and eliminate waste from your home.
As a one-time professional writer and editor myself, I was impressed by the high standard to which Extreme Frugality has been produced. The style is clear and accessible, and the content neatly set out without any unnecessary typographical or design gimmicks.
Obviously in the current cost-of-living crisis we are all having to tighten our belts, so the advice in the book is very apposite at present. There are also plenty of suggestions for preventing waste, so the book should appeal to anyone concerned with their environmental impact as well.
It’s hard to pick out highlights as every chapter is packed with valuable tips and advice, but I especially enjoyed Chapter 6, which takes you through a wide range of methods for slashing monthly bills, including energy, water, Council Tax, broadband and so on. The advice in this chapter alone could easily save you thousands of pounds a year. But all the chapters contain useful advice, ideas and information. Even as a money blogger myself, I don’t mind admitting I learned a lot from it.
In summary, Extreme Frugality is a great guide for anyone looking to save money and reduce waste in these challenging times. It would also make an excellent gift for a friend or family member. I am happy to give it my highest recommendation.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.
Disclosure: I was sent a free copy of Extreme Frugality (in PDF form) to review. Please be aware also that this post (and others on PAS) includes affiliate links. If you click through one of these and make a purchase or perform some other defined action, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect in any way the price you pay or the product or service you receive.
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Today I’m looking at Cardeo, a new, free credit card management app. It is designed to help save you money on your credit cards.
How Does Cardeo Work?
Cardeo brings together data from all your credit cards into a single app using open banking.
It then gives you insights into your borrowing and spending. Their payment plan works out how long it will take to pay off your cards. You can set a repayment target, decide how to get there, and repay all your cards through a single monthly payment (you can also use it with just a single credit card). Reminders make sure that you never miss a repayment.
You can change the payment plan as much as you like: edit the date, target or the monthly amount, make extra one-off payments, and pause/restart the plan as it suits you.
Cardeo works with most (though not yet all) UK credit cards. You can view the entire list here. All the most popular credit card providers appear to be covered, including Barclays, HSBC, Santander, MBNA, Virgin Money, and so on.
How Can Cardeo Save You Money?
First and foremost, payment reminders from Cardeo help you pay your cards on time each month. That way you avoid extra interest and late payment fees from your card provider. If – like me – you are prone to forget these payments on occasion, this is a valuable money-saving feature in its own right.
The Cardeo payment plan offers a choice of repayment strategies, including the so-called avalanche method. This repays the highest interest rate cards first (after minimum payments are covered). By this means you will minimise interest charges and pay off your cards in the shortest possible time.
Cardeo gives you insights into your credit card usage, helping you make smarter decisions about your spending and saving. Finally, Cardeo also offer deals from other parties which are designed to save you money.
How Does Cardeo Make Money?
As already mentioned, the Cardeo app is free to download and to use, with no in-app purchases or charges.
Cardeo say they make a small amount of money from deal providers each time a customer takes up a deal from the Cardeo app (e.g. a low-interest loan).
My Experience
I found downloading and installing the Cardeo app straightforward – I got mine from Google Play as I have an Android phone.
When you first open the app you have to put in certain details, including your full name and address, phone number (for log-in purposes), and so on. You may also be required to enter an email invitation code. All this took me maybe five minutes at most. I then saw the screen below…
After that, I clicked on ‘Add a Card’ and selected the name of my credit card provider, MBNA. I then had to follow a link to their website and log in with my usual online security credentials to authorize open banking.
Frustratingly, this took me a few attempts. MBNA required me to answer an automated call from them and enter a four-digit code on the telephone keypad to complete the process. Initially it told me I had got the code wrong, despite the fact that I had copied it from the MBNA site. I persevered, however, and eventually the card was linked to my Cardeo account 🙂
As a side note, I am probably not the ideal candidate for Cardeo, as these days I only have one credit card and use it just once or twice a year. The rest of the time, I use my bank debit card instead. I am in the fortunate position of having enough income/savings that I don’t need to borrow on my credit card. On the odd occasion I do use it, it is typically for larger purchases to take advantage of the extra legal protections you get with credit card purchases over £100.
Nevertheless, I am happy to confirm that everything in the Cardeo set-up process went smoothly for me, with the sole exception of the hiccup regarding authorizing open banking with MBNA. The latter wasn’t Cardeo’s fault, and has in fact happened to me before with MBNA. Hopefully you will be luckier!
My Thoughts
If you’re a regular credit card user, and especially if you pay interest on an outstanding balance (or balances), in my view Cardeo offers a great way to minimize the charges you pay and help reduce your debts as quickly as possible.
As I have noted before on Pounds and Sense, credit card borrowing can be very expensive, especially over a long period. So if you are in debt on your cards, it is important to take all possible steps to pay this off as quickly as possible, and Cardeo will certainly help you with this. It can also help build your credit score by ensuring you don’t miss any payments.
A further benefit is that Cardeo will save you administrative time and hassle. You simply make one monthly payment and this is automatically allocated by the app across all your credit cards.
I know some people are uneasy about open banking, and if this is a major concern then Cardeo may not be for you. Open banking is, however, now a well-established option allowing consumers to gain an overview of their financial products. If you’re trying to get (and keep) your finances under better control, this can only be beneficial. Cardeo require your permission to use open banking and you can remove this at any time. Your data is encrypted and your login details are kept hidden. You can read more about the security and privacy protections here if you wish.
As always if you have any comments or questions about this post, or Cardeo more generally, please do leave them below.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you click through and download the Cardeo app or perform some other qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive in any way.
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Amazon Prime Day is over now and the next big shopping event is Black Friday, which this year takes place on Friday 22nd November. But in this time of rising inflation, is it sensible to wait until then for any big-ticket items you need?
My colleagues at Offeroftheday have been crunching the numbers, and their figures indicate that in these inflationary times, waiting for Black Friday might not be the smartest thing to do.
How Are Prices Changing?
Figure 1 (below) shows how prices from eight popular retailers on the Offeroftheday website, including clothing, home & garden and electronic retailers, have changed over the last 12 months. It reveals that during this time average prices rose by over 15%. As the chart shows, this is a significantly higher rate than the UK’s CPI inflation rate.
While the chart does show a dip in prices around the Black Friday period in late November 2021, the data suggests that when prices are rising rapidly (as now) it may still be better to buy as early as possible rather than wait months for possible Black Friday discounts.
Why Are Prices Rising So Fast?
There are various reasons for the rapid rise this year in consumer prices. One is the record increase in energy bills. This has had a knock-on effect on retailers, who are now paying substantially higher running costs for their shops and factories.
A further factor is the big increase in fuel prices, adding to distribution costs. Inevitably, some of these increased costs get passed on to the consumer. The average pump price in June 2021 was 130.73p. Compare this to June 2022 where the average price was 190.93p, a jump of 46% in just twelve months.
Other factors causing prices to rise include logistical issues (e.g. HGV driver shortages), wage rises, shortages of goods and raw materials caused by trade barriers and the war in Ukraine, the effects of extreme weather (possibly caused by climate change), the ending of support schemes for businesses introduced during the pandemic, and so on.
So Is Black Friday Worth Waiting For?
In November 2021, Offeroftheday found the mean average discount of all products on the website was 5.6% compared with the previous month. Given the current trend in pricing shown in Figure 1, by Black Friday November 2022 this discount would need to be significantly higher than that to offset the new base prices.
So does this mean you should do your shopping now? Well, yes and no. Black Friday has a focus on high-ticket items. It is one of the few days when the Apple Store has discounts, and many retailers cut their prices by 50% and more on some electronics and white goods. Even allowing for rising inflation over the next few months, those are significant savings.
While in previous years prices on Black Friday fell far below any other time of the year, Figure 1 shows that Black Friday 2021 only briefly managed to offset price rises, effectively turning the clock back a few months at best. Not surprisingly, many sources reported a decrease in total spend on Black Friday 2021 compared to the previous two years. While some of this can be attributed to lockdown measures and furlough, the data shows that Black Friday discounts simply were not as impressive compared to previous years, especially compared to the prices being charged just a few months earlier.
Black Friday 2022 and Beyond
As mentioned above, Black Friday 2022 falls on Friday 25th November. However, If cost increases continue on their current trajectory, prices could rise as much as 7% between now and November. This means that a product averaging £500 today could cost upwards of £535 in five months time.
Some products will undoubtedly see big discounts on Black Friday 2022. But with inflation currently approaching 10%, we can expect average prices from retailers to continue rising overall. If you’re on the fence about a big purchase, it may therefore be worth buying now rather than hoping for big discounts later in the year. Once we pass August/September, it might be worth holding out for a month or two to reap the benefits of Black Friday discounts. But there is, of course, no guarantee that the particular product you want will be discounted for Black Friday, or whether any discount will be enough to offset price rises caused by inflation.
Black Friday is still the largest shopping day of the year for retailers, so expect to see some big discounts and eye-catching offers. But if it is anything like last year, average discounts may not be as impressive as in years gone by, and for many items you may actually get better prices if you buy now.
Although in this post I have focused on big ticket items, it should be said that Black Friday can also be good for buying cheaper items at a discount. I am thinking here of consumables such as ink cartridges, stationery, clothing, cosmetics, food and drink, and so on. Black Friday can present opportunities for stocking up on such items at bargain prices.
Thank you to my friends at Offeroftheday for sharing their data with me. Please do check out their website for great offers from a wide range of leading online retailers.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.
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I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension).
As the screenshot below of performance in the year to date shows, my main portfolio is currently valued at £20,512. Last month it stood at £20,799 so, after a roller-coaster month, that is a fall of £287.
Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,119 compared with £3,166 last month, a fall of £47
Here is a screen capture showing performance this year.
Obviously the continuing falls are disappointing (though much smaller than last month). As I’ve noted previously on PAS, you do have to expect ups and downs with equity-based investments, and certainly over the last few months there has been no shortage of volatility in world markets. And it’s also worth noting that since I started investing with Nutmeg in 2016 I have still enjoyed a total return of 36.48% (or 62.07% time-weighted).
I should also mention that I selected quite a high risk level for both my Nutmeg accounts (9/10 for the main one and 5/5 for Smart Alpha). This has served me well generally, but I’m sure investors who selected lower risk levels will have seen smaller falls over the last two months.
If you also have a Nutmeg portfolio and plan to withdraw from it in the next few months, there is certainly a case for switching to a lower risk level right now.
You can read my full Nutmeg review here (including a special offer at the end for PAS readers). If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my experience over the last six years, they are certainly worth considering.
Moving on, my Assetz Exchange investments continue to perform well. Regular readers will know that this is a P2P property investment platform focusing on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.
Since I opened my account, my AE portfolio has generated £57.24 in revenue from rental and £92.28 in capital growth, a total of £149.52. That’s a decent rate of return on my £1,000 investment and does illustrate the value of P2P property investment for diversifying your portfolio when equity markets are volatile (as at the moment).
I now have investments in 22 different projects and all are performing as expected, generating rental income and – in every case but one – showing a profit on capital. So I am very happy with how this investment has been doing. And it doesn’t hurt that most projects are socially beneficial as well.
To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.
Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They have been doing well recently, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have over £2,150 invested with them, quite a large proportion of which comes from reinvested profits. To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question. At present all my Kuflink loans are performing to schedule, though one is showing as ‘pending a status update’. I suspect this may translate to a delay in repayment. We shall see.
My loans with Kuflink pay annual interest rates of 6 to 7.5 percent. These days I invest no more than around £150 per loan (and often less). That is not because of any issues with Kuflink but more to do with losses of larger amounts on other P2P property platforms in the past. My days of putting four-figure sums into any single property investment are behind me now!
Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question
Obviously a possible drawback with Kuflink and similar platforms is that your money is tied up in bricks and mortar, so not as easily accessible as cash savings or even (to some extent) shares. They do, however, have a secondary market on which you can offer any loan part for sale (as long as the loan in question is performing and not in arrears). Clearly that does depend on someone else wanting to buy it, but my experience has been that any loan parts offered are typically snapped up very quickly. So if an urgent need arises, withdrawing your money (or part of it) is unlikely to be an issue.
You can read my full Kuflink review here. They offer a variety of investment options, including a tax-free IFISA paying up to 7% interest per year with built-in automatic diversification. Alternatively you can now build your own IFISA, with most loans on the platform (including the one shown above) being IFISA-eligible.
I also recently published a blog post about another P2P property investment platform called BLEND. Like Kuflink, they offer the opportunity to invest in secured loans to experienced property developers. They offer (on average) somewhat higher rates of return than Kuflink, though arguably with a little more risk. As well as my blog post about BLEND, you can also check out what they have to offer on their website [affiliate link].
As mentioned last time, I invested some more money in European crowdlending platform Nibble last month. On this occasion I invested in their Legal Strategy. The loans in question are in default and facing legal action. Nibble buy these loans at a heavily discounted rate and then seek to recover as much as possible of the money owed. The minimum investment is 10 euro and the minimum period is six months.
The Legal Strategy comes with a deposit-back guarantee. This is a guarantee to return the full investment amount at the end of the investment period and a minimum yield of 9% per annum. The actual yield will depend on how successful recovery efforts prove, so in practice you may end up with a return of anywhere between 9% and 14.5%. All is going well so far, but I will obviously continue to report on this in the months ahead.
One other thing I wanted to mention is that I have just opened an account with online share trading/investment platform eToro. I’ve been planning to do this for a while, with a view to reviewing it on PAS. I’m finding it quite different from other online investment platforms I have used such as Bestinvest.
As well as commission-free share trading, eToro offer a popular copy-trading feature, where you can copy the trades of other successful investors automatically. You can also practise with a virtual portfolio of $100,000. I put some of this into Platinum on the eToro commodities market and initially its value soared. But then it went right down again. So I am not the investment genius I thought I was at first 😀 It’s all very interesting, though. If you’d like to check out eToro for yourself, here’s an invitation link [affiliate]. And keep an eye open for my full review in due course.
Incidentally, Mouthy Money currently have a vacancy for a graduate-level personal finance reporter. This is a one-year paid internship working partly from home and partly from MM’s London office. If you know anyone who might be interested in this opportunity, please do draw it to their attention.
Finally, there has been a lot of talk about the cost of living crisis this month. As you may know, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a raft of measures to try to mitigate the worst effects of this.
Whatever your political or economic views, I do think he has been quite generous to older people in particular. Not only will those of us receiving the state pension get £400 off our household energy bills, we will also receive an extra £300 on top of our usual Winter Fuel Allowance (that means I’ll get £500 this year).
Many pensioners will also qualify for the £150 bonus for those on non-means-tested disability benefits such as Attendance Allowance. And they may also get the £650 cost of living payment going to anyone receiving various means-tested benefits (everyone getting pension credit will qualify for this, for example). Some households will receive a total of £1,500 in additional benefits through these measures, which should certainly help in these challenging times. .
That’s enough for today, so I’ll close by wishing you a very happy Jubilee Holiday. Whatever you are doing in the next few days – going away or staying home with family and friends – I do hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable time. As ever, if you have any comments or queries, please feel free to leave them below. I always love hearing from my readers 🙂
Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.
Note also that posts may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!
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Today I have a guest post for you from my colleague Richard Winstone (not pictured above). Richard has just launched a new, diary-style blog called Financially Fat about his quest to achieve ‘financial fitness’.
I thought Financially Fat could be of interest to many Pounds and Sense readers, so I invited Richard to create a guest post about it. He was happy to oblige, so here is his article.
Hi everyone. I’m Richard Winstone and I write a blog called Financially Fat.
I want to start this post by thanking Nick for allowing me to guest blog on Pounds and Sense. I appreciate the feedback he has given on my blog and am really proud to have this opportunity to showcase Financially Fat to the Pounds and Sense community.
What is Financially Fat?
“If financial fitness is the aim, then I am Financially Fat.” This is the tag-line of the Financially Fat blog.
Being financially fat isn’t supposed to paint the image of a fat, wealthy man. It’s meant to imply that my finances are out of shape, which they are.
I’ve decided to take a no-holds-barred approach to financial honesty in my blog: the good, the bad and the ugly. So, in the second post I wrote down my complete financial position. I left nothing to the imagination and fully revealed my “financial nakedness”. I did this because I wanted my readers to know that I’m not another rich guy giving quick tips to save a few quid (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but that I’m actually financially struggling and that I’m taking action to improve my financial fitness.
Financially Fit is written as a diary, in which every Friday I comment on how I did with the previous week’s targets and set new targets for the following week. There are also a couple of sections of me rambling about my thoughts from the previous week, which I hope are insightful but may just be the ramblings of a mad man 😉
The purpose of the blog is two-fold. First, I want to chronicle my journey from being financially fat to being financially fit. I think this is easier to do weekly while I’m on the journey rather than try to remember what I did after (I hope) I’ve become financially fit. And second, I’m hoping to provide a step-by-step guide for others to follow to help improve their financial fitness. I write and post my blog to the over50smoney.com website and email it out to our over50smoney community each week.
So, below is a quick summary of how my blogging journey has gone so far, now that I’m five weeks in…
This is another introductory post, but it goes into much more detail. I start by detailing what I hope to gain from Financially Fat and then move on to set out my starting financial position, including my salary, savings, debts, shares, assets and anything else I could think of. It’s a complete works of my financial position, which I’ve committed to reviewing monthly in a similar format so I can see how my financial position improves month-to-month (the next review is this Friday and I’m nervous!).
Right, Week 2 is when it starts getting more interesting and where the format of the blog really starts to become clear. I started this post by highlighting three things I did that were bad for my finances over the previous week, which were:
Moving home (kind of unavoidable)
Working from Costa far too often
Dining out
I then came up with the idea of setting targets for the following week to address things that I’ve done wrong in the previous week, with the hope that I’ll eventually move away from bad habits that cost me way too much money. This seems to be working to be honest, at the moment I’m down to working from Costa only once or twice a week and usually only for a couple of hours each time rather than full days.
Continuing the development of the blog format, Week 3 is where I started titling the blog posts a little more nicely, and where I started summing up my financial savings from following the targets on my previous week.
In this post, I point out how working from Costa only once a week instead of five times a week can save me around £50 per week, over £200 per month! I also discuss setting yourself targets as you follow the blog. Reading it is (I hope) interesting, but for the blog to be useful you need to follow the thought processes I go through and make sure you’re applying them to your own life. So, if you have a small, seemingly inexpensive habit that you do frequently, then I recommend reviewing how much that habit has actually cost you over a month and see how much you could save by cutting down.
In Week 4 I discussed the target of reviewing my standing orders and direct debits. After just one review, which took about 45 minutes, I was able to save just under £600 per year! Which is insane. I continued to review into the following week but was only able to save an additional £1 per month by changing my gym membership.
This is also the week I formalised my “Ramblings” as an introduction to the blog, I hope you enjoy reading them and please feel free to email me any time to comment, ask questions or provide suggestions (I’ve been getting some great tips from readers!).
By this point, I’ve started getting really into the money-saving game. I’m also discussing things like increasing income to ensure I’m not reliant only on my salary.
But, as the title indicates, I talk about tackling my biggest challenge yet, which is currently destroying my finances – smoking! I know, it’s a horrible habit and I’m obviously very aware of the negative health affects as well as the impact it’s having on my bank balance. So, I’ve set out a five-week plan to quit (which I can say I’m currently doing okay on, but it has only been four days).
Cutting out smoking could save me around £2,400 per year, which means from the Financially Fat blog I would have saved around £3,200 a year in disposable income just in the first five weeks, and there’s still so much more work to do!
Follow the Financially Fat Blog
That’s it for the summary of my first six blog posts. I hope you will click through and give them a read as there’s a lot more information in there and some interesting views, I like to think.
If you’re interested in following my blog, please head over to over50smoney.com and sign-up for our newsletters. Or, if you’d rather not receive emails, you could just follow us on Facebook. I write and post every Friday and put links on our Facebook page, so please consider liking and following this. Thank you 🙂
I want to thank Nick again for letting me write this short summary of Financially Fat. I really hope you find it as useful as I am. If you have any questions or comments, or just fancy a chat about finances, please feel free to reach out to me directly at richard@over50smoney.com. I sometimes take a few days to reply, but I promise I get back to every email I receive.
I’m Richard Winstone and I am Financially Fat.
Many thanks to Richard Winstone (pictured, right) for this article. I hope you will take a moment to check out Financially Fat.
I particularly admire the honesty with which Richard sets out his financial position. I try to be honest about my finances on PAS as well, but not in nearly as systematic a way as he is doing!
If you are also ‘financially fat’ (as Richard defines it) I hope you may find the info and advice on the new blog inspires you in your own quest to achieve financial fitness.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post (for me or for Richard), please do share them below.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
HSBC Bank (in association with pollsters YouGov) recently conducted a survey on saving in Britain. This looked at people’s savings habits and came up with some eye-opening results. I have summarized the main findings below, with graphics where relevant.
What Are the Most Popular Savings Options?
Unsurprisingly, the survey found that cash was Britain’s most popular saving option, with 53% of people saving this way. Other methods are also popular, however, as the graphic below shows.
The survey also found noticeable regional differences in savings habits. London appears to lead the way on cryptocurrency, with 6% of residents saving this way. People in the East of England are the most likely to invest in shares (23%), Scotland sees the most people investing in a pension (35%), and Wales has the highest proportion of investors in gold (4%) and antiques (4%).
Couples living together top the table for people trying to save (60%), ahead of those who have never married (57%) and those who are married or in civil partnerships (55%).
The survey data also suggests a gender divide, with men more likely than women (57% vs 53%) to say they are actively saving in general. Men are also more likely than women to be saving into a pension (35% vs 26%) and are nearly twice as likely to invest in shares (21% vs 12%). This is summed up in the graphic below.
Only just over half (55%) of the population say they are actively saving for the future, but the survey found younger age groups were more likely to be putting cash aside, with 62% of 18-34 year-olds saying they were regularly saving, compared with 55% of those aged 45-54.
And while there’s only a small difference between men and women when it comes to putting money away in cash (54% vs 52%), the data does suggest a wider divide when it comes to other types of investments. As mentioned above, more men than women (35% vs 26%) say they are saving into a pension. Men are also nearly twice as likely to invest in shares (21% vs 12%) and investment funds (12% vs 6%) – while six times more men than women say they have bought into cryptocurrencies.
My Thoughts
As a money blogger, it was interesting for me to see this snapshot of how people in Britain currently save for the future.
One thing that struck me was the relatively small number of people – and women especially – who invest in stocks and shares. Although this can be riskier in the short term, if you are saving for the medium- to long-term, history shows that you are likely to get better results investing in equities (probably via a collective vehicle such as a tracker or investment fund) rather than cash.
Right now, the best interest rate you can get on cash savings is about 1.5%. With inflation in the UK currently up to an eye-watering 9%, this means money kept in a savings account will be losing value in real terms.
Of course, we all need cash savings to fall back on when the unexpected happens (a popular rule of thumb here is three to six months’ worth of expenditure). And there may also be particular things you are saving up for, e.g. a deposit on a house. In that case, you may prefer to save into a cash account, so your money is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and readily available when the time comes.
But if you are saving for the (indefinite) future and/or retirement, over a period of years investing is very likely to produce better returns for you. To give you an example from my own experience, regular readers will know I have (currently) around £23,500 in the robo-investment platform Nutmeg. Since the start of this year, with the war in Ukraine and inflation fears, the value of my Nutmeg portfolio has fallen by 7.5%. In the six years I have been investing with Nutmeg, however, my portfolio has grown by 60% (time-weighted). Clearly in the last six years I wouldn’t have made anything like that if my money had been in a cash savings account.
Obviously with investing you have to expect ups and downs, which is why you should only invest on a medium- to long-term basis. But over a period of years, investments have almost always out-performed cash savings, often by a considerable margin.
So I do believe everyone should educate themselves about investing and perhaps take professional advice about it too. I would also like to see more taught about investing in schools. And if you have children (or grandchildren), I recommend introducing them to investing from an early age. A Junior ISA can be one very good way of doing this 🙂
One other observation is that the HSBC/YouGov survey makes no mention of crowdlending/peer-to-peer (P2P) saving/investing. This has admittedly lost some of its sheen in recent years, with projects failing and several platforms collapsing. Some people – me included – have lost money with this. However, I do still believe in the potential of investing this way, as long as you are sensible and diversify as much as possible to spread the risk.
Again, regular readers will know that I have modest amounts invested with the property crowdlending platform Kuflink and crowdfunding platform Assetz Exchange. Both of these have been doing well for me and generating returns of 6% or more. I also have a small amount in the European business crowdlending platform Nibble. Clearly this type of investment is riskier than bank savings, as your money is not protected by the FSCS. But returns can be significantly higher, and unlike equity-based investments they are not directly affected by the ups and downs of the stock markets. The latter can be reassuring when markets are volatile, as at present.
Finally, in case anyone is wondering, I am not a fan of cryptocurrencies and don’t therefore invest in them myself or write about them on PAS. As this recent article indicates, while you can certainly make money with crypto if you’re lucky, it’s also very possible to lose your shirt!
As ever, if you have any comments about this post and/or any of the survey findings mentioned above, please do share them in the comments as usual.
Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this post should be construed as individual financial advice. You should always do your own ‘due dligence’ before investing, and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.
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With the current cost-of-living crisis, we all need to save money any way we can. So today I’m looking at some ways you may be able to reduce your water bills.
It should be said that water pricing varies across the UK. In England and Wales, unless you have a water meter, the price you pay will depend on the rateable value of your home. In Scotland – again unless you have a meter – you will pay a standard water charge with your council tax. Domestic customers in Northern Ireland are fortunate in that they are not generally required to pay a water bill at all.
Should You Get a Water Meter?
The average water bill for unmetered customers is currently around £400 a year.
If you’re on a low income, that can represent a significant portion of your money. And unlike gas and electricity, you can’t just shop around for a better deal with a different supplier. You may, though, be able to make substantial savings by having a water meter installed.
With a meter, you are of course charged according to the amount of water you use. A rule of thumb here is that if your home has more bedrooms than occupants or the same number, it is worth looking into getting a meter installed.
Of course, people vary considerably in how much water they require. So you can use this free calculator from the Consumer Council for Water to check whether you are likely to save money with a meter. It asks a series of questions about your home and your water usage and shows the estimated cost if you had a meter. You can then compare this with what you ‘re paying currently.
The good news is that in England and Wales (though not Scotland) water companies will normally install a water meter free of charge if requested. Even better, they will usually let you switch back to unmetered within 12 or even 24 months if you find you are paying more than you were before. You should check with your water company to find out their policy about this.
If your water company can’t fit a meter for some reason, you can ask for an ‘assessed charge bill’. This is calculated according to the size of your home and how many people live there. If it comes to more than you’re currently paying you can stick with your present billing method, so there is nothing to lose by asking for this.
Ways to Save Money With A Water Meter
Once you have a meter installed, there are many ways you can reduce your water usage and save yourself money (and benefit the environment too). Here are just a few…
Only ever use the washing machine with a full load.
Have showers rather than baths and keep them short.
Fit a water-efficient ‘low-flow’ showerhead.
Do all the washing-up in one go.
Use a dishwasher, or at least a washing-up bowl.
Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
Don’t use the toilet as a waste bin for paper tissues, etc.
Fix dripping taps and other leaks as soon as possible.
Go easy on watering the garden. If possible, collect rain in a water butt and use this.
Finally, most water companies offer gadgets to save water, which they will send you for free. Phone them or check on their website to find out what’s available.
Other Ways to Reduce Your Water Bills
If you’re on a low income, all the water companies have schemes designed to help you. These vary a lot and you will need to check with the company supplying you to find out what they offer.
Severn Trent, for example, has what it calls The Big Difference Scheme. If your household income is below £16,480, you could get up to 90 percent off your bills. You can read more about this here.
I hope this advice will help you reduce your water bills. If you have any additional suggestions – or other comments or questions about this post – please do leave them below.
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Today I’m looking at some ways you may be able to cut the amount you spend on motoring.
Right now, as I’m sure you know, the cost of motoring is rising fast. Fuel prices are obviously a major issue, with the war in Ukraine and economic sanctions on Russia driving up prices that were already increasing anyway.
But in addition, drivers are having to contend with ever-rising road taxes, congestion charges, insurance premiums, repair and servicing bills, and more. And while these costs keep going up, many of us are also having our incomes squeezed.
So today I thought I would share some tips and ideas for cutting your motoring costs…
Travel Light
The more weight you carry around in your car, the worse the fuel economy is likely to be. So empty your boot as much as possible and remove the roof rack if you’re not using it. The latter will also aid fuel economy by reducing air resistance.
Check Your Tyres
According to the RAC, tyres under inflated by 15 psi – a difference you might not notice visually – can use 6% more fuel. Not only that, under-inflated tyres wear out faster, meaning you will need to replace them sooner.
You can check your tyre pressure at most filling stations or buy an electric pump (like this one maybe). The correct pressure for your tyres will be in the owner’s manual or handbook.
Drive for Fuel Economy
There are many ways you can improve the fuel economy of your car. One of the best and simplest is to avoid braking and accelerating sharply. That means reading the road, anticipating changes in gradients and traffic conditions, and making any necessary adjustments in good time. A good satnav (see example ad below) can help with this.
Another tip is to keep your speed moderate. According to government statistics, driving at a steady 50 mph rather than 70 can improve fuel economy by 25%. For most cars the sweet spot is between 50 and 60 mph. Once you get much over this, fuel economy starts to drop rapidly.
Finally, having lots of electrical devices running – from heating to aircon – can reduce fuel economy as well, especially at lower speeds. So try to keep this to a minimum, but without of course compromising your comfort or safety.
Shop Around for Petrol
Clearly driving miles out of your way to save a penny a litre isn’t likely to be cost-effective. But if you have a choice of local filling stations, it is well worth monitoring them regularly to see which is cheapest.
There are also various websites that can help you check prices locally, though you may have to register with them to view full details. Two to try are Petrolprices.com and GoCompare.
Don’t Fill Your Tank
Petrol is heavy, and the added weight will reduce your car’s fuel economy. Ideally don’t fill your tank more than half-way, though of course this may not always be practical.
Don’t Rev the Engine When Starting
This is something that until recently I was guilty of myself, having grown up in the days when you had to do this to prevent a cold engine from stalling.
But with modern cars, many of which have computer-controlled ignition systems, it is no longer necessary. If (like me) you still do this habitually, train yourself to turn the ignition and keep your foot well away from the accelerator pedal. This will save petrol and help with fuel economy.
Consider Car Sharing
Car sharing can work well if someone else you know is travelling the same route as you, ideally on a regular basis. You can split the fuel costs and (if you both agree) the driving duties. And as fans of Peter Kay’s Car Share will know, you can make new friends and enjoy some stimulating conversations too!
For one-off journeys, you could try ride-sharing. The website BlaBlaCar lets you search for other drivers who are making a similar journey and have space for you in their vehicle. Alternatively, if you are planning a long journey you can help defray the cost by offering to take one or more paying passengers. Fees are paid in advance via the website, so there is no awkward passing over of cash on the day.
There are also ‘car pool’ companies like ZipCar that offer members the opportunity to hire a car from their fleet when needed for a modest price. If you only require a car now and then, this could be a cost-effective alternative to owning a car yourself.
Shop Around for Motor Insurance
It’s easy to fall into the habit of renewing every year with the same insurer, but there are big savings to be made by shopping around.
Use a price comparison service such as Go Compare or Confused.com to get quotes from a range of insurers, therefore. But also check cashback sites such as Top Cashback and Quidco, which have some good offers too. For example, Top Cashback are currently offering up to £20 cashback on car insurance from the AA.
One other top tip is to get a quote for fully comprehensive insurance, even if you normally opt for third party, fire and theft (TPFT). Surprisingly, because of the way insurance companies’ algorithms work, comprehensive insurance often comes out cheaper, even though you are actually getting better cover.
Go Electric
Finally, if you haven’t done so already, you could consider going electric (or hybrid).
Electricity prices are going up at the moment too, but you should still save a lot compared with buying petrol or diesel. Electric cars are obviously expensive but prices are starting to come down and there is a growing second-hand market as well. This article from the Buyacar website includes a useful round-up of the pros and cons of electric cars.
If you have any comments or questions – or any other tips for saving money on motoring – please do leave a comment as usual.
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As I’m sure you know, energy bills in the UK (and worldwide) are rising rapidly at the moment. Add this to tax hikes and surging inflation, and many of us will undoubtedly be feeling the pinch in the months (and years) ahead.
The government has announced various measures to try to mitigate the impact of energy price rises. These include £150 council tax rebates for those in Bands A to D and a (somewhat controversial) £200 rebate on energy bills, repayable at £40 a year over five years. These measures may help a bit, but they are unlikely to cover all the increased costs on their own.
So today I am looking at how you may be able to cut your bills by reducing the amount of gas and electricity you use. I am indebted to my friends at renewable energy specialists Ecoflow for their infographic (below) and research, which I shall be quoting from in this article.
Infographic
The Ecoflow infographic below shows a range of data about household energy consumption, including how much electricity we typically use in a year and which appliances use the most.
The graphic shows that an average UK household consumes 14,900 kWh of energy (gas and electricity) per year. That represents a daily energy consumption of 40.5 – 48 kWh per household.
The graphic also shows the amount of power used by different appliances in the home. Not surprisingly, the ones using most energy are cookers (19% of our total energy consumption) and so-called wet appliances (21%). Wet appliances include any that use water – washing machines, dishwashers, electric showers, and so on.
Covid has of course led to a huge increase in working from home – a trend which looks set to continue even as we move out of the pandemic. This has inevitably resulted in an increase in household energy consumption. Ecoflow say that the UK’s electricity consumption saw a 10% increase in 2021, reversing the trend in 2020 during which consumption fell by 14% year on year. The sharp increase in 2021 came largely from a return to relative normality following the restrictions and lockdowns of 2020.
When Is Most Energy Used?
EcoFlow have produced a breakdown of how our daily habits affect our energy consumption, which appliances are the most energy-hungry, and how we can change our habits to reduce our energy consumption. I have set out the main findings below, along with some ‘top tips’ for reducing energy consumption in the part of the day concerned.
Morning
A survey into Britain’s most popular breakfast choices found that 4/5 of Brits’ favourite breakfast foods are cooked. Despite changing lifestyles and eating habits, a cooked breakfast is clearly still a very popular choice. But how much electricity does it consume? Cooking appliances such as hobs (0.71 kWh per use), ovens (1.56 kWh per use) and microwaves (0.945 kWh per use) account for 19% of average electricity use.
Top Tip – As microwaves are more energy efficient than ovens, try batch cooking at the beginning of the week and reheating leftovers, rather than using the oven for every meal.
Afternoon
Working from home obviously increases electricity consumption, as devices such as laptops (0.4 kWh for 8-hour days), monitors and webcams become essential aspects of our home office. But WFH also allows us to carry out daily chores such as vacuuming and using the dishwasher (3.13 kWh per cycle) throughout the day. As mentioned above, wet appliances account for around 21% of our total electricity use.
Top Tip – Simple things to look out for to reduce electricity consumption include switching your washing machine to ‘eco’ mode and ensuring you only run it when it’s full. This will not only save energy, it will save water as well (and money if you are on a water meter).
Evening
Ecoflow’s research found that electricity consumption increased by 21% during the winter of 2020 compared to the summer. As the days become shorter during the winter months, our electricity consumption goes up and use of lighting increases significantly. Lighting accounts for 14% of the overall electricity usage in a home – per bulb this is 0.84 kWh.
Top Tip – Turning off lights and/or switching to energy-saving LED bulbs is an essential part of moving towards a more energy-efficient way of living.
More Tips for Saving Energy
Here are a few more tips for reducing your energy consumption and cutting bills, starting with one from the infographic.
Unplug devices from the wall and turn off standby. Leaving devices such as TVs on standby uses extra electricity. Though only a relatively small amount, if devices are left on 24/7 the cost adds up.
With rising energy prices, switching to renewables such as solar panels becomes ever more attractive. Although the government has reduced financial incentives such as feed-in tariffs, the savings alone from generating your own energy are increasingly compelling.
Insulating your home to keep warmth in during the winter months can reduce your heating bills. Even simple, inexpensive things like putting draft-excluders at the bottom of doors can make a significant difference over the course of a year.
If you have an old, inefficient gas boiler, consider replacing it with a more modern one. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that an average household could save £195 by switching from an old, G-rated boiler to a new, A-rated condensing boiler with a programmer, room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves. If you live in a detached house, you could save up to £300 a year. Obviously installing a new boiler isn’t cheap, but if you can find the money it should be a very good investment.
If you have an old, inefficient boiler and receive pension credit or tax credits, you may be eligible for a FREE boiler replacement under the government’s ECO scheme. For more information about this, check out the in-depth article above from my colleagues at Over 60s Discounts.
Keep tumble dryer usage to a minimum as they use large amounts of electricity. According to the Energy Saving Trust, an average tumble dryer uses roughly 4.5 kWh of electricity per cycle. Dry clothes outside if possible or over an airer.
Wash clothes at 30 degrees (or cooler) wherever possible. Modern washing machines will still do a good job at these lower temperatures, and again the energy savings add up.
Closing Thoughts
Obviously I hope rising energy costs will not cause you serious hardship. No-one should ever be forced to choose between ‘heating and eating’. But I hope the information and tips in this article will at least help you reduce your energy consumption in the months ahead and hence lower your bills.
Remember also that if you’re on a low income, there are government schemes such as the Warm Home Discount to help you.
In addition, you may be able to save money by switching energy supplier. Right now there aren’t many good deals around, but if you switch to EDF via my (affiliate) link you can get £50 credited towards your energy account, which should certainly help a little 🙂
Thank you again to my friends at Ecoflow for their infographic and research data. As their R&D Director, Thomas Chan, says: ‘We have to remain mindful of our energy usage and the direct effects it has on the environment and climate change. By becoming energy independent and using renewable sources of energy such as solar, people can avoid high electricity bills during the winter months.’
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.
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Today I have a guest post for you from my friends at Broadway Autocentres. As specialists in this field, they know exactly what it takes to get the most out of your car tyres.
Over to the experts, then…
When it comes to driving your own car, all the costs seem to mount up. If you’re not saving for the next service, you’re putting money aside for the MOT. And just when that is out of the way, you realise that you don’t know how old your tyres are or when they will need to be replaced.
There is no way to have your car use less fuel or oil, and skipping services is a bad idea – but if you can reduce the wear and tear on the vehicle whenever possible, so much the better for your purse or wallet.
Tyres are one of the biggest expenses you will face, so let us look at five ways to get the most out of your tyres before you bow to fate and replace them!
Buy Them in Twos
Buying a set of four tyres can seem impossible with a tight budget, so why not replace your tyres in twos instead? Depending on whether your car is front or back wheel drive, either the front set or back set will take the most punishment. It is the most worn tyres that should be replaced, with the more lightly worn set moving to take their place and the new tyres going where they will receive less wear. This system may seem inconsistent, but it will ensure that you stay safe while on the road without needing to spend a lot of money all at once.
Drive Sensibly
Drive according to the Highway Code at all times and resist the temptation to put your car through its paces. Maintain a safe speed, avoid rough or unsurfaced roads, and increase and decrease speed slowly whenever possible. All of these will help to keep your tyres in good condition for longer, so you can keep saving for their eventual replacements.
Buy the Best
While it may seem counter-intuitive, buying the best quality tyre you can afford is often more economical when taken over time. Budget tyres are sometimes made with flaws that can weaken the tyres more quickly, or with inferior rubber that begins to crumble and break apart. Better quality tyres will last better – sometimes twice as long as budget tyres, thereby comparatively halving their cost to you. You can book your tyres in Buckinghamshire at Broadway Autocentres (01494 680914).
Regular Checks
Get into the habit of checking your tyres often, looking for early signs of damage or weakness. In many cases, prompt corrective action or a swift repair can keep the tyre in place for some time, giving you the chance to continue getting out and about without suddenly needing to spend money on a new set or pair of tyres.
Proper Inflation
Modern tyres – no matter whether budget or premium – are designed to be used within a narrow recommended range of pressure, and will often perform poorly outside of this range. Keep your tyres inflated to within the range recommended by the manufacturer (this can be found online, sometimes on the tyre itself, or inside the car owner’s handbook) to ensure that not only do your tyres last as long as possible, but you are safer on the roads during this time. Correctly inflated tyres also aid fuel economy, saving you money that way as well.
Thanks again to my friends at Broadway Autocentres for their expert advice. As always, if you have any comments of questions about this post, please do leave them below.
This is a sponsored post.
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tic a way as he is doing!
