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How to Survive a No Spend Month
The concept of a no spend month (particularly in January) has taken off in recent times. If you haven’t heard of it before, a no spend month entails only spending on the absolute essentials and forgoing any luxuries. It’s a good way to boost your bank account if funds are running low. I wanted to share some tips on how to survive a no spend month: Define what you mean by ‘no spend’ At the outset, it’s very important to clearly define what you classify as essential spending and non-essential spending, for it is the non-essential spending that you will be avoiding during the month, If you fail to distinguish…
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Buying versus Renting: Pros and Cons
Moving house is an exciting time in anyone’s life, however, when it comes to deciding whether you should buy your new home or rent a place, it can be a tough decision to make, so in this post we’re going to cover some of the pros and cons of each option so that you can make the best decision based on your lifestyle and your needs. Buying You’ll eventually own it One of the best things about buying a place is that you know where your mortgage payment is going each month, and you know that after a certain amount of time you’re going to own your property outright if…
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Helping Your Family Through Stress and Anxiety
Stress and anxiety are awful to deal with. They can leave people feeling scared, depressed, tired and in despair, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, they are two conditions that are becoming increasingly common in the fast-paced modern world that we find ourselves inhabiting. If you’ve ever suffered from stress or anxiety you will know just how debilitating they can be and how you can feel like you’ll never be happy and well again. It’s definitely not easy and anyone who is suffering from either or both of these conditions needs all of the help and support they can get. If it is your friend or family…
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Cutting the Cost of Car Ownership
Running a car becomes more expensive every year which is just one of the reasons more people are turning to other modes of transports such as motorcycles, bicycles, trains and buses. However, this is not a viable option for everyone and sometimes owning a car is vital. Here are a few tips that will help keep the running costs down, and make it easier for you to keep your car on the road. Check Out Insurances Car insurance can vary greatly from company to company. It is affected by your age, your driving experience, your postcode, and several other factors. There are some things that different insurance attach more or…
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Money Saving Monday: 3 Ways I Saved Money Last Week (21/01/19)
It’s Monday again, already? Doesn’t time fly… I must be having fun! Here’s three things I did last week to save money. Here are the previous posts in this series: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 We bought a new mattress. OK, this part is not money saving but I’ll explain how I saved money in a moment. I try to be pretty frugal in most areas of life but when it comes to health, I don’t hold back. We had our old mattress for a number of years and when we bought it, we were broke so it really was the cheapest, creakiest mattress imaginable. My husband and I…
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If I Was Getting Married Again, Here’s What I’d Do Differently
I am so fortunate to have been happily married to my lovely husband for almost 9 years. We had a lovely church wedding in my home county of Northumberland, followed by a reception in a beautiful venue in Newcastle city centre. I have great memories of the day, but even so, there a few things I might have done differently with the benefit of hindsight. Get the venue sorted first My experience was that almost every thing was reasonably easy to source – a lovely dress, flowers, a band…. but one thing that is in short supply during peak wedding season is wedding venues. I wouldn’t even begin to think…
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Low Carb Cauliflower Soup Recipe
Low carb cauliflower soup is a staple lunch in our home. My recipe makes enough soup for 5 portions, so it’s great for batch cooking. This is a staple lunch in our home, I make it almost every week, especially over the Autumn and Winter months. My kids, who are both fussy eaters when it comes to vegetables (but eat so much fruit I have to replenish my fruit bowl every day), absolutely love this soup. I think it’s because it is white so they don’t realise that it’s jam packed with a nutritious vegetable. Please, no one break it to them. What I love about this is that because…
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Money Saving Monday: 3 Ways I Saved Money Last Week (14/01/19)
Happy Monday everyone. Here’s three things I did last week to save money. First one of these I have done in a while, hopefully I will keep it up every Monday in 2019 as I find it a really good tool to help me focus on how to cut costs. Here are the previous posts in this series: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 My daughter has a lot of her friends’ birthday parties coming up over the coming week. I have stocked up on various presents in the Argos 2 for £15 offer on toys – this will save me money as I usually buy something at the last…
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Freezing Sandwiches: My #1 Lunchbox Hack to Save Time and Money
I’ll be honest: making sandwiches for lunchboxes, to take on outings or simply to have for lunch at some is one of the necessary parts of parenting that I’m not a big fan of, but unfortunately it’s an essential job if you want to save money. I’m not really sure why I hate it so much… I just find it a really monotonous task, usually done in a hurry with little hands tugging at my jumper. Recently however I have discovered something which has been a total game changer: freezing sandwiches. When I first read about the concept, I thought ‘hmm, do the sandwiches actually taste OK once they are…
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My Money New Year Resolutions for 2019
Happy New Year! As we head into 2019, I have set myself several new years resolutions when it comes to my finances. No new clothes I first read about this concept on Instagram and I think it’s a great one. In 2019 I pledge to buy no new clothes. Charity shop shopping is fine, as is buying used clothes on eBay. But I won’t be the first owner of any clothes. This is an ethical decision as well as an financial one – I can highly recommend checking out Stacey Dooley’s documentary on fast fashion if you haven’t already. The best way to avoid temptation? Don’t even look. No visits…