Category: Finance

20 steps to a frugal lifestyle

From cutting down on your food bill to entertaining at home, here is how you can cut back on costs without sacrificing your quality of life.

With the cost of living continuing to rise, now is an ideal time to overhaul your lifestyle for a simpler way of life. In fact, more and more people are shunning the consumerist, spendthrift existence that has developed over the last century or so, and embracing a back-to-basics lifestyle to combat rising prices by saving money and reducing waste.

That’s right: it’s cool to be frugal. Staying in is the new going out, charity is the new designer fashion and saving is the new spending.

So, to assist you on your way to thrifty living, fine.org.uk has put together 20 top tips to help you transform your lifestyle and fight the recession.

1. Plan your meals

Draw up a weekly menu to help cut back on the huge amount of waste UK households create every week. It will help identify areas where you can use up leftovers, finish half-eaten sauces, use fruit and vegetables before they turn bad and avoid grabbing expensive ready meals.

Remember to factor packed lunches into your shopping list to save on school-dinner costs and expensive take-out lunches. Try to stick to one big weekly shop to help budget and save on petrol.

Plus, never go shopping when you’re hungry – you’ll only end up buying snacks you don’t really need – and try to shop at the end of the day when many items are reduced.

2. Make your own

Supermarkets and chemists are lined with rows of expensive cleaning products, but a rummage through your kitchen cupboards could unearth a multitude of products that also do the trick for a fraction of the price.

For household cleaning, a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda on a damp cloth works just as well as expensive brand-name cream cleaners, for example, while vinegar is a great smear-free window and mirror cleaner.

Ideas for homemade beauty products include mixing natural yoghurt and honey for a deep moisturizing face mask and mixing a couple of teaspoons of olive oil with granulated sugar to exfoliate rough hands. An egg yolk will revive dry skin, while the white will leave your skin feeling silky soft.

3. Review your services

If you employ a gardener, window cleaner or dog walker, or use a car wash, for example, consider whether you’re paying for a service you don’t need. In many cases, you can probably do it yourself. If you haven’t already done this, it’s a sure-fire way to make some savings. Continue reading “20 steps to a frugal lifestyle” →

What is the complete journey to online trading

You would be trading the underlying asset, so it is important to bear this factor in mind. The overall trading process will be based on the price changes. This has gained attraction in the financial world because there are countless advantages that can be obtained by the market. The significant fact about online trading is that you don’t have to deal with any broker commission, brokerage fee, but only spreads. The trader enters into a contract at a certain price. If you are holding the position for more than 24-hours you would have to bear a certain cost, so it is not suitable for a long-term investment. The traders in the United Kingdom know the complete journey to online trading, so they have become profitable traders. If you want to become a successful trader you should focus on the overall trading journey.

The starting of your trading career will be a little bit hard but if you focus on the fundamental factors of the market things will become really easy for you. You might be thinking the senior traders have found Holy Grail in Forex market but this is absolutely wrong. They used to lose money like the new traders. But due to their in-depth knowledge and proper control over emotions, they have managed to find the best trading strategy for themselves. As a novice trader, you should read as many books as you can. Try to explore online trading resource and watch free video tutorials. Engage yourself with the professional trading community to learn more about this market. Never think you will not become successful in Forex trading. Self-confidence is one of the most vital elements to overcome all the challenges. Believe in yourself and trade with low-risk exposure to save investment. Continue reading “What is the complete journey to online trading” →

Guidance for your move abroad

Planning your move.

To make the most out of your life abroad, asking some big questions before you go about how you intend to maintain your links to the UK will be time well spent. Thinking about the practicalities and logistics will help ensure that your move abroad whether for career, personal development or lifestyle reasons works out well for you.

Planning exactly how you will keep in touch with family and friends and how often you plan to see them is just the start. Budgeting for the costs of staying in touch will give you a feel for what might be involved. Who’s paying for the flights home, for example, you or your new employer? You’ll also want to ensure you keep a grip on other practical financial matters such as how a move abroad might affect your tax status, whether you can claim benefits or even draw a pension.

If you own property in the UK and intend on letting it out whilst abroad, working out how you will manage this – either by yourself or through a property agency – is also vital.

It’s also worth establishing exactly what your relationship with the mother country will be. And, if you’re going for good, will you retain your rights as a British citizen? And how might this affect your tax position where you end up living? Continue reading “Guidance for your move abroad” →

What are prepaid funeral plans?

Do you want to decide for yourself how your funeral should be conducted after you die? Do you want to pay for those arrangements in advance, to relieve your family and loved ones from the financial stress and worry – at a time when they are already mourning your passing? Perhaps you want to make the arrangements for someone else, to give them the reassurance that everything is in order, and safely paid for, as they enter their final years?

Prepaid funeral plans allow you to do just that.

Here’s how they work

The principal role in any funeral is typically played by the funeral director. In addition to the care of the deceased’s body, its preparation and laying out for viewing, and arranging transport to the crematorium or burial site, the funeral director has many other duties which are outlined by the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD).

Not only do prepaid funeral plans let you pay for the services of your chosen firm of funeral directors in advance, but they also guarantee that that price will be held no matter how many years may pass before the services are required. Continue reading “What are prepaid funeral plans?” →

5 Benefits of Studying Finance for College Students

Finance is one of those subjects that should be taught all the way back in primary school. Not advanced finance, of course, but just the basics. If more people learned how to balance their checkbooks and pay off their debts, instead of learning the complexities of obscure wars that happened hundreds of years ago, perhaps our current generation and future generations would be better off financially. There are also a number of other advantages of studying finance that go way beyond our own personal needs. Industry insiders say that finance careers will grow by up to 20% or more in the next ten years.Here are 5 benefits of studying finance in college.

Studying Finance

  1. Secure yours and your family’s financial future. If you are in college, having children is probably the last thing on your list, but what about further down the line? Studying finance in college will give you the education you might need to better save and invest your money so that you can provide for your future children. Moreover, what about your children’s financial futures? How will you be able to support them before they reach adulthood? How will they pay for college? All of this postulating might be farfetched and abstract now, but studying finance in college will help secure your financial future – no matter what might be in store.
  2. Studying finance in college will also give you the knowledge and wherewithal to start your own business if you decide to do so after you graduate. Not only will you learn how to finance your own business, but also you will learn how to make your self-started company thrive in a vastly competitive market place and sluggish economy. People with businesses who have studied finance in college have a huge advantage over those that did not.
  3. Next, have you thought about your retirement? Financial specialists say that in this day and age it is crucial to think about your retirement as early as when you are still in college. This way you can find ways to invest your money so that when you get to the age of retirement you can have enough money saved up to provide for yourself without having to rely on social security or government assistance.
  4. Taking finance courses will also give you some insight on how you might be able to pay off your student loans after you graduate from college. Currently, recent college grads are being buried alive financially by their student loans. Even if you are getting your masters in health care administration, it might be worth your while to take a few extracurricular finance courses to get a better hold of your finances after you graduate.
  5. Lastly, studying finance in college will give you a world of opportunities. In the next ten years they say careers in the finance industry, like that of a stockbroker or financial adviser, will grow by 20%. Moreover, with a degree or background in finance, you will have a much better chance of being promoted to a higher position. Companies like to make sure their employees who can crunch numbers are very well taken care of.