Resolution Thrifty

Not long ago, I received a letter from my house insurance providers, I am normally the kinda gal who just gives in a cursory look and files it away. However, for whatever reason, I decided to compare the quote they gave me to last year's. I was pretty surprised at what I discovered, they had increased it by nearly £10 a month so well over a £100 for the year. I couldn't understand why they would do that as as we haven't claimed on our insurance ever! So I gave them a call and this is more or less how the conversation went: Them - How can I help you ths morning? Me - hi, I received my renewal quote today and you have increased my premium by over a £100 a year. Why is that? I've never claimed. Them - Lets take a look....we have reviewed all the postcodes and your postcode may have been reclassified as more risky. Me - In what way? Nothing has changed in my area. In fact when I look at quotes on the comparison sites, they offer much cheaper quotes then yours, why don...

I try (although don't always succeed) to view life as a glass half full so I am hopeful that I will be able to find another local part-time job but I am also realistic that this may take some time. So until then I decided to turn to the Internet for inspiration and ideas on how to make a bit of money. I typed a few choice words into the search engine and discovered the rather wonderful site called The Money Shed . "What's that?" I hear you ask. In the shed, a community of knowledgeable homeworkers generously share their ideas, stories of what has worked or failed for them, and tips on how to make money online. There is a real supportive feel to the forum and other users will happily help or give opinions if you ask. I never knew such a world existed but am very grateful to have found them. I am currently joining lots of different sites covering paid to click, micro tasks, surveys and everything in between. Most of these sites have already been tried and tested by th...

One of the best ways to save money when you are an avid reader like myself is to simply join your local library. Free books on any subject you can imagine, as an avid reader myself, I can't and don't want to shell out 20, 30, 40 pounds each month to maintain my reading habit, and yes e-books are cheaper but despite enjoying my kindle, it doesn't beat the feel of a real book. Also if you really wanted to save money then you could also give up your home internet connection and just use the free WiFi at your library. As an ex-library worker, I remember talking to one member who did this and also turned off her heating, spending hours every day in the library to save money. She loved it there so it made financial sense. Libraries are are going through an extremely rough time at the moment. With council budgets being slashed, libraries are an easy and convenient target for cuts. Book budgets have been slashed and staff laid off as well as many branches being completely closed....

Austerity has affected many and at the start of 2016, I found myself with no job yet still plenty of after school activities to fund along with a tea and chocolate habit. I had less money but a lot more time on my hands so I I decided that it would be fun to write a blog, practise my long forgotten touch typing skills and just have an outlet for all my thoughts. Being at home can be a lonely experience and keeping busy helps with that. So I did some research and then I stumbled upon  a blog called 'Resolution thrifty' written by me! I had started a blog back in 2012 and then completely forgotten about its existence when I returned to work. I don't know if its fate or just an example of a poor memory but I decided that it made sense to just carry on from where I left off with a tweak here and there. So this is my first post to my old blog and long may I remember I have one!

This challenge of spending only £5 a day has been much harder than I had anticipated. For instance, do I count buying after school snacks for the children within this budget, and what exactly is a necessity? The weather here is freezing and I would love go get some thermals but are they really necessary or would an extra t-shirt do instead? I also discover how easy it is to mindlessly spend, when I'm out and about I think 'oh must get a paper' and then I remember I can't or I'm peckish and start looking eagerly at the rows of snacks and again I have to literally hold myself back as it is so easy to think, it's only 60p! It's these 'onlys' that have resulted in a larger than desired credit card balance, a muffin top and a house full of clutter! So I simply choose not to buy, and soothe my rumbling tummy with the fact there are some uneaten biscuits at home. There have been many failures though, meeting friends and staying in budget has been almost imp...

Having read a book about a lady who lived for a year on a pound a day, I have been inspired to be more thrifty, to spend less yet still live well! A pound a day does seem a little extreme so am going to attempt it at the more reasonable £5 a day. This will exclude necessities & bills like food for family meals, mortgage and loo roll but will include anything for me that I don't actually need,e.g, magazines, newspapers, snacks, take away coffee. If I am going to go out for dinner, I'll have to save up the £5. I also plan to generally be more thrifty so less food waste and expensive brands are out whilst meal plans and own store brands are in. With the world economy looking a little ropey still, I think it is worth tightening belts and learning to reuse and recycle. If anyone has any tips, would love to hear them! My first gem is the rediscovery of the local library, I have always loved reading and spent a lot of my childhood in the library but in more recent years I have bro...