During an economic recession, everyone realizes the importance of cutting back on expenses. However, many people think that cutting expenses is a lot easier said than done. Cutting back your expenses is never easy, but it is not an impossible task either. Here are 5 amazingly helpful and practical tips on how to reduce personal expenses.

Carpool to work

What is the one thing whose price just keeps going further up and will continue to do so beyond the foreseeable future? That would be gas prices. Simply by cutting down on how much gas you pump in your car you can end up saving a huge chuck of your monthly expense. The best way to do so is to start carpooling. In tough economic times, there will be others in your workplace looking to carpool and save gas money.

Don’t eat out as much

It is amazing how much money we end up spending while eating out. It may not seem like much, especially at the fast food joints. But it all adds up at the end of the month. Try to cut back on dining out. Packing a lunch for office everyday can save a lot of money in itself. Cook more frequently and stop depending on the take-out menus. Besides saving money, knowing how to cook is an essential skill that everyone must know. Save the dining out for special occasions only.

Create a budget and stick to it

We have all tried to do a bit of financial planning in our heads when stuck in traffic. However, once the vehicle starts moving, all our bright financial plans get blow out the window. Sit down and make a proper budget for your household expenses. List all you monthly and annual expenses, including financial obligations. Create a budget so that you can meet the essential expenses without having to stretch your budget. Of course, there is no point creating a budget if you don’t stick to it. Use cash for all your expenses instead of using credit cards; it’ll help you stay on budget.

Reduce household energy consumption

One of the biggest expenses for everyone is the monthly energy bills. Reducing the amount of energy used in a household can have a massive effect on how much the homeowner can save. Ideally, you would want you entire house to be powered by solar or wind energy, but that is not a financially feasible option for most of us. Simple practical solutions, such as using energy-efficient light bulbs and ensuring the house is properly insulated, can help you save bundles of cash every month.

Get your insurance premiums lowered

Along with energy bills, another major monthly expense is the premiums for car, home, and medical insurance. You jolly well cannot stop making monthly payments and let your insurance lapse. What you can do, is shop around for insurance quotes. When your coverage period comes to an end, look for insurance quotes that offer you the same level of coverage, but for lower premiums. There are websites that allow you to compare and shop for home and auto insurance online, so being lazy is not an excuse.

The 5 helpful tips mentioned here are very practical, even in times of recession, and nobody should have any trouble following them.

This post is contributed by Andrew Hopes. He helps provide useful financial tips and strategies and has found great use of payday loans for a quick relief from all the financial problems.

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When you want to grow your money or just keep it safe, probably your first impulse is to look for a bank account that offers good interest rates and put it in there. This is how most of us will keep our money safe and amass a little interest over time, but are you really making the most of your cash when you put it away like that and forget about it? Could you be doing more with your cash or enjoying more benefits? Here we will look at how to get more from your money and how to choose the right account or service for you and your money.

Understanding Bank Accounts

Before you put your money into any account, you should make sure that you understand precisely what a bank account is and what it does. What you might not be aware of for instance, is that when you put your money into an account that money gets invested into properties, projects and businesses as though you were playing the stock market with it. The interest you accumulate is the customers’ cut of the profit the bank makes by making those investments.

Now generally this interest is pretty low in a current account, but you can make more interest by putting it into a range of savings accounts which generally make accessing your money more difficult. Because you take your money out of a savings account less frequently, the banks can make more profit from investing it and thus they can offer you higher APR (annual percentage rate). If you pay into an ISA that doesn’t allow regular access, then this will provide you with even higher interest.

Choosing the right bank account then should mean choosing the bank that you most trust, choosing the deal with the highest APR (make sure it’s cumulative interest) and choosing the one that offers the easiest access. In general you should also make sure that you have multiple bank accounts with different organizations. This will keep your money safer because it won’t all be in one ‘pot’ should anything happen to that bank, and it will also help you to keep track of your own money and to budget more wisely.

Other Options

The problem is though that with any bank account you will still only be taking a cut of the profit they get from investing your money – and a very small cut at that. There are ways you can increase this amount further though, which include investing yourself in stocks and shares (or bonds) or alternatively using something like a self-managed super fund which means essentially teaming up with some other people to invest your cash jointly and choose which investments you want to make.

There are also other ways you can keep your money safe which provide other benefits or which are more suitable for particular groups. For instance if you run a large business and are worried about potential bankruptcy you might be interested in asset protection in which case you may be interest in a Swiss Annuity which pays you back your own money with interest over a set duration. If you need to take out life insurance to protect your family meanwhile, then life assurance policies can help you to invest your cash while at the same time protecting your family and could be a great way to protect your family.

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How to Cut Down Your Utilities Bill

Now that it seems likely we’ll be facing a double-dip recession most of us will be looking at more ways to tighten the belt whilst the fat-cats carry on stuffing their faces with cake and Champaign – ok – that’s enough politics – there are serious matters at hand here, so let’s take a look at how we can help ourselves instead of just crying about it!

Below are some splendid energy saving tips that should help you save quite a bit of coinage in the coming year – remember you might not have the time or energy to put all of these into action but even one or two of them could have a notable impact on your finances.

No Investment Required

Wash smart – taking a shower uses around 50% less water than a bath, which means you’ll be saving up to 10% on your overall heating bill – and if you have a water meter you’ll also be saving on water rates too.

Wash smart #2 – make sure you only run your washing machine with a full load or ensure you set it to a low energy/eco-friendly setting to make sure you’re not wasting hot water and therefore money.

Cook smarter – when you’re boiling water in a pan make sure you always keep the lid on as the water will boil much faster and  will waste less energy. Also don’t put too much water in the kettle, just use as much as you need for your tea. If we all followed this simple rule for a whole year the UK could save enough electricity to power half the county’s street lights for the next year!

Minimal Outlay

Have a Light Bulb Moment – energy saving bulbs have now dropped in price and they’re now so efficient they use up to 80% less electricity than a traditional bulb and can last up to 10 times longer. In their average lifespan an energy saving bulb should save you around £45.

Get suited and booted – well – not a real suit, just a jacket, and for your boiler not for you. This is relatively easy going in terms of effort and cost; buying a 75mm jacket for your boiler should save you around £40-£50 a year so the boiler-jacket will pay itself off in just 3-4 months.

Radiation Measures – if your radiator is on an external wall you could be losing as much as 20% of your heat through the walls. Instead purchase radiator panels and place them behind these radiators to help reflect heat back indoors. This could save around £60 a year for the average family.

Higher Cost Options

Feed from the Sun – sadly for us locals the UK is not the sunniest spot in the world – but it should still be worth considering solar panels. Costs vary widely from supplier to supplier but the average UK household could generate around 40% of their total electricity bill year on year so it should be fairly easy to calculate if it’s a cost effective solution for your home.

Double Glaze to Feel the Blaze – this is one of the more expensive options but in the long run it’s as simple as this – twice as much glass equals half the heat loss. Double glazing also cuts down noise pollution so your home will be more of a relaxing and tranquil environment. Installation costs vary widely but with savings of around £150 a year compared to a non-double-glazed home this is an investment which will slowly but surely pay for itself with dividends.

Insulate don’t Hesitate – many homes in the UK don’t have adequate or any loft and cavity-wall insulation. If you live in an old building you’re probably losing around 30% of your heat through the roof. Insulating an average family home’s loft costs around £200-£300 but should save you around £150 a year so it would have paid for itself in just 3 years. The same can be said for wall insulation which also has roughly the same cost/benefit ratio.

With this list of potential money saving options you should be ready to face 2013 with a lighter heart when it comes to worrying about your energy bills.

I am a copywriter and poet with a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Creative Writing. I have worked in various marketing & creative roles since 2001. My aim is to publish at least one novel before I die – so far I have had 2 poems published internationally in print as well as some online. In my professional capacity I currently work for an advertising agency in London.

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Babies are expensive but quite often people don’t realise quite how expensive they are. There’s no way that you can prepare for the added expenses that your family will have to deal with other than save from the moment you find out you’re pregnant. However, when your little bundle of joy is born there are loads of ways you can save yourself money so that you’ve got a little bit left over.

When it comes to having your baby you might find yourself in hospital for a few days so there are a few things you should remember when you’re there.

• Firstly, don’t use the TV; some hospitals charge as much as £6 per day to watch the TV so why not save that money and use the time to bond with your little one and recuperate as you won’t have time for recuperation and relaxation when you get home.

• There’s quite often a selection of toiletries in the cupboard including nappies, lotion, wipes and a thermometer, you should ask to take these things home – usually you’re allowed – to save yourself having to go out and buy loads as soon as you get home.

• Maternity wards in hospitals are always being plied with free samples and coupons too but generally nurses are too busy to give them out. If you ask they’ll be more than happy to give you whatever you have; a lot of the time there will be samples of baby lotions and creams as well as coupons for nappies and milk formula – you could save yourself loads.

Breast is best and it sure is cheapest. If you can’t breast feed then you obviously have no choice but to shell out on formula but if you can you’ll definitely notice the difference in your bank balance. A lot of people think that you have to have your own breast pump to express milk in advance but this isn’t the case, you can share them so if a friend or family member has one, as if you can borrow. The only thing you can’t share are the plastic attachments but you can buy those cheaply enough from chemists and even supermarkets. Borrowing a breast pump will help save you at least £100 if not more.

You should never buy too many baby clothes in advance; if you buy a winter coat in September it definitely won’t fit them by the time the cold weather hits so that’s quite a bit of money lost. Also, stick to neutral coloured baby clothes, that way you can use them again if you ever have another.

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With gas and electricity bills in the UK constantly on the rise, many people are looking at ways to improve energy efficiency in their home.

Here I look at a number of great ways of not only saving energy at home but also saving a fair bit of money too.

Keep In The Heat

There are a number of measures you can take in order to keep in the heat.

Curtains are one of the simplest measures to utilise in regards to saving energy; after all many of us have them fitted in our homes. Simply drawing them in the evenings and opening them in the morning to let a little natural light in can greatly help keep the warmth in.

Give The Home A Makeover

Now I don’t mean in any 60 Minute Makeover home decorating kind of way, but looking at the fundamentals such as cavity insulation, insulating hot water pipes and tanks and lagging the boiler. It is also worth getting your boiler serviced each year, as inefficient boilers can end up costing you much more on your energy bills than a properly maintained boiler ever would.

Loft insulation is another great way to lock in the heat, saving energy and a few quid to boot.

If you have the funds available, double or triple glazing offers another way to keep the warm in and might make the home a little quieter too, at least from external noise.

Once you keep the heat in, knocking the thermostat down by a single degree will then actually cut down your heating usage by as much as ten per cent – a great way of saving energy.

Standby Is Not Your Friend

Far too many of us are guilty of leaving gadgets and gizmos on standby rather than turning them off at the mains. It might not seem like much, but it is estimated that as much as £730m is wasted across the UK by having DVDs, TVs, computers and the like on standby rather than switched off.

Light Bulbs

By fitting energy efficient light bulbs in your home instead of regular bulbs, it may cost more in the short term, but in the long term it will save money as they not only last longer, but will also help cut your electricity bill down.

Hang Me Up To Dry

Investing in indoor clothes and hanging up your washing the old school way can also cut down the bills over using a tumble dryer, so if you haven’t already started airing your laundry out the old fashioned way, today could be the perfect day to start.

Other Measures

Draft excluders, only using the amount of water you really need, showers over baths – there are a number of other great ways to save a pretty penny on your energy bills, so experiment and see which measures work well in your household.

So if you’ve had a nasty surprise when your energy bill arrived this month, challenge yourself to save energy.

Louisa Jenkins is an energy expert who offers people advice on saving energy in their home.

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