My budget for this month is lean but I feel like I need to pull the reigns in a tad and get used to a reduced budget. So for July, my goals are:

• Food $100/£60
• Pets $70/£40
• Entertainment $25/£15
• Incidentals $30/£20 {I need to post a few things!}
• Commuting Costs $80/£45

I also have a few important “possible challenge” trips, but I’ll be using air miles as much as possible, although honestly it feels like no matter how careful I am, I’m draining money!

What are your financial goals for July?

:: Wood Burning stove
:: Floor to ceiling windows overlooking the lake
:: Flowers to tend to
:: A boat to mind
:: Large table that seats 12
:: Dock to jump off of
:: Wrap around porch to star gaze, knit and read from
:: A “neighbours” dog who is being loaned to me each day to walk
:: A dinner invitation for pot roast (I told you people were friendly!)
:: Friends visiting
:: Food eating
:: Road To Avonlea swooning
:: Heron, coyote, fox, beaver, groundhog and bear watching
:: Writing, job searching, Bible studying, scripture memorizing and life planning

Wood Burning Stove + Knitting + Lake + Large garden = The perfect home to grow babies up in

It turns out flights including tax are over £100 and food is around £10 a day (eating in the flat for at least two meals each day), plus she planned to take the couple giving her the week’s holiday out for a nice meal as a thank-you, costing approximately £30.  Not including any extra holiday related purchases (sunscreen, sandals, swimsuit) and only if she is actually going to only eat out once each day, she is already paying £200 (approx $300) for a free holiday and she admits it is probably going to cost “only” an additional £50 for everything else…in my books this holiday isn’t free.

That £250 would be 1/4th of the cost of her big holiday next year and would more than cover the giving she wants to do with £100 to spare…

I think where people struggle is they don’t see that the choices they are able to make in the future largely depend on what they do now and they really don’t understand that each £1 you save is one step closer and each £1 you spend is one step further away.

This friend is able to save £80 a month after paying her bills, her £80 for August is already committed for 2 nights away in Somerset, so she has September – March to save for her Asian adventure.

Looking at the options:

Option A:

£80 x 7 months savings = £560 + £100 savings – leaves a deficit of £340 for her holiday.  Which will most likely go on her credit card…

Option B:

£250 (instead of the “free” holiday)+ £100 (current money for her Asia trip)+ £560 (savings for 7 months) = £910 and with interest, it would be nearer to £930 which means within 1 month of returning, her £80 savings from April and her trip would be paid off.

When I am planning my spending I see each £1 as a piece of the jigsaw and how I spend or save that pound either leaves a piece missing or is one step closer to a complete puzzle.

At the end of the day, my friend has to make the choices that are best for her, but I struggle to see how getting into debt for a holiday is a good option for most people, especially when you are under an illusion the holiday is free, when in fact it may just force you to go back into debt…

For tips 1-60, please see this post!

61.  Don’t discount using a travel agent! For my stopover en route from volunteering overseas I looked at expedia, lastminute, laterooms and hote websites directly, I also phoned an independent travel agent! My travel agent was able to get the hotel for about £10 ($16) less per night and include a free breakfast! They were also able to get me a transfer from the airport to the hotel for 1/2 the cost I could find anywhere else! In the UK I use Nomadic Travel!

62. Don’t be afraid to use the secret hotel option on lastminute sites! Big hotels often don’t want you to know you can get their rooms for 25% of the cost.  I go onto lastminute.com and plug in that I want a 4* hotel or more, it then comes up with the usual hotels for generally £120+ but also a “secret hotel option” for at least 1/2 the price, sometimes less. I write down the secret hotel facilities and do a google search, for example 4* hotel at Terminal 4 with pool. I have always been able to figure out which hotel it is within about a 5 minute search. I recently got a 5* hotel advertised everywhere at £139-£159 plus £18 breakfast for £49 including breakfast!!!

63. Phone hotels directly and ask for a discount! I have found if you book last minute many hotels do offer this, the last three times I’ve used this option (all booked about 72 hours before arrival or less) I got rooms for 15-20% off the advertised price. A few years ago careful negotiation (literally at the last minute) got us an Eastbourne hotel on the seafront for £10 per person per night instead of over £90!

64. Use hotel reward cards and airmiles!

65. If there is only a £10 or £20 difference between costs of flights in airlines, think about who your reward points are with and look at how much buying that number of miles would cost. I have BA airmiles and generally speaking it is worth it to pay £30 more for a flight in order to collect the points!

66. Save towards a holiday/vacation! So much research suggests that holidays & vacations are good for families, couples and individuals, that they help with your emotional health & well-being and help cope with “modern life”. I personally have found it is easier to say no to last minute “I feel terrible let’s blow the budget and book into a spa for the weekend” when I know in 2, 3, 4, 5 months a holiday is coming up! Holidays don’t need to be expensive, you could spend a week in a yurt, go camping, rent a cottage or go to a hotel. In different seasons of my life I’ve enjoyed very varied holidays – for me some holidays are about R&R others are about learning and exploring, they key is they give me the break I need and help me concentrate on my financial goals for the rest of the year!

67. When you travel always pack drinks & snacks! Airports are expensive!! I usually take lots of granola & fruit bars, seeds, fruit, water bottles etc!

68. Set a budget for daytrips, exploring and eating out & stick to it! Google restaurants near where you are staying and look at the menu’s, get a realistic picture of what the costs will be and make your budget accordingly!

69. Always write letters of thanks to any restaurants, hotels or places you’ve visited who have gone out of their way to provide good service, often they will then tell you about special reward programs or even send you a certificate as a thank you!

70. When you’ve truly had a bad experience then do kindly (!) contact customer service. I have done this twice in my life because the service was absolutely horrible (& rude) – one gave me a free 10 day pass to a wonderful health club that would never normally be in my budget, the other gave me a $25 gift card! I would never advocate being fussy or making more of a situation than warranted, but when you’ve really had a bad experience letting customer services or a manager know actually is helpful to the company, after all they rely on customers coming back!

Ten months ago I sat down with one of my closest friends and organized her finances, it was no easy feat! With an income of £12,000 a year and a mortgage, she was struggling and never seemed to have any money left. When I asked her what her financial goal was, she shared that she desperately wanted a holiday – she had been waiting for 5 long years! It was not an easy task, it involved re-jigging and re-jigging, moving money into different jars and a whole lot of sacrifice. She went from saving nothing each month to saving £200 a month, spending £40 a week on food to slashing it to £20 a week (and most weeks she had change left over) while still eating 3 veg a day and 3 fruits a day! On top of that she begun giving to charity (finally seeing/feeling she can afford to) and has been able to not only help friends in need, but start saving for her future too!

And today? Well she flies off for 2 weeks in the US, fully paid for, in cash! Yes budgeting and frugal living is wonderful and marvelous, and as my friend said to me last night – it changed my life!

Remembering the feeling of being at home; strolling through Central Park, sipping coffee at Dean & Deluca, visiting museums, galleries and exhibits and gazing at art which speaks to my soul, enjoying sweet treats from Magnolia Bakery, soaking in the sun while reading the New York Times, finding niches hidden in the city, feeling at home mind, body & soul. New York moments are simply some of the best moments.

Firstly, if you can save a down-payment for a home or a significant amount into your retirement savings, you can save for an emergency fund. Secondly, if you can’t touch the money it is no use to you in an emergency, so while retirement savings are very important (and compound interest is fabulous) you need money you can get your hands on in an emergency asap!  Finally, if there is a recession, a significant number of people are chasing the same jobs and while you may think you could work at a grocery store, I would bet it wouldn’t pay all your bills!

I am in a season of unemployment, as are many people. I have a variety of fields I can work in, I am relatively flexible on location as I don’t own a home and yet I would warn everyone without a good emergency fund in place, debt, losing your car or home are a real possibility.  Thankfully due to not owning a home and a good emergency fund I’ve been able to cope, only just.

A friend recently shared with me that she has just purchased a home, with a 5% deposit and she has less than 1k in an emergency fund. I know her work is highly specialized and if she was unemployed  the nearest other employer is 2.5 hrs away. When we discussed what she would do she said she would sell her home and car.  I really don’t think people realize in a bad market home values drop aka negative equity and there are thousands of people in the same boat trying to sell their homes and cars, in short it becomes a buyers market!

My financial tip to every single person who reads this blog is to look realistically at what you would need to survive a minimum of 6 months with no income and make it happen. Instead of selling things to pay for a weekend away, or new clothes, sell them to put money into that emergency fund, make it your number 1 goal for 2010 to get an emergency fund together. The peace you will feel knowing you can cope with what if, is priceless!

I thought I’d also share how I got the Hilton Hotel for 1/2 off. Firstly I subscribe to their newsletter and become a rewards member. The newsletter is very handy for letting subscribers know about upcoming deals and discounts. Secondly I go to lastminute.com and type in the city/place I want to stay. Very often there is an option for a mystery hotel. They tell you minimal information – only the star rating, major amenities (like a swimming pool) and the distance to a certain attraction. I then scour the hotel sits (Hilton, Holiday Inn, Marriott etc) and find out what each of them offers. I can usually figure out which the “mystery hotel” is and then click purchase. Every single time I have used this system, I have saved at least 50% off of the hotel price!

I’m currently away, which is why I’m not checking on all your lovely blogs! I should be back to normal by early next week. Thanks for grinning and bearing my one sidded blogging

Living a joyful & happy life on a LOT less! Part I can be found here

 This week I’ll be focusing on  utilities, vacations/holidays and car costs!

Utilities: There are a lot of websites where you can compare costs, my post will focus more on reducing your bills.

• Wear seasonal clothing – it sounds silly but when it is winter, you it is perfectly acceptable to wear winter sweaters in the house.
• Keep socks on in the house  – sounds really simple but I notice when I wear warm socks I rarely put the heat up!
• Look at water rates – if it is cheaper to use water before 6am set your washing machine to wash at 5am. When you get up you can spend 10 minutes hanging your clothing and then you are ready to start your day!
• Forget drying/tumble drying clothes – get a good clothes horse, if you have a utility/laundry room see if you can get a hanging rack , use your airing cupboard, just don’t use a tumble dryer!
• Make use of the windows – there is no point paying to run air conditioning or even fans if there is a breeze outside, open windows at both ends of the house/flat to create a through breeze.
• Get showers instead of baths
• Limit your time in the shower, while I’d hate to feel rushed every morning, a good 7 minute shower usually is suffice!
• Take your shampoo & soap when you go swimming, I swim three times a week and it would be ridiculous to come home to shower, so I bring my products with me; I’m sure this ends up saving me a few pounds per week!
• Wash your dishes together – I don’t fill the sink for every 2 or 3 dishes, often I’ll rinse breakfast dishes and do a good wash in the evening.
• I use a dish basin to fill the sink – this saves how much water I use.
• Before I go to bed in the winter I fill a hot water bottle and place in my bed – this does wonders and really stops me putting the heat up at night. Good hot water bottles can be brought for about £6 or so and yet once I started doing this, shaved a good £15 off my heating bill each month!

Vacations/Holidays – I have written about this here and here, but I’ll focus on my biggest tips in this post.

• Allot a certain amount each month into a vacation fund – a yearly vacation (even if a simple camping trip) does wonders for the soul, repairs relationships, allows us to connect with our family & friends and can be such an educational, enriching experience. Make it a priority.
• Keep this separate to your savings, your emergency fund and your checking account.
• You do not need to spend your yearly budget each year, practice a rolling system, if you save £100 a month into the travel fund, holiday one year in the UK with a budget of £500 and put the rest of the money into next year’s pot meaning you’ll have £1900 for a larger holiday, further afield.
• Look into house swaps.
• Travel off season if you can – although admittedly this is harder when you have school age children.
• Stay at Universities – they can be so cheap and provide a great base for exploring a city – I remember staying in Oxford for 4 nights at a rate of £18 a night.
• Join the Youth Hostel Association  – there are some brilliant family rooms and accommodation (usually with self-catering facilities) for a fraction of hotels.
• Stay in a Yurt, a tent or a tipis!
• Ask a friend if they’d like to swap houses for a long weekend or week in the summer (you make need to look into legal/insurance). I have a friend in Yorkshire, she may just want a few nights in Devon as a swap.
• Be a good guest when you stay at someones house – don’t stay too long, buy them flowers, insist on getting the groceries & making meals, treat them to a meal out, write that thank you card. If I’m in Scotland I will often stay with a friend in Edinburgh for 2 nights, followed by 5 nights further afield.
• Regional Airports have good charter flights, which if you book early can be very affordable. Last year from Exeter airport you could fly to France for under £30 including taxes, a couple of months prior to departure it was over £150.
• Make use of free stop overs – it is a great way to see a city without having to pay for the flights! Stay a night and see the city!
• Plan, plan, plan. Where do you want to go & how are you going to get there?

Car Costs:

• Think carefully about where you purchase you car, one of the best things I ever did was purchase a second hand car from the Nissan dealer in Exeter - they provide so much free support, are always happy to throw in free labor and simply have me pay for parts. Before you purchase a car, look at the dealer’s policies and ask for recommendations.
• Share your car – again you’ll need to know the legal and insurance implications. Is there someone you know you only needs a car at the weekends or has a similar schedule?
• Don’t buy a big car – you really don’t need a van if you have one or two children, you really don’t need an SUV unless you live in the middle of nowhere. A smaller car is more economical with petrol and in most cases insurance as well.
• Cost up using the bus & trains to get to work, it could be much more cost effective then taking your car – not to  mention greener too.
• Look into car shares and carpools for work. Your local council/government should know of any schemes.
• Keep your car serviced, deal with small issues before they become big
• Research cars that last – I always drive Hondas or Nissans, they both serve me very well and seem to run for years and years without needing any major work.
• Have a car account - set aside an amount each month into an account earmarked for car tax & car repairs. Then when the need arises you already have money handy! You can do the same to save for a new car (or more accurately new to you vehicle).

Have you any tips that you can share? How do you save money with cars, holidays & utilities?

And now I’m going to get lost once again in all things Jane, tonight’s instalment is Sense & Sensibility – the tv version. That Colonal Brandon sure is dishy ;0) 

I was recently offered a “free” holiday, a week @ a family members house in the west country. She is going on holiday and has cats, as she is away for 10 days it would be too long to kennel the cats, so bringing in someone everyday would be expensive. I get the pretty standard 5 weeks vacation/annual leave a year and having only used 1 so far was able to book another! I shall be in a lovely little modern cottage with a garden and cats for a week, 15 minutes drive from the the closest beach, 20 minutes drive from a national park!

But, I have some pretty tight goals for the month that I am not willing to compromise on, so even this free holiday has taken some planning. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

1. Arrange my no spend days so that next week I can have only 3 no spend days instead of 5, this gives me a little more flexibility!
2. Planned to take my lentils, chickpeas and barley with me
3. Contacted my three friends who live in the area and arrange how we are going to meet. With my goals in mind I’ve arranged one to come over for dinner, another to go for a walk on the beach with and finally the last friend to spend an afternoon walking in the national park with!
4. I found coupons for a restaurant near the town the house is in that has a 50% off meal deal, I plan to take my relative out for a thank you for allowing me to use the house! She doesn’t get taken out much so thought she’d like it. I’ll also do some gardening for her and can’t wait actually!
5. Pre-planned my shopping so that @ the end of the week I can buy bread, milk, salad and some fruit for my relative when she arrives back. This means she doesn’t have to go without while she recuperates from travelling!
6. Looked at the various travel costs using buses, car and trains for getting around her local area!
7. Taken a book I want to read out of the library so that I can spend days sitting in the garden reading! I’ve decided on Long Way Down about a pretty amazing motorcycle ride from Scotland to South Africa!
8. Kept my extra money left from my £10 a week spending money over July and Aug so I can leave my relative with a full tank of petrol!
9. Booked my train tickets early and with off-peak travel!
10. Found frugal local things to do that will make me feel like I’ve had a holiday – I plan to swim 3x @ the local pool, have many long walks along the beach, walk around the village she lives in, treat myself to the Saturday Times, leave my laptop @ home and just enjoy breathing without rushing anywhere or hearing sirens, screaming and cars; which is pretty much all I hear in my London flat :0)
11. Accept that the tatty old swimsuit I currently own will make do for this holiday and I don’t need another one!!
12. Remember that holidays don’t have to be about grand gestures, excessive spending or eating. The freedom I have since I started on my downshifting journey is something I never had when I was an active consumer! My holiday should just be a reflection of the new me!