It`s ISA Season In The UK
Individual Savings Accounts
Everyone likes to save money and keep as much away from the taxman as possible, so individual savings accounts are a popular option in Britain. It’s ISA season where banks and other ISA companies dangle great deals and better interest rates in an attempt to woo us to their stock or cash ISA.
At its heart, an ISA is simply a savings account where the interest accrued is not able to be taxed. In a traditional account, the interest is taxed at about 20 percent and higher for those with bigger pockets.
There are two primary types of individual savings accounts : cash and stock and shares. Continue reading
How To Save Money On Your Home Owners Insurance
By Stefan Mustieles
Many of us are looking for ways to shave off a few vital pounds (or dollars) from our monthly bills, without sacrificing on quality. This is particularly the case with recurring expenses such as buildings insurance and contents cover.
Buildings insurance covers the fabric of your home. If, for example, a tree fell and crashed through your roof, you would claim on this policy to pay for repairs.
Contents insurance, as the name suggests, covers you against damage or theft of items within your home, such as furniture, white goods, electronic devices, clothes. It can also cover things outside of the home, in the garden or shed, or even items that you might have with you when away from your property.
5 Top Tips For A Lower Shopping Bill
By Jessica Mackie
Shopping: you either love it or hate it but it’s a fact of life and it can be an expensive fact. Here are 5 tips everyone can try to bring that checkout total down to a more manageable figure.
Grow What You Can
You can’t grow fries or pizza but you can grow the staples that make up your food, the herbs and vegetables are all really easy to grow yourself. Even if you live in an flat a small window box is all you need to start growing your own rosemary and thyme. You might even consider taking a small allotment where you can grow your own fruit or vegetables on a slightly larger scale. Look at the foods you eat on a regular basis and start with the basics of those before you jump into trying to grow something too complicated. For most of us, this will be things like potatoes and tomatoes. Continue reading
5 Ways to Lower Your Health Insurance Costs
By Zoe Williams
With health services struggling to keep up with high demand and long waiting lists for treatment, private health cover is becoming a more attractive option. While at first glance the cost of insurance may seem high, it does not need to be expensive. There are ways that you can lower the cost of your premiums. However, you should always be aware that the cheapest option may not give you the most suitable cover. Always use a reputable company, read online reviews and double-check exactly what each policy does and does not cover. It is unlikely that any existing health conditions will be covered and you may need to have a medical for certain policies.
How Valuable is Your Mum?
Can you really put a price on your mum? Probably not, for many of us our mothers are priceless, there for us through thick and thin and will love us no matter what.
Whether your mum works full or part time or is a stay at home mum, sometime we often take for granted the amount of work they really do.
The infographic below tries to take into account everything that our mothers do on a daily basis and puts a price on it.
Homes Turning Into Warzone Over Fear of Energy Bills
The energy companies have done it again. Just as the winter approaches, they have felt the need to increase their prices when consumers’ consumption is at its highest.
With an average price increase on gas of 17.4 per cent and an average increase of 10.8 per cent on electricity, energy supplier look set to rake it in again this year at the expense of the consumer.
According to research by price comparison site moneysupermarket.com, consumers are now both living in fear of turning their heating on and/or arguing amongst themselves on whether to put the heating on or simply put a jumper on.
More than 26 million adults would put on a jumper (sweater) rather than turn their heating on due to the fear of what their bills may look like in the New Year. From 13,700 people, 17 per cent said they would wait until it got really cold before they turned the heating on while six per cent cannot afford to heat their homes.
This is causing arguments up and down the country as 12 per cent admitted to rowing with a family member over turning the heating on too soon. Of those rowing, three quarters admitted that they were concerned about rising energy costs.
Scott Byrom, energy expert at the comparison site said “The temperature may be dropping, but households across the country are getting heated. Arguing over whether to switch on the heating or not seems to be hot on the agenda for struggling bill payers.”
Tips on how to reduce your energy bills
Whilst putting a jumper on may stop the heating going on for now, eventually it will get colder and you will need to turn the heating on.
Instead of arguing about the heating or being worried about what your bill may be, follow these helpful hints on how to reduce your overall consumption this winter and reduce your gas and electricity bills. Continue reading
How to Effectively Compare Removalist Companies
Moving into a new home is an expensive prospect. With the cost of settling in looming in front, you can do well to save some money on house moving. There are many house removal companies for you to choose from and hence, there are a variety of prices on offer. Browsing around will help you select the best company. Yet, there are many removalist companies that have untrained workers and an unprofessional attitude. Moving is an easy job and they are in it to make a quick buck. These are the companies you have to avoid. Here are some tips for effectively comparing removalist companies. Continue reading
Tips to Keep Your Electric Bill Within Budget
Are your electricity bills killing your monthly budget? After your mortgage or rent, electricity and car expenses are the next major expenses. Don’t let your electricity bills shoot through the roof, take immediate action before it is too late.
So the question arises what can you do to put a leash on your utility bill? Here are a few simple tips to slash your bills and keep them within budget. We’ll start with the easiest and least expensive first.
1) Work on your habits
Without even spending a penny, you can slash your electric bills largely just by changing certain habits. For instance: Continue reading
6 Ways a Slow Cooker Can Save You Money
I’ve always loved autumn. It might sound cliché but there is something special about evenings by the fire and the way nature gives us a fantastic show of colour.
In addition to being a great excuse for drinking plenty of hot chocolate and curling up on the sofa to watch a movie, autumn is a great season to spend more time in the kitchen. After all, what’s better than a big bowl of hot comfort food after a long today in the office?
My latest culinary obsession is slow cooking and I’m sure all parents will be happy to hear that not only can a slow cooker help you save time but it can help you stay on budget as well.
So let’s take a look at the 6 ways a slow cooker can help you save money: Continue reading
10 Ways To Ensure Online Credit Card Security
Shopping has never been this convenient… with the Internet boom and just a few mouse clicks, you can preview all the information you need to decide whether you’re going to make a purchase.
Are you looking for the latest novel by your favorite author? Just log on to Amazon
The other side of the equation
Shopping online may be fun and fast, but it does have its downside as well. One very distinct disadvantage to placing orders with online stores is that you don’t get to physically inspect the product you’re buying. Unlike walking into a real store, you have to trust the seller’s word that what you paid for will be exactly what you will get once it is shipped.
Another pressing issue to making online purchases is the danger of credit card fraud and identity theft. Buying stuff online means going through a paperless transaction. All you have to do to pay for your purchase is to enter your personal information and credit card details. These are highly sensitive details that can be used improperly by those who know their way around the Internet better than most of us.
There is big money to be made from online shopping, especially those that are paid for through credit cards. In the UK alone, an estimated 6.4 billion British pounds have been spent for online credit card purchases in the past year. There are a variety of benefits built into credit cards these days like No Annual Fee Cards, Low Interest Cards, and cards with travel rewards to help you earn free plane tickets.
This certainly means that a lot of people are using their credit cards to pay for products and services online, but not all of them are aware of the intrinsic dangers Continue reading
