Great 'Recession Survival Tips' Hunt

Charis

Ceridwen, thanks for this link posted on another thread:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ministers-in-the-dark-as-britains-elderly-face-soaring-winter-fuel-bills-951809.html

It should actually read Ministers in the dock as Britain's elderly face soaring winter fuel bills, the title of the article. (Guardian's mistake, not Ceridwen's)

The article (dated today, 5th October) begins 'Charities will tomorrow take the Government to the High Court in an attempt to embarrass it over its record on fuel poverty. Help the Aged and Friends of the Earth will press for a judicial review to lay bare ministers' failure to rescue millions of vulnerable people who face a struggle to heat and power their homes this winter.'

I'm so glad that action is being taken by charitable bodies who are in a position to know the true statistics and present them before the highest court in the land. Whether it will lead to positive action remains to be seen.

Sue-UU

ceridwen wrote: »

I've seen this comment before on M.S.E. I've also read other M.S.E. posters talking about how in villages people leave boxes of unwanted fruit outside their gates inviting others to help themselves.

I wish! I think I must live in a particularly "mean" area - as I've never noticed either - though I specifically joined my local Freecycle after having read about all this surplus produce going begging - I've not seen a dickie bird.

....goes off grumping that I live in such a mean area......:mad:

Sorry to darken your day further Ceridwen, they do it in our village at present with cookers and eaters too, delicious the eaters and darn good apple sauce the cookers have made, now in the freezer ready for Christmas!;)

Sue

Davesnave

Charis wrote: »

Ceridwen, thanks for this link posted on another thread:

'Charities will tomorrow take the Government to the High Court in an attempt to embarrass it over its record on fuel poverty. Help the Aged and Friends of the Earth will press for a judicial review to lay bare ministers' failure to rescue millions of vulnerable people who face a struggle to heat and power their homes this winter.'

Whether it will lead to positive action remains to be seen.

Hmm..... Would this be the same Government that missed its target on Child Poverty back in March?

Or the same Government that has presided over a widening of the 'Poverty Gap' between the poorest and the richest in our society?

When a school consistently misses the most important targets set by the Government, it is put into Special Measures. Strange then, that when the Government misses important goals it set itself, the most we can hope for is that it will be 'embarrassed.'

rocketman1975

Use Martin's budget planner tool to identify all of your major costs, and then think about when they will need to be paid. How many times has an insurance renewal crept up on you and you've had to seriously cut back?:mad:

I use internet savings accounts to save 1/12 of the expected total costs of big items such as house insurance, car insurance, christmas, annual holiday etc every month. I also estimate how much I will spend on car servicing n a year (MOT and tax) and save for that each month.

That way, when the bill comes through, I have the money in the bank, and i dont (usually) have 'short' months. The name of the game is to smoothe out the lumps and bumps of big expenditure by saving for it in advance. This will leave you with a clear idea of what money really is available to spend on a friday night :beer:

It's a hard discipline to get into for the first 6 months but now I have it up and running - I rarely have to worry about a big bill.

Sue-UU

Well done with your very sensible ways of budgeting your affairs rocketman, if all of us could do the same, we'd all be laughing all the way to the bank .....so long as there's still one there!!!!:p

Welcome to the Forum!

Sue

Demise

Start to invest in recession sound investments, such as wholesale outlets that save people money, always a good thing to invest in as they increase in profits as the economy drops.

________________________________________________________________
What you can't LIVE without

Primrose

And I hear that the sellers of home safes are now doing roaring business as the population lose trust in the banks to keep their money secure.

Primrose

Well done rocketman. I too put money away every month to cover bills such as insurance, car tax, maintenance etc. Unfortunately many of these expenses fall due next month and my money is nice and securely tucked away in ICESAVE !! I obviously need to revise my strategy:rotfl:

Davesnave

Primrose wrote: »

And I hear that the sellers of home safes are now doing roaring business as the population lose trust in the banks to keep their money secure.

There are safe-ish places that pay interest, such as Northern Rock & NS&I, so putting cash in a safe isn't that clever. Of course if you don't trust that money itself will continue to hold value, then something else, like gold, could be put in there. It's debatable whether an obvious hiding place, like a safe, is more or less secure than, say, in the back garden, under the cellar floor etc.

MartinLewisisalegend

I am by no means an expert but these have had a major impact on my finances:

• Budget - each month I write down all my Direct Debits and payments and tick them off as they come out of my account. Then I work out how much I have left for spending money
• Reclaim - If you are owed something, take the time out to claim it back! I got £500 from C&G over the mortgage exit fees and it took about 10 minutes for a phone call. I also commute to work and if the train is late I fill out a compensation form and it gives me money off my next ticket!
• Shop around - before buying any item, check the net for a cheaper deal. I always google the name of the store and add "discount", normally one of the voucher code sites comes up trumps for free delivery or 10% off.
• Moonlighting - I work full time and thought it impossible to make extra cash as I don't have the time. But I joined Valued Opinions and fill surveys out in my lunch hour or after work and have made £45 in vouchers. I also do Mystery Shopping at lunchtimes and at weekends and have totted up £380 so far!! And I love to shop so its a win win!
• Comping - Ok, so this one is a tad more risky as it relies more on luck but if you have an hour to spare it is fun and you could rack up the prizes even if they are small. It costs nothing except a bit of time to enter the comps and you could win big! I have only won a couple of small ones but the thrill is amazing and its a well deserved treat when tightening your belt.
• Vouchers - From magazines, the threads on this board, newspapers, anytime you get one for something you normally buy, use it!

I hope these are helpful. I am lucky as I am 24, single have no kids and have a mortgage less than £100,000. I also have a great job which pays well so know I am not in the boat that some are right now. Still I am planning for my future and know the credit crunch could get a lot worse.

Good luck all!

:A