Motivation

Barneysmom

With the chocolate, instead of buying bars I did an online order with Approved foods and got a load of sweets.
Instead of a bar of chocolate, I now have a lollipop or a packet of Swizzels. I know it's not healthy but it sorts out my sugar craving much more cheaply..
http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/ They've got cheap Ryvita too...
I take a flask of coffee to work too as I'm on the road and refuse to pay £2.20 for a brew..

ceridwen

Thrilla

...and I've now got an idea in my head (from a quick scan of your recent posts)......I've got my usual half mug of breakfast coffee left going cold....thinks:think: = wonder what it would be like if I blended a bit of my plain yogurt in with it and froze it...it might come out as a decent coffee sorta icecream and I could serve it with some orange slices???

....goes off to try and see if that would work.....

Jacey53

Hi Marie
I have exactly the same problem. I work a long way from home so I have to have access to money in case I lose my bus ticket or I have car problems etc. If I have cash on me, I have a strange need to spend it, no matter how broke I am, thinking it will be okay later.

I now try to avoid all situations that lead me to spend:
I do online shopping - I cannot put books, chocs or other tempting little bits into my trolley
I pay at the pump for petrol or go at the weekend - if I go to a petrol station before or after work my hand strays to the chocolates, sandwiches etc and my brain doesn't notice
I buy fruit and veg top-ups from a town centre stall.

Some of these things would be more expensive for other people, but help me to save money in the long run. I also eat what I buy, so if I pick up 3 bars of chocolate they will be eaten 10 minutes after I get home.

You could also try to get your magazine fix by subscription?

Best of luck - i am still struggling - but people on the forums are great support.

The_Thrilla

ceridwen wrote: »

I would be interested to know any hints you have on this - ie ensuring that one can live comfortably at income that is lower than tax threshold. I struggle with the fact that some of my tax money is being spent on things I don't approve of - like those wars you mention. Hence - I am aiming for very similar objectives in some ways.

PS; Do you have a blog set up? I imagine it might be quite interesting...(now wondering if you're also an ITNJ too - ie Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging according to that Myers-Briggs personality test.....)

Hi Ceridwen
I cannot give you financial advice, because I am not qualified to do so, and I do no know your personal circumstances anyway. You would have to see a proper tax consultant. I can tell you what I do. It is simple.

Firstly, I have paid off my house, so I don't have mortgage or rent to pay. Secondly, the government gives you certain tax-free allowances. At the moment, for a single person, you are allowed £6,475 per year for income tax. You are allowed £10,100 tax free for capital gains. If you are claiming benefit, you are, when I last looked, allowed £16,000 in savings. Once I knew what my limits were, I made sure that my finances were within them.

NB. Never do anything illegal, there are legal ways enough, and it is much more fun to do it legally.

I have a part time job, which pays well under £6,475 p.a. I have bank accounts and bonds that pay some more income, and I have a small business. The business roughly breaks even. But the income is always below the income tax threshold. And because it is, I can turn up at the Local Authority offices and say: "I can't pay this council tax, because I am a pauper." I then get Council Tax Benefit, so I pay only half the council tax. The savings I have, just happen to be a little less than £16,000.

There are ways to save tax-free. The value of gold, at the moment, is shooting to the moon, but - and so far as I am aware this is still the case - if one has gold sovereigns, one does not have to pay any capital gains tax because they are legal tender. This site says that the index-linked share certificates are currently paying 7.8 % p.a. for this month. If the RPI continues in this vein, one will get more from these things than for any other non-transferable bond, and they are tax-free, whoever holds them. NS&I also do a couple of other tax-free non-transferable bonds, although they do not pay much at the moment.

If you use your imagination, ways of making money, saving money, investing money are all around you.