Money saving tips for the hard times

It is always wise to have a budget and to stop any unnecessary leaks in your personal finances. Although you may take the stance that unnecessary spending is only as losing 5p here and 10p there, all of those pence added up could, by the end of a year, equate to hundreds of wasted pounds. Even a small amount of discipline and a few money saving tips could help prevent you needlessly losing money due to small financial leaks and bad habits. In fact, adopting a few good habits could save you quite a few pounds each month.

If you ever find yourself facing a financial crunch or hardship for any reason, before you think about borrowing money or some other drastic measure to solve the problem, try taking a look at your budget and asking yourself where you can begin to save money. Start out by listing all of the bills and expenses you have to pay in a single month on a piece of paper. Next, ask yourself how many of the things listed are necessary expenses and how many of them are non-essentials. You may find yourself surprised at how much money you are spending each monthly on non-essentials.

The non-essentials should be the first things that you think about ending and removing from your list of expenses. You could try to cut out every expense that you no longer consider absolutely vital. Then you could look at your daily spending and try to find other money saving tips to make your money last longer. If you take public transport or drive to work or close by shops, consider walking and saving extra money that way.

Everyday money saving tips
• List your expenses
• Eliminate non-essential spending
• Make cuts in daily spending
• Take measures to reduce utility bills

There are some bills that you have to pay no matter what. These are things like your rent and also utility bills such as electricity, water, etc. These bills are often in the same price range every month. If you find however that the amount you are paying seems unnecessarily high, you might want to take measures to reduce them. Not only shop around to see if it would be beneficial to switch utility suppliers, but cut costs yourself too. Although you cannot change the rates at which companies charge you for utilities you can change the way that you use them. Begin to adopt money saving policies in the home.

Get into the habit of turning lights off whenever you leave a room. Use a night light in the hallway when sleeping rather than leaving the larger house lights on. You can reduce your water bills by simply using a plug and filling your basin when washing dishes rather than under a constantly running tap. You can also reduce the amount that you fill the bath or reduce the length of your showers. Eating out is expensive and costs many times more than preparing a meal at home and if you do have to go out, try packing a lunch. These and other money saving tips could make your finances manageable in no time at all.

Five Car Insurance Money Saving Tips

If it’s time for you to renew your car insurance, you might be concerned about how much it’s going to cost you. Insurance premiums have been rising pretty much constantly since records began in 2005, and it’s often the case that any additional no claims bonus you may have built up in the last year isn’t going to be enough to radically offset the increased cost due to changes in the economy as a whole. Still, it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg… if you’re smart about it.

Here are five tips to help you save money on your car insurance:

1. Don’t have an accident… and if you do, think before you claim.
This might sound like ridiculous advice, but no claims bonuses exist for a reason – if you’re a safe driver, you’re less of a risk to the insurance company. However, you don’t have to claim on your insurance if you do have a minor accident (say, a fender bender) that won’t cost much to repair. In fact, given that it would allow you to keep your no claims bonus, you’re much better off dealing with small damages yourself in the long run.

2. Look around for a better deal.
Insurances companies often raise their prices each year because they know that most people will just pay the extra to save themselves having to look around for a new provider. However, thanks to the internet (and the vast number of price comparison sites that have sprung up in recent years), it’s now ridiculously easy to check all of the offers available at any given time. As such, you really have no excuse to stick with your current provider… that is, unless they really are offering you the best deal on the market.

3. Cut down on your policy.
Don’t be afraid to ask for a reduction in your policy if there are extenuating circumstances. Do you really need four named drivers on a car that only you drive? Is your excess low enough that it’s forcing your premiums through the roof? Do you only plan on driving a certain number of miles a year? Talking to your provider about exactly what you need (and, more importantly, what you don’t need) can help you cut costs.

4. Look for the special offers.
Many companies offer introductory offers to get you to switch to them. This can consist of many different deals, but they’re all designed to draw you in by saving you money. They work off the principle that most people are too lazy to look for a new insurer after the first year – but if you’re willing to switch, you can pick up introductory offers every year and save a packet.

5. Go direct, or buy online.
Call centres cost money to run, and middlemen charge a fee – and the money has to come from somewhere. Unfortunately, this is from you. Many companies offer discounts for booking your insurance online, and (if you’re willing to search them out yourself) you can save money by going direct to insurers instead of through an intermediary.

Compare Car Insurance

If it’s that time of year again and you’re looking to renew your car insurance, you’re no doubt being bombarded by information telling you that the best thing you can do is to look around all the individual insurance providers and see which one is able to provide you with the best deal. However, who has the time for all that? We live in an increasingly busy world and, even with the large savings you might be able to gain by shopping around, few people can find the time or incentive to spend an afternoon phoning up insurance companies.

Thankfully, the digital age has come to the rescue, and there are a slew of price comparison websites available online that are willing to do the job for you, and all at the click of a mouse. They work by allowing you to specify exactly what you’re looking for from your car insurance and sorting providers by their suitability and price, letting you see precisely what you’ll be getting for your money. As a result of this (and the fact that they have so many different providers on their books), it’s likely that they’ll be able to find you a suitable insurer quickly, easily and with little fuss.

Surely there has to be a catch, though? Well, no. While in previous years, it was fairly common practice for price comparison websites to charge customers a little extra commission in order to make a little profit for themselves, it’s now much more likely that your comparison site is making its money from advertising. Additionally, given the extra competition it riles up between insurance providers – if it’s as easy as possible for people to switch, after all, insurers are forced to fight it out to offer you the lowest prices and the best possible service in order to get you to choose them – it’s entirely possible that the proliferation of car insurance providers and the ease by which they can now be compared has led to active reductions in prices for customers.

As well as this, you know that if you’re using the internet to compare quotes, the information you receive is going to be bang up to date, making sure that you don’t wind up planning your insurance out and finding out at the last minute that your potential provider’s offers have changed. This can save you a lot of time and frustration, which is the last thing you need when you’re setting off on the already arduous task of organising your car insurance.

Price comparison sites can be a great way to examine the ins and outs of the market before you buy. While it might seem a little daunting to be bombarded by so much information so quickly, remember that they’re designed to help you and be easy to understand; if one site confuses you, there’s nothing to stop you going to one of the other literally dozens of comparison sites out there on the net in order to bag yourself a bargain on your insurance as easily as possible.

Protecting your finances with payment protection insurance

What is payment protection insurance? PPI is an umbrella terms for a group of policies that provide you with a tax free income every month in the event that you lose your income due to the unexpected. This could be involuntary redundancy or incapacity die to accident or illness. By providing a monthly sum to you this way, a payment protection insurance plan ensures that you do not struggle financially.

Probably the most common type of protection insurance policy is mortgage protection payment insurance (MPPI), that will help you meet your mortgage repayments in the event of accident, sickness or redundancy.

Other types of payment protection you could consider
Mortgage insurance is not the only form of payment protection insurance available. If you want to have an income that you would be able to spend as you wanted in the event of incapacity or involuntary redundancy, then you might want to give some thought to taking out income payment protection. The policy would provide a sum of money, usually up to £1,500 or half of your gross monthly income. You can then use this money as you wish and distribute it towards any payments that need meeting.

Should you have loan repayments to make each month then you might want to consider taking out loan payment protection. The sum of money from this policy would go towards you maintaining your repayments each month which would stop debt building up.

Ensuring you get the best deal
One of the best ways to ensure that you get the best deal on your cover is to compare the premiums with a standalone provider. Of course it does not matter how cheap you can get the protection if you would be ineligible to claim and with the standalone provider you can check for suitability online.

As you can tailor the policy to suit your needs you would also only be paying for protection that you need and choosing the events means the cost of the insurance is lower.

Finally, when choosing your payment protection insurance plan, you should check the terms offered by the provider before you pay for the policy, as they can differ quite wildly in both price and cover offered.

Tracking down cheaper car insurance

Car insurance is an expensive necessity as every driver must have at least third party cover.

Driving without insurance is a serious offence that often results in a driving ban, points on your licence and a fine.

Car insurance companies include lots of factors in calculating your insurance premium, like age, gender, where you live and the type of car you drive.

Some of these are beyond your control to change to try and keep your premiums down – but others are, so here’s a list of tips that may help you save money on your car insurance.

• Drive more carefully – do everything you can to keep your no claims bonus intact and this gives you a hefty discount each year
• Park your car off the road, in a locked garage if you can.
• Fit an alarm, immobiliser and a tracking device if you can – any insurance approved anti-theft device will knock money off your premium
• Try and reduce your mileage and night driving – people who drive between 7am and 11pm and average less than 10,000 miles a year often pay a lot less than drivers who use their car more
• Don’t add too many named drivers – everyone bumps up your policy
• If you can afford a higher excess, then pay the extra because this will cut the cost of your premium as well
• Shop online – use more than one comparison site because not all insurers are on all the sites and some are not on any. Generally, buying your car insurance online might save you up to 10% on what you would pay through a broker.
• If you’re a married man see if there’s a difference in cost between your wife taking out a policy with you as a named driver rather than the other way round. Many insurance companies give cheaper premiums to women drivers.
• Look for an extra bonus, like discounted breakdown cover, that reduces the costs
• If you belong to a special member club for a particular type of car, the club may have a special deal with a broker or insurance company that will save you cash.
• If you’re a woman driver or aged 50 or over, look for a special insurance deal as you are a lower risk than most drivers.
• Don’t pay your insurance in instalments – it will cost you more. Instead, consider paying your premium on a 0% interest credit card and paying the premium off over your interest free period.

For example, if your annual insurance premium is £360 and you pay with a 0% interest credit card that gives you a six-month interest free period, pay £60 a month off your card instead of paying interest to the insurance company.

Summary

• Try and reduce your premium by reducing your risk – fit anti-theft devices to your car and try and park off the road in a garage
• Shop online for a discount – but make sure you go to more than one comparison site because not all insurance companies are represented on all comparison sites
• See if you can qualify for a discount deal through a special insurance provider if you can
• Pay a higher excess and reduce your premium

The world of home insurance

Home insurance provides compensation for damage or destruction to your home, which are caused by unforeseen disasters. Disasters take many forms and differ from country to country and what is covered differs from insurance provider to insurance provider.

Insurance should not only cover the brick and mortar aspects of your home but also anything else that goes into the construction such as piping, electrical, doors and windows. It should also offer you cover on any damage and injury caused by members of the household ad even pets and personal liability and legal matters.

This may sound confusing to you, but it isn’t really. Understanding what type of home insurance suits you best is quite easy to do. A simple telephone call to an insurance specialist should clarify and explain your options.

What are your options when you are looking for home insurance? The most important home insurance is one that covers your property in the event of damage; it also covers rebuilding costs if it is destroyed.

Apart from covering a building home insurance also covers contents. Generally you are responsible for ascertaining the value of your contents. It is not advisable to under insure so while putting together an inventory may be a lengthy process, it is well worth the effort. Remember to list absolutely everything including dates of purchase and receipts where possible.

There are also a number of add on variable insurance options available such as covering the contents of your freezer or your sports equipment. You can also cover garden equipment and include under all risks covers such items as jewellery or mobile phones and it is possible to combine building and contents under the same home insurance cover.

Most homeowners recognise the benefits of having their home insured, after all your home is probably your greatest asset, after your family that is, yet not many have a strong understanding about insurance policies. Home insurance companies write home insurance policies, and while not intentional, these polices are often very difficult to translate. In a bid to help clarify their policies, most insurance companies will add a glossary which explains most of the terms commonly placed in the text, yet there still may be times that you need to speak to your insurance specialist to get them to give your clear and concise definitions, in writing preferably.

Damage cover is almost always standard in your home insurance policy and this can save you a lot of heartache not to mention money. What this does is cover you for damages against DIY accidents, for instance you unwittingly spill a bucket of paint over your expensive lounge suite or you drop a hammer through your glass coffee table.

Getting cheap car insurance

The law says that you have to insure your car, but that doesn’t mean that you should a pay a fortune for it. There are a few things that can help you get cheap car insurance, and we’ve pulled them together for you in this article.

• Shop around. Get quotes from different places, and compare the features as well as the price of each provider. The easiest way to get a lot of quotes quickly is to use one of the online insurance comparison websites. Some providers will let you remove things you might not need, such as European breakdown cover or a hire car, to make the policy a little bit cheaper.
• Garage your car overnight. Parking your car in a garage can get you a decent discount off the full premium.
• Secure your car. Consider buying a Thatcham approved security device, such as a steering wheel cover or immobiliser, as this can often get you another discount. Even if your car is secure in garage when at home, it makes sense to be sure that your car is secure when parked up while you are at work or out shopping.
• Don’t automatically renew. A lot people make the mistake of assuming that their current provider will automatically be the cheapest when it comes to renewal. That isn’t always the case, especially as many providers offer additional discounts to brand new customers.
• Look out for promotions. Many providers offer incentives to take out a policy with them, such as free legal or breakdown cover. Some even offer cashback, and when you take the cashback amount or the cost of your normal breakdown cover off the price of the premium you might well find that it works out cheaper overall.
• Haggle. Don’t be afraid of making providers work to get your business. If you’ve had a cheaper quote from someone else, ask them if they can beat it.
• Check your mileage. If you don’t drive a lot of miles every year, then ask if you can have a low mileage policy. Insurance companies may see you as being a lower risk, but if you don’t tell them they’ll make assumptions and charge you accordingly.
• Speak to insurance specialists. If you aren’t a ‘typical’ driver, there are providers who specialise in certain areas and can often give you a better deal. If you are under than 21 or over 50 for example, or drive a 4×4 or a classic car, there will be a provider wanting your business and offering cheaper policies to get it. Search the internet or look at the adverts in motoring magazines to find them.

Unemployment cover and payment protection insurance

Insurance plays a great role in protecting and covering you as an individual, your life and your family against unexpected loss, especially financial loss. People buy all types of insurance policies to protect themselves against unexpected and difficult events that could potentially cost them a lot of money or take up large amounts or all of their financial resources. Unemployment cover is just one type of insurance policy that protects individuals and families in this way.

Most people protect various areas of their lives through insurance. One particular area of concern that many people to choose to protect is their income. There is a group of insurance policies that specifically protect people from expectedly and involuntarily losing their income. Unemployment cover is such an insurance policy. You might also know it as payment protection, income payment protection insurance, mortgage payment protection insurance or loan payment protection. These all refer to a similar type of insurance protection that helps you to continue with life as normally as possible in the event of a sudden, involuntary loss of income, maybe via involuntary redundancy for example.

Unemployment cover is an insurance that could be beneficial to anyone that is the main breadwinner in their home or who’s income is used to cover a substantial amount of the costs of their family living. It could be even more important if you have large debts such as a mortgage, car loan or other payment that if left unpaid would cause catastrophic consequences for your family.

Unemployment cover is an insurance policy that you could claim against in the event of an involuntary loss of income. It can, for an additional fee, also cover the following:
• An accident
• An illness
as well as unemployment. That is why the full package is often known as ASU -accident, sickness and unemployment insurance.

When you purchase insurance coverage to protect you from a loss of income, you would need to read through all of the details of the policy to find out what is a valid claim according to the agreement you are signing. If you do claim against your insurance policy, in most cases you could expect to receive payout for anywhere between 12 and 24 months depending on the provider, or when you get back to work, whichever happens first. The amount of your payout and the duration of regular payouts will vary from policy to policy. This information will be available to you when you first sign up to the policy.

To sign up for unemployment cover, you would need to first find out which insurance companies offer the policy you want. You could do some comparison shopping online to see whether or not the policy that you are choosing is actually a good deal. Typically, the standalone providers offer more competitively priced cover than the high street providers.

Guide to making a mortgage application

No matter what sort of mortgage you are looking for (whether you are a first time buyer; someone who already has a mortgage; or someone looking to remortgage), how you go about your mortgage application is very important. Some people may want to do their homework first and go direct to a lender, while others may want to use a mortgage broker.

So what is the difference?
Going direct will typically save you mortgage brokers’ fees, but unless you are 100% confident that your circumstances meet your potential mortgage provider’s lending criteria, then you may wish to bite the bullet and use a mortgage broker.

Mortgage brokers
Each bank / lending institution typically has its own criteria for approving a mortgage. As an example:

• some will be happy to lend to a self employed person while others may only want to lend to someone who is not self employed and who is full time employment with someone else;
• some lenders are sympathetic to those who may have a less than perfect credit history (this is your financial record that details all your financial goings on for the last six years including whether you have missed any payments) while others will only accept those people with an credit history;
• Young, first time buyers who may not have built up a credit history may also find that some lenders will not approve them for a mortgage.

A good, experienced and reputable mortgage broker may typically know which lender would be most likely to accept you for a mortgage. They may also sometimes have access to online deals not available on the High Street.

You may think: “So what? I’ll keep submitting a mortgage application to different lenders until I am accepted”.
The problem with this is that each time you apply for a mortgage, a credit history check is done and is recorded on your file. If you have several checks done by different organisations in a short period of time (which would typically happen if you applied to one lender after another), a potential lender may look at your file and think:”Why has this person been declined a mortgage by the X Bank? If they have declined them, what is wrong with them?” Plus, multiple or a quick succession of mortgage applications can often smack of financial desperation – again, another potential turn off for lenders.

Going with a broker may mean you can utilise their experience and that you may have a better chance of being accepted for a mortgage. A broker will also do all the chasing of the lender on your behalf, meaning a little less stress at a difficult time.

Of course, whether you decide to submit your own mortgage application yourself or via a broker is up to you. But if you go down the latter route, ask around among friends and family as to whether they can recommend a good mortgage broker. And before you sign up with a broker, check out what any broker fees may be in connection with your mortgage application.

Choosing credit cards — how to pick the right one for you

A lot of people are surprised at how many credit cards there are to choose from. These products aren’t just given out by financial institutions now and you can get credit cards from supermarkets, department stores and even from your favourite football club or charity! Having a lot of choice is always a good thing but this choice may come with some problems — choosing the right card for your needs may be harder than you think.

There is one vital thing to remember before you start your selection process. Unless you pay off what you spend on any credit card when your next statement comes in then you will be charged interest. The money you are spending here is a loan and, like any other loan, it can cost you money. So, you may want to take some time to research your options. The lower the interest rates you are charged, the less money you’ll have to pay in interest.

But, choosing the right card isn’t always just a question of looking for the lowest interest rates. There are many different kinds of card deals that you might want to take advantage of that may have an influence on your decision. Let’s take a look at some of the options on offer at the moment.

• Balance Transfers: Some credit cards may offer you the chance to get a balance transfer deal when you apply. Here, you transfer the money that you owe on a different card (or cards) to your new one. Many people will do this because the balance transfer deal comes with preferential interest rates or even 0% interest. You may find that the term of the deal will vary here — some cards, for example, might offer you a lifetime balance transfer rate whilst others will have a deal for a set period only.
• Purchasing Discounts: Some card suppliers will offer new customers a period of time where they are given 0% or discounted interest rates on new spending. This may be given as part of a balance transfer deal or as a stand-alone offer.
• Discounted Interest Rates: In some cases you might prefer to take out a card that comes with lower interest rates than the norm. These deals may be set to last for a few months or may be offered as a lifetime deal.
• Cashback/Rewards: You may be offered special cashback or rewards schemes with a card. A cashback scheme will simply give you a specific amount of cash back usually based on a percentage of your spending. Rewards cards work in much the same way but here you may well be given loyalty points for schemes such as AirMiles or store loyalty programs as a percentage of your spending.
• Charity/Affinity: Some cards are branded with a charity or with another institution such as a football club. Here the company will give a percentage of your spending to your chosen charity/affiliate company.

If you are in the process of comparing credit cards then you may well find it useful to consider these options. You may still want to give special thought to the interest rates you’ll be charged — higher interest rates may not be a big deal to someone who pays their card off every month but they may be more important to those who regularly carry over a balance.

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