Beat the Credit Crunch. Ways to holiday on a budget.

Major holiday retailers are holding strong with inflated prices that very rarely offer you discounts compared designing and booking your own flights and hotel. There are huge advantages to taking control of your own holiday and getting wise to the hidden costs that they are paying without your consent.

Getting that cheap flight

Airlines are reducing their prices and the bargains are out there! The major retail airlines have January sales as long as you book before mid February but they impose some restrictions on when you can take your holiday, if you’re flexible then there are definite bargains to be had. The smaller budget airlines offer bargains to specific destinations and these can be quite exotic, city break flights are very easy to get hold of at bargain prices. Beware, the price you see is not the price you pay but being aware of your restrictions can bring you closer to a bargain.

Hidden flight charges

All airlines charge you for taking more than hand luggage which is considered 10Kg and restricted to the size of a small gym bag. The charge for taking a 20Kg suitcase is usually around £10 each way so consider sharing luggage and being conscious of the weight you are taking onboard. Checking in to the airport is also charged at around £5 each way but nowadays it’s possible to check in on the internet if you’re only taking hand luggage with you. Some airlines charge an unavoidable fee for paying by card (usually £5) but this is the cost of bargain shopping online.

Finding cheap accommodation

if you’re extremely budget conscious then you may want to consider youth hostels, they can bring forth images of noisy boarding schools but in reality they offer a variety of rooms at varying prices. They can be booked online up to 24 hours before the actual holiday and there is a sea of review sites that contain hundreds of reviews for each hostel. Some hostels will offer double en suite rooms for as low as £25 per night and this can be bargain accommodation if you’re planning to stay in the centre of a major city.

If you’d prefer a hotel then shop around making use of the review sites to get a good feel for the best hotels. You can get a much more enjoyable stay by selecting the hotel yourself and enjoy the discounts from booking direct, you may have to ring the hotel if their website is lacking but persistence pays off.

The early bird gets the worm

The days of last minute holiday discounts are dwindling and the early-bird discounts are much more impressive. Book at least a month in advance of your holiday to get the full spread of early-bird discounts and the largest choice of holiday destinations.

It is all too easy to use credit cards to pay for much needed holidays and this is not a good idea if you cannot afford the repayments. If you have credit agreements taken out before April 2007 there is a new unenforceable credit agreement claim which is becoming more and more known about here in the UK. It is possible to have your credit finance agreements –agreements such as credit cards, store cards, secured and unsecured loans, car finance agreements, and those with payment protection insurance ( PPI) ‘audited’. They may not comply with the terms of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act and if they do not they are unenforceable credit agreements. This means you can claim to have them written off. That is the balance completely cleared.Fo NO FEES upfront or at any point, a solicitor with handle your claim.

Beat the Credit Crunch. Ways to eat well on a Budget.

There are many ways anyone can eat well on a budget. Preparing and eating at home always saves you money compared to eating out and is much better for you. Be prepared when you leave the house to keep yourself away from fast food restaurants. Pack and bring snacks along in the car to snack on when you get hungry so you are not tempted to stop and eat. Meals should be made from scratch. Pre-packaged foods may be more convenient but not as nutritious. Most pre-packaged foods have a lot of sodium, calories, fat and sugars. When comparing the ingredients of both, foods made at home are less expensive.

Cooking from scratch will take more time, but will save you money and be better for you. Plan your shopping trips. Do not go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. You will buy more food than you need. Making a list will keep your shopping under control when you stick to the list. Before going shopping, compare food prices between supermarkets to see who is offering lower prices at that time. Try to find and use discount coupons for the foods you are buying. Do not buy an item you do not necessarily need just because you have a coupon for it. When at the supermarket , shop the perimeter of the store. This is where the dairy, meats, fish, fruits and vegetables usually are. These foods are less processed, healthier for you and typically cost less.

Try to buy generic foods. They do cost less than name brand. Look for foods that dome in bulk. Buying foods in bulk can save you money in the long run. A large container of crackers costs less than buying multiple packages of smaller ones. When buying meat from the store, consider buying a whole chicken and cutting it into pieces. Buying pre-cut pieces of breasts, legs and thighs cost more than doing it yourself. Create your own snacks for home, work or when out and about. Food can be put in small containers at home instead of buying pre-packaged ones from the store. Food in your snack could include nuts, seed, cereal, dried fruit and vegetables. This is much for healthy for you and less expensive. Carry water with you that you need from home instead of buying bottled water. Buy a filter for you home tap water instead of buying bottled water from this store. Take your lunch to work. This will save you money from eating out. There are a lot of food storage containers to use for both cold and hot foods. All these small but effective changes will soon add up to significant saving on your food budget. And you will be healthier in the long run too!

The Credit Crunch – In a Nutshell………….

Suddenly you’ve gone from evaluating your next major purchase to worrying about the price of bread. National retail institutions are collapsing daily but the price of petrol is going down. You wouldn’t be blamed for wondering what happened during the last few years and what’s still happening.

How did we get here?

American banks issued sub-prime mortgages for many years, these are often one hundred percent mortgages at extremely high interest rates that are sold to people with low credit scores and sometimes even no source of income. The banking industry justified this by thinking that the constantly rising house prices would allow consumers to re-mortgage their house at a profit whenever they fell behind with their payments. In the summer of 2004 the American housing market started to crash and consumers began defaulting on their sub-prime mortgages, banks were forced to write off billions of dollars of debt.

Why is worldwide lending cut?

The American banks put the money from sub-prime mortgages into investments which plummeted in value when the sub-prime mortgage crisis hit, worldwide banks also had money in those investments and were left making a huge loss. UK and US banks were the worst hit and are now left fighting to survive. They tightened their lending habits to help recuperate the loss of the bad investments. Mortgages and loans are the worst affected as they are the biggest individual financial risks for banks and lenders.

Why are companies going under?

Credit is harder to get, savings are at risk as the stock market crashes and market based savings (including ISAs and pensions) are affected. The lower rate of inflation also affects savings accounts that follow the rate of interest. People are becoming more conscious of their spending and companies that aren’t competitive in their own markets are going under when consumers switch to cheaper brands. Consumers are broadening their definition of a ‘luxury item’ and markets that previously enjoyed super-profit are now suffering a huge depression, these include luxury furniture, automotive and high-end clothing.

Who isn’t going under?

Companies selling consumables and supplies continue to thrive as long as they stay competitive in their own markets. This includes industries such as petrol & chemical suppliers, supermarkets and office supplies retailers. Companies in competitive markets that have previously enjoyed over-inflated profit margins, such as high-end clothing, will need to adjust their expectations for consumer spending in order to survive. . If you have credit agreements taken out before April 2007 there is a new unenforceable credit agreement claim which is becoming more and more known about here in the UK. It is possible to have your credit finance agreements –agreements such as credit cards, store cards, secured and unsecured loans, car finance agreements, and those with payment protection insurance ( PPI) ‘audited’. They may not comply with the terms of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act and if they do not they are unenforceable credit agreements. This means you can claim to have them written off. That is the balance completely cleared. For a fee of £295 which is refunded if your credit agreement is found to be enforceable, a solicitor with handle your claim. This is on a no-win-no-fee basis so it is risk free. Many people like me, have found this to be the perfect solution to their debt problems. Visit www.creditcardswrittenoff.com for more information.

Beat the Credit Crunch. Ways to reduce your food bills.

United Kingdom Feels Global Credit Crunch

The spending habits of the people in the U.K. depend on where they live. The people in the more urban city dwelling areas are more likely to spend liberally as opposed to those who live in the rural areas. This is partially because of the fact that the fancier merchandise is more readily available to them. The people in the urban areas can afford to spend upon more luxury items as well because higher paying jobs are also available to them. Of course everyone is going to feel the credit crunch even in London where foreclosures have risen sharply over the last two years with more and more people borrowing with the use of their credit cards. The number of foreclosures has risen sixteen percent over the entire country over the last year in a half. The country has not seen these kind of housing problems since the early 1990s. With the loss of equity in homes you are seeing more and more people depend on credit cards to buy everyday items.

Even developers who are trying to get prepared for the 2012 London Olympic Games are having trouble getting loans from banks to work on those projects. For the average person though credit card companies in the United Kingdom are reporting an increase in late and interest payments. The overall individual’s debt in Great Britain is double that of any other Western European country. Because of these increased debt numbers and bankruptcies advocacy groups such as The Federation of Small Businesses within the country are calling for credit card rate caps.

Visa Europe has pledged not to raise rates as quickly on small businesses if they get in trouble. The same kind of protection does not appear to extend to the average British consumer. The British Finance Minister has offered further training for folks in financial literacy and has also requested that people lending credit use discretion. The government is not likely to play hardball with these companies given the lackluster job creation numbers not only in Britain, but around the world. Gordon Brown has already had to deal with a run on a bank so it is hard to say how much a toll free help line as far as credit and financial literacy will remedy the situation.

I think most people view these issues as a bump in the road and once the storm calms they will continue their usual spending habits. To ask them to truly change their lifestyle and comforts is probably simply too much to ask. Thousands upon thousands of their neighbors can have their items legally taken due to debt and it is just the nature of certain groups of people not to notice. Frankly the key is just to find the right mixture of personal responsibility and compassion when dealing with the problem of overspending and the calamities that can result. Government certainly cannot solve all these problems alone.

20 Affordable Ways of Having Fun

With so many people having problems with their credit, we lack of funds financially to be able to go to Amusement Parks, Cinema’s, Theatre’s, Travel, etc. This is when many of us have to come up with new and affordable ways of having some sort of amusement; just without having to spend an arm and a leg doing so. Here are 20 affordable ideas and tips that anybody can have fun.

1. Put on a Play – Dress-up, and perform your favorite scene from your favorite movie, or storybook. Then tape your performance so you can watch later.
2. Have a Scavenger Hunt – The individual who found the most things wins a prize!
3. Have a Picnic – Have your children help prepare your food. They can help make sandwiches, cookies, and drinks.
4. Go Hiking – Try exploring a new park in your community.
5. Take on Bird Watching – Visit your local library, and pick up a Bird Watching Book.
6. Make one day a week Theme Night: These nights can be Movie & Popcorn Night, Carnival Night, and Game Night.
7. Start a new Hobby – Learn to crochet, knit, or sew.
8. Have a Party -Ask all your neighbours contribute a tasty dish to pass, play some games, and meet new people!
9. Volunteer your time – Nursing Homes, Orphanage’s, Hospitals, and Pet Shelters are always looking for an extra hand or two.
10. Go Camping – Even if this means pitching your tent in your garden.
11. Learn a new Recipe – Learn to make your favorite foreign dish.
12. Build a Fort – Use blankets, and your furniture to make forts in your home.
13. Have a Dance Marathon – Download your favorite music from websites such as itunes.
14. Go for a Bike Ride – This is a great source of exercise as well!
15. Sledging in Winter – A good excuse to come home, and make some Hot Cocoa!
16. Visit your community’s local attractions by exploring your town as if you’re an out-of-town visitor.
17. Go Bowling – Many bowling companies have specials where you can bowl all night for one affordable cost!
18. Educate yourself – Learn a new language, a new culture or a musical instrument.
19. Create a Blog – Create your own blog where you can inform long-distance family and friends on your new adventures!
20. Make a Time Capsule – Collect some of your favorite childhood past-times and preserve them in a capsule for years to come.

Beat the Credit Crunch. Ways to reduce you household bills.

You could be saving hundreds of pounds and more.

As we all know the credit crunch reared its ugly head at one of the worst times, just before Christmas. January and February are always the tightest on our pockets normally, as many people are recovering from an expensive holiday season. Prepare for next Christmas now and ease the financial stress for next year. Make a small investment on a ‘magic diary’. It is a magic diary, which could save you hundreds of pounds or more over the next several months. Without realising our true spending habits for what they are, it is normal for us Brits to buy things out of habit, comfort and with the excuse ‘I want that’.

Once it’s bought, we hardly pay attention to it, ask if we actually needed it or even use everything we’ve bought. Ask yourself this, how much food do you think you throw away every week and every month and if you went out now to buy everything you have thrown away over the last month, how much would it cost you now?

Every time you spend money, no matter what it is for, write what it is you bought or paid for and the exact cost in your little book, with the date you bought the item on. It doesn’t matter how small the amount you’ve spent, it all adds up in the end. Also make notes at the back of the book of all the things you have paid for and had to or decided to throw it away. This may sound time consuming but it isn’t really when you think of the money you could be saving, you never know, but if you note the time actually spent doing this combined with the suprising amount of money you will be saving, it could actually work out really beneficial to you.

Everyone knows that this credit crunch is a world wide problem but stay smart and you may come out from this global situation better than before.

Think about everything before you buy anything, think about whether what your buying is an ‘I need it’ or an ‘I want it’ item and stay honest with yourself and you’ll save on a high percentage of your income immediately.

If your an individual who buys gift and other things to ‘Keep Up With The Jones’s’ THEN STOP. The keeping up with the Jones’s now involves a new angle and that’s talking and living the credit crunch, while it lasts. When the pound became weak and the euro dropped in December 2008, people all over the U.K. panicked even more, worried about long term investments etc. If you can afford to hold on to any properties abroad you may own, even if things are tight financially, then hold on as things will be on the up at the latest within a few years and as inflation reduces your investments may have a significant increase.

How to Keep Debt Out of Your life

It’s common knowledge that economies around the world are suffering. It’s no different in the UK and it’s time to turn things around before they get out of hand. People may not be able to turn the economy around in a day or change the way the global finances are dealt with but it is well within one’s reach to look at home first and find a solution to your own personal financial situation. And that starts with tackling personal debt. Here are ten tips on how to get your personal debt under control and conquer the beast that’s been attacking your pocket.

1. Pay off your highest interest debt first. If you have a car loan that has a higher total of money owed to it that your credit cards, throw more of your monthly income at that first. Chances are it is a multi-year loan with a higher interest rate than your credit cards. And if you can pay that off sooner than is scheduled by paying more money towards the principal, you have a good chance of saving a lot of money that would have otherwise gone to paying interest on that loan.
2. Keep your credit card debt at a consistent level. This will require you to use your credit card less than you may be accustomed to, but it is a sound way to handle not building up more debt while eliminating debt in another area of your finances.
3. Use cash instead of credit cards. Budget in a certain amount of cash to be spent per week, and try not to withdraw more cash than that per week. By breaking it down into a weekly budget and only allowing yourself a minimal amount, you’re more likely to stick to your cash budget and not overspend.
4. Cut back on the vices. Whether its cigarettes or coffee, cut down and see how much you’ll save.
5. Put aside your spare change. You’d be surprised at the end of the year at how much that spare change will add up to.
6. Eliminate some of the expenses you already have. It might be a luxury that you enjoy but if you can do without it that money can be reallocated towards something more beneficial.
7. Don’t buy something unless you need it. It’s amazing how much money we spend on frivolous materials that are either hardly used or that we don’t even use at all.
8. Watch your energy bills. Using less electricity and gas can add up to a large amount of money saved over the course of the year.
9. Set up a weekly budget, a monthly budget and an annual budget. Be certain to check it often and see if you are staying on course. This is a way to hold yourself accountable and is likely to help you stick to your financial plan.
10. Be smart, control your impulses and make wise financial choices.

They will pay off.