4Homes editor Lucy Searle discusses some of the sensible and silly suggestions out there regarding how to save money in a credit crunch...
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I recently heard that nine out of 10 of us are worried about rising gas and electricity bills, food and fuel prices, and that eight out of 10 of us are anxious that a credit crunch could affect house prices.
Clearly, it’s time for all of us to tighten our belts. So thinks Gordon Brown, who has said that we all need to eat what’s on our plates and stop wasting food. Meanwhile Centrica managing director, Jake Ulrich, has been quoted as saying ‘Maybe it’s two jumpers instead of one. I think people will change the temperature they keep the house, they’ll be more cognisant of energy waste, they’ll buy better appliances.’ Well, that’s one way to make us all go green.
I don’t believe that the majority of us are that blithely extravagant, but maybe we could all take a little advice about surviving the credit crunch. I typed ‘credit crunch advice’ into a search engine today to see what it came up with – apart from our property and money features - and the resulting tips were widely varying. Some were hilarious, such as ‘squeeze the loo roll into an oval shape. It doesn't roll out so easily and kids won't use yards at a time’, from the Mirror. Others were more helpful – these three from Susan Hayes on Herald.ie are simple, but could make a big difference within weeks to what’s in your pocket:
‘It is a well-known psychological fact that we are much happier to part with our money on plastic rather than on paper,’ she writes. ‘Studies have shown that we spend a massive 50 per cent more on shopping with plastic than we would if we just had cash.’ Her advice? Take your cards out of your wallet, leave them at home and save them for emergencies. I’d add to that, make sure you leave your cash card at home as well, allowing yourself a certain amount of cash spend per day or week.
She also asks, ‘What rate of interest are your savings, deposits and investments earning? Would you know? Sit down and literally count your money. Work out the performances, costs and exit penalties of each investment and then compare them to other options that you have. If the prospects are better elsewhere, move your money. If you need to, seek independent advice.’ First stop – I’d try Money Made Clear, the Financial Services Authority’s own comparison site.
And finally, ‘If you keep a log of everything that you spend, you could be surprised at what you find. You may be spending a lot of money that could be saved.’ She gives the example of lunches and snacks at work that could be cheaper if you prepared something at home instead, but I’d widen that to checking mobile phone bills (and cutting down on idle texts and calls), haggling over the price of larger items, such as appliances (many stores would give you a discount or throw in delivery for free if you only asked), and checking the minutiae of your home insurance packages – do you need all the cover you’ve got, and could you get it cheaper?
With this in mind, we’ll be bringing you regular credit crunch beating features over the next few weeks and months in our property and money section. In the meantime, if you have any unmissable credit crunch advice and tips, let us know.
Got some essential credit-crunching tips? Email them to Lucy at 4homes@mavericktv.co.uk
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