Turn one pound into one million

Vacation Saving

2009-12-03T06:29:00.002Z

I have a friend who is going on an Outer Banks vacation very soon. It has got me thinking about holidays. We had a really good time when we went to Centreparcs a few months ago but having a weekend break, I felt was good value for money. It was not long enough for me to start worrying about the business, for anyone to get bored and for us to miss home. The boys did not miss any school and my husband missed no work but we still had a fantastic time. It felt like longer than a weekend as well which was great and I definitely think it is something I will do again.

Co-operative Payout

2009-12-01T12:35:00.003Z

I have my mortgage, insurance, current account and savings with the co-operative bank and am therefore automatically a member. Having all of these things accumulates points over the year and they have just made a small payout based on their prediction for the end of year and I have had £15 and my husband £14 It is not a fortune but considering how much money I am borrowing from them it is rather nice to be being paid for the privilege, well the £29 may pay just over 1/3rd of a monthly mortgage interest payment but it is better than nothing which is what banks normally give you!

November Earnings

2009-12-01T11:02:00.003Z

Pay to Blog - £27.50
PayU2Blog - £24.75
Private Reviews - 2.75
Writing - £552.63
Article Writing - £552.62
Other - £38.35
Link Sales - £3.44
Quidco - £5.77
Linkworth - £17.33

Making a grand total of £598.41

This is a fantastic improvement on recent months, due to a large $1000 writing project that I undertook. I am expecting December to be quieter - mainly because I want some time off!

Cheaper weight loss

2009-11-26T06:30:00.002Z

I often think that if you lose weight fast then you end up spending more money. It might sound odd because you should save money if you are eating less but I find if I lose it too quickly then I end up craving things and binge eating on expensive and unhealthy snacks. This might not be the case for everyone, I think it is just that my blood sugar gets too low and my brain get an urge for sugar. Losing it more slowly by eating healthy balanced meals and snacks seems to be the answer for me.

Budget Travel

2009-11-26T06:26:00.002Z

I have been talking to my family in Australia recently on Facebook and it is funny to hear them talking about buying ceiling fans and air conditioning when we are having wind and rain here. It makes me think that we really should go out there some time to get a break from the weather but we are planning the boys first foreign trip net year and it will be on a tight budget so Australia will not be an option yet.

Early Shopping

2009-11-26T06:23:00.002Z

I cannot believe that I have done almost all of my Christmas shopping already. I have been really organised this year because I know that we will have a lot of expenses in January so I want to reduce the burden in December. I have decided to stick to one present per person this year because we always seem to have so many presents that I feel guilty about how much money people spend on us so apart from the Logo usb drive that I am getting my husband, everything is cheap and cheerful. I have asked other people to do the same, so we will see what happens.

Getting Good Value for Money

2009-11-26T06:18:00.001Z

My father has been looking at digital cameras because he is thinking of buying one for my Mother for Christmas. He always does a lot of research before he buys and it gets on her nerves a bit. I think it is really good, to make sure that you are getting all of the features that you need and good value for money, By reading about what is available and looking at the reviews then he should be able to get the most suitable one.

Saving money on Cards

2009-11-20T19:54:00.003Z

I met a family member in tow the other day and they were shopping for holiday cards. I have decided that I am not going to buy cards much any more. I think that now the children are getting older they can make the cards themselves. I think that a home made card is much more appreciated and it is going to work out cheaper and be more personal. I do it for birthdays as well and that saves even more money because I find that birthday cards tend not to be available in packs and so are more expensive. Give it some thought and you might be able to save money too.

Finding a Good Bargain

2009-11-20T19:47:00.002Z

I have got to that age when I really need a few cosmetics to give e confidence in the way that I look. I have been looking around at what is availabel and really have no idea how to choose the best eye wrinkle cream or any other products. I think that it is a case of try and see but one thing I do is use the free samples form magazines and if I like them then I buy the products. With this sort of product costing quite a bit of money it is always worth trying them first and perhaps buying a cheaper version first to see if that is as good and offers good value for money.

Saving for the Future

2009-11-20T19:42:00.002Z

I know a few people that have recently got walk in showers but was amazed to find that you could also get walk in tubs. I know that there are quite a few older people that would love this sort of thing and it is worth thinking about whether you might need one in the future and if so we need to make sure that we need to be really careful to save for our future so that we can afford all of things that we might need in old age.

Annuities

2009-11-20T19:37:00.002Z

I was chatting to my Dad yesterday about annuities. He has one which is giving him a retirement income and he seems pretty happy with it. I think that he was pretty worried about things when the stock market was doing so badly but now that things are picking up he is much more relaxed and getting a better return on his investment. I hope that it continues to do well for him as I know that he gets stressed about money ad he does not have very much in the way of savings so if there is an emergency then he may struggle otherwise.

Saving Money for Your New Business

2009-11-20T19:24:00.002Z

It seems like more and more people are starting up their own businesses these days. Having run my own business for a long time now and having done many things including freelance writing, book selling, selling on ebay, publishing and selling artists prints, I think that I have had quite a bit of experience. The biggest lesson that I learnt was not to waste money, When I first started I had a budget for initial investments and I thought that you had to speculate to accumulate. This is true but you do need to make sure that you are spending your money wisely, So before you invest in POS systems, advertising, staff or anything else, make sure that you have thought it through properly and are confident that you will be getting good value for money and getting the best return that you possibly can.

Saving on Health Care

2009-11-18T06:28:00.002Z

I have often thought about having eye surgery to save me money on glasses. The price does put me off rather a bit and I was looking at lasik surgery Mexico which is a lot cheaper. Of course the expense of getting there for me would not make it worthwhile but for my family who live really close it could pay off. They often go to Mexico for medical care and to see the dentist. I do know someone who had eye surgery and he recommended to have it done in Canada because they are very experienced in eye surgery and so are more likely to make a good job of it. In all honesty I am a bit scared of having it done and probably will not.

Employment

2009-11-18T06:21:00.002Z

Someone I know has recently started their own business and is employing people. I have always worked on my own but it got me to thinking how important it would be to use pre-employment screening and other methods to ensure that you are getting good value for money. An employee is just like any other business expense and should not be taken lightly.

Saving on Fitness Equipment

2009-11-18T06:17:00.002Z

I often think that fitness equipment is a waste of money. Many people buy all sorts of things and then hardly use it and it is the same with gym memberships. This is the time when people start thinking abot losing weight for Christmas and then after Christmas people want to lose the weight that they have put on, Why not buy somethig second hand to save some money or just work hard not to put on that extra weight and then you will not need the equipment after all.

Looking Ahead

2009-11-17T10:53:00.002Z

Although the writing is bringing in a lot of work for me at the moment, I am still really missing the buying and selling. I had a bit of a brain storm thinking about things that I could sell and asked around but did not really find anything useful, someone suggested Ferrari parts which was the most interesting sounding and although it would sound glamorous and exciting to say I was doing this, it would not be something I could get enthusiastic about. I would still love to sell the books but the ones that I have bought recently are not doing very well at all and so I think that it was not a good experiment to do and not a good time to do it. I will probably do some more research after Christmas to see what is selling well.

I Did the Right hing

2009-11-16T09:34:00.001Z

I spent my vouchers this morning. I ended up going to Boots and buying hair products which I would have bought anyway, they were on 3 for £10 and so I ended up getting over £31 worth of products for free which was great. I also got enough points on my Boots card from this purchase to get myself a free chocolate bar so I feel like I have had a treat and been sensible with my money!!

I Won £20!

2009-11-14T13:59:00.005Z

I was looking at the online ITV TV guide the other day and spotted a banner ad which said you could win money. I decided to click on it, as I was procrastinating doing my work(!) and filled in the short competition entry form. A week later I had a call saying that I had won £20 in high street vouchers. They arrived a few days ago in the post. I have decided to use them as an opportunity to treat myself as I would love a new skirt and cardigan and as I can spend them in Debehams, House of Fraser, Peacocks, River island, Matalan, Warehouse as well as many other non clothing shops, I might be able to find something that I like.

A Holiday

2009-11-10T06:08:00.002Z

My husband has decided that for his fortieth birthday next year he would like us all to go abroad on holiday. The children have never been abroad so it will be exciting for them and he thinks it will be good experience for them. We have been trying to decide where to go as I think a long flight might be too much for the first time so I didn't h with his suggestion of New York. I have family abroad in places which are too far away and aso to keep the cost down we have decided that a package such as iberostar in Europe could be best. We may only be going for a weekend too so a long travel time seems rather a waste of time. Another consideration has been Eurodisney at Christmas time as that is our 10th wedding anniversary but I think we will have to look at the cost first.

One Less Expense...

2009-11-04T10:36:00.003Z

My husband has decided not to go to his work Christmas party this year. Although he bought a tuxedo last year which will save him the cost of hiring one, it would have still cost some money for the meal and even more if I had gone with him, plus the hassle of organising a babysitter. That is one less thing to worry about, I now have to hope that he doesn't decide to throw a Christmas party for all of our neighbours as that could be very expensive!

Cutting Back for Christmas

2009-11-04T10:31:00.003Z

I am so happy with the way things are working out right now, I am earning some decent money, my husband is bringing in some money from being on call as well. I am very aware that we will be spending a lot of money in January on the new bathroom and although I have cashed in some bonds to pay for it, we will be having a careful Christmas. I have organised already with a few people that we will not be spending much on each other and my husband knows that he will not be getting that new camcorder but probably just a small gift. We know that things will get better and we will be able to treat ourselves once we paid off our big bills. Christmas is all about the children in my opinion anyway.

New Doubling - Step 4 completed

2009-11-04T10:28:00.002Z

I found a one pence piece this morning and so I now have a total of 8p and have completed step four of the doubling process. It is hard going but also early days and I have been too busy thinking about other things to really concentrate on it. It is certainly not enough to be celebrating with but I see it as the next step. I now have to concentrate on doubling the 8p to 16p.

Premium Bonds Win - Yay!

2009-11-03T10:51:00.002Z

It has been a greatstart to the moneth with a premium Bonds win of £100. We have had to cash some of the bonds in because we will be paying for the new bathroom in January with some of the money (we thought it would be earlierw hich is why we are cashing it in so soon). However, it is great to have had our best monthly win so far just before we cash them in. We buy £100 worth of bonds a month as part of our investment plan so our winnings this month have covered that.

October Earnings

2009-11-03T10:04:00.001Z

Pay to Blog - £46.10
PayU2Blog - £28.80
Private Reviews - £17.30
Writing - £128.71
Article Writing - £128.71
Other - £38.35
Link Sales - £17.19
Quidco - £21.16
Making a grand total of £213.16

This is an improvement on last month and considering I did very little for the eight days that the children were off school for half term, I am very happy. I hope to have a great month, this month as they are at school full time and I have my new writing contract to fulfill. It is all very exciting!

Exciting News

2009-10-30T05:53:00.002Z

Ihave just picked up some work which should be worth $1000. It has arrived at a bad time because I am holiday until Tuesday because the children are on half term holiday and my husband is having time off too and we have lots of days out organised. However, I have managed to squeeze in some work and there is no deadline. However, I want to get it done as quickly as I can because last time I had a big assignment, I delivered some of it and they ran out of funds before I finished. This seems like a much more professional company, but I do not want to take any chances as that is a great deal of money and will be very useful coming up to Christmas.