We all have our weaknesses and as long as we can afford it there’s nothing wrong with the occasional treat – especially if we’re getting the best price possible – read on to discover how to get a pricey designer handbag for much less than the RRP

While I absolutely love saving money, in any which way possible, there are some things I will occasionally treat myself to. I have an iphone, even though there are cheaper options available. I love Hotel Chocolat and food from M&S even though it is more expensive.Continue Reading

Chatting to fellow Blogger The Frugal Teen about her life studying abroad and how it compares financially to studying in the UK

Annelies Paris, also know as The Frugal Teen has been sharing her thoughts about living and studying abroad and how the costs stack up compared to studying here in the UK – you might well be surprised at the difference.

The Frugal Teen is very active on twitter and hosts a weekly chat all about saving money, making money and other frugal related subjects. It’s a great way to share ideas and learn new things and anyone can join in – you don’t have to a blogger. Just search the hashtag #savvysunday each week at 7pm and answer the questions. Make sure you add #savvysunday to your posts so everyone in the chat can see them!

You can find The Frugal Teen on Facebook and Instagram too.

Why did you choose to study abroad?

I chose to study abroad because the idea of debt was haunting for me. All my family is from France and Belgium and there, debt isn’t considered acceptable or normal. You’re either expected to pay yourself or your parents to contribute. We weren’t in a place financially to do so, so I decided to move abroad to save money.

Is there a huge difference in cost between studying in the UK and studying abroad?

There is an enormous difference in cost between UK and other countries. I’m studying in the Netherlands at the moment and I pay less than 2000 euros for my tuition fees a year. In the UK, the price has been raised to £9250 a year! As a matter of fact, there are some countries in the EU that allow you to study for free, including Denmark, Norway, Sweden and some places in Germany. If you speak those languages or find the course you like in English, then it’s totally worth applying there!

Do you have a job to earn extra cash along side your studies?

I do have a little job alongside my studies. I personally think that, for a student, it’s the best job I could ask for. I get paid for writing my own notes for my own I write all the notes that we need to know, submit all notes two lessons in advance (that’s the tricky bit as it’s up to me to decide what’s relevant before receiving any confirmation), it’s published and then I get paid!

 Are you considering blogging as a career when you finish Uni?

I would love to earn money from blogging when I finish uni, or even beforehand! I wouldn’t see blogging as a career but I think when I have children (I like thinking ahead), it would be a great source of income to fall back on if I need to stay at home or am unable to work anymore.

 What do you miss most about life in the UK?

What I miss most about life in the UK is money saving. Since 14, I have been applying to freebies, learning to use cashback apps etc. but the moment I moved abroad none of this applied anymore! I haven’t found cool money saving hacks here really, so rely solely on money makers that I can do online internationally; mainly surveys

 Is the cost of living different where you are living?

It’s difficult for me to judge the difference between the cost of living in UK and abroad really. Firstly, there’s the conversion rate that’s always changing so that makes it hard to find the “equivalent” cost in pounds. Secondly, I never lived independently in the UK so never appreciated the cost of rent or food bill etc. It’s all new and it all started abroad. I must admit I still am not aware of the cost of water bills or electricity as that’s all included in my rent, so it shall be a surprise when I return to the UK

What is the biggest thing you currently do to save money?

As I mention before, I don’t manage to save money as easily so focus more on making money. As I mentioned before I have my job but have also done some freelance jobs editing posts, working on their SEO and making thumbnail pictures for posts. I also sometimes do babysitting/English tutoring and surveys

What is your biggest money saving tip for students?

The biggest money saving tip I’d give to students is to not associate saving money as “not living.” Do all the things you were planning to do anyway: go out drinking, buying clothes etc. except try and find a way to reduce these costs. Make use of your student discounts, treat yourself to some fancy food but just check the reduced sections first, have a shopping spree on Amazon but try earn some gift cards via surveys first. Things like that. They tend to get excited with their student loan (which I don’t have either) and then just go mad! Don’t stop living, just be careful how you live. It’s a good habit to get into for the future when you are more restricted financially.

Do you have an Emergency Fund? One in four families in the UK has less than £100 saved and that needs to change

In this Guest Post, Franceca from ‘From Pennies to Pounds’ talks about why an emergency fund is a necessity for financial security and how you can start building yours – even if you don’t think you have any spare cash. Make sure you check out her blog for advice on debt, making extra cash and saving money too. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Over to Francesca. . .

Most people tend to think that they are doing well with their finances, that is, until they are not. Emergencies pop up throughout life, and if you are not prepared financially to deal with these, it could lead to a lot of stress and unnecessary debt.

An emergency fund is quite simply, a fund for an emergency. I believe that it is an essential part of managing your finances that everyone should have just in case. Anti-debt charity Step Change says that, if every household in the UK had £1,000 saved, it would reduce the number falling into problem debt by half a million.

An emergency fund isn’t there to dip in to whenever you spot something that you would quite like to buy – it should rarely be touched. If you think that you would be tempted into dipping into it for other things, make sure you set up separate accounts for things that you will want to spend your money on.

I’ve learnt through my studying at Uni that us human beings find it quite hard to look into the future. There have been studies that show that people would rather have money straight away, even if they know that they could have lots more further down the line. This is the same for emergency funds and any savings really – if you have it stored somewhere with high interest rates, it will grow bigger over time.

Why Should I Have An Emergency Fund?

Picture this – you lose your job. No warning, or maybe you have to take a lot of sick leave. When this happens, your car breaks down. And then your washing machine. They say that bad luck comes in threes! Typically, when you have no spare income, things will probably start to break on you. It’s rarely just one problem either, and these can quickly escalate.

For your loved ones. Emergencies aren’t just limited to yourself – if a member of your family or friend has something bad happen, chances are that you will want to help and need funds on hand quickly.

If there’s something that is a good thing to avoid, it’s the feeling of stress and worry.

Imagine you have a real emergency come up, and instead of descending into panic and the feeling of dread, you breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you have money in your emergency fund that will cover it.

How Much Should I Save?

There are varying amounts that are batted about, it could be anything that makes you feel comfortable though. A good amount would be a few months worth of expenses in case you lost your job – so the bare minimum that you would have to pay each month to get by.

Dave Ramsey, a US favourite for financial management, suggests that you create an emergency fund of $1000. I think that this is a good amount to start off with – I want to build up a £1000 emergency fund personally.

If you lost your job, an unfortunate effect of this can be you being unable to find another job for months. Hopefully, you will be able to get one straight away, but even if you do – it’s unlikely that they will pay you in the first month.

If you would like to save a lot of money quickly, bear in mind that this may not be possible. If you put too much money in your savings, you may find that you need it for something else and withdraw it – which is no good for reaching your goal.

Don’t set an unreasonable goal because you can run out of steam quickly and get de-motivated. It may be easier for you to break down your goal into chunks – say £10 a week. That’s much easier than looking at your £1000 or whichever amount you’ve chosen. However, don’t set the amount too low!

How Can I Build Up My Emergency Fund?

First off, you should create a budget. I am a huge fan of budgeting, even though it usually meets a lot of resistance whenever you mention it to people. I think it stems from when you hear people say “Sorry, I can’t do that, because I’m on a tight budget” – now a tight budget is not the same as a budget!

When creating your budget, the first step is to list all of your expenses. If you are unsure what these are, the easiest thing to do is to check your internet banking as it will list all of your direct debits and the dates that they come out. You can also go back through your internet banking or bank statements to see what you spend on variable expenses – such as food shopping.

Studies have shown that when people try and guess how much they spend on things, they are usually way off the mark!

Ways that you can reduce your expenses could be:

• Mortgage/Rent – could you see if you could get a lower interest rate on your mortgage? This could save you thousands over time, and it won’t take you long to check.
• With rent, see if you could get it lowered with your landlord (look at similar properties in the area), but if they aren’t budging, would moving somewhere cheaper be viable for you? This would save you a lot of money that you could use for things other than your emergency fund as well!
• Insurances (life, car, house etc) – look on price comparison sites to see if you can get your insurance any cheaper. Make sure that you don’t just auto-renew as they will bump up the price.
• Use the car less. Could you lift share with someone when you go to work, or other places such as when you go food shopping? Use your bike or walk to travel short distances. Petrol is expensive, and you can easily save money each month just by doing fewer trips.
• Check your direct debits. Are you paying for things that you aren’t using? A classic is a gym membership, but there could be things in there such as big TV packages that you aren’t using, or old insurances.
• Try and reduce your food shopping. Groceries are a variable expense, and if you ask people what they spend, it varies massively from person to person and could be wasting you hundreds each month. Yes, hundreds! Some ways that you reduce your food bill easily are: meal planning, shopping your cupboard, checking what you have in your fridge/cupboards before you shop, plan when you are going to go shopping e.g. bi-weekly or monthly, freeze your food, make homemade snacks, have meatless meals, stretch your meat with oats or veg, and many more!

Once you have listed all of your expenses (don’t forget things like birthdays, insurance that you pay annually etc), list all of your income. Your income minus your expenses is how much you are able to save! Lots of personal finance bloggers recommend saving money first, but I recommend to get your essential expenses as low as possible, and then you can see how much you have left to save/live on.

If you don’t have a lot of money left after doing your income minus expenses, you may want to think about earning some extra money on the side. You could get an additional job in the evenings or weekends, or do some things on the side such as dog sitting or mystery shopping.

Do you have an emergency fund? How much is in yours?