Pennies for thought

Car insurance can often be one of the biggest lump sum expenditures you will encounter throughout the year. You can pay car insurance monthly and this will inevitably cost more in the long run so if you can afford the full year you make a small saving there.

The trouble with insurance policies though is that there are too many to choose from! The main thing to take in consideration when buying is that you only purchase from reputable companies. If you save a few hundred pounds on a policy and then they won’t pay out for whatever reason then it is a dead loss.

Buying online will generally save you money but if you do not understand the policy make sure to phone them and inquire before purchasing. Other companies that operate fully online can keep costs down and pass on the savings to you but again be sure they are reputable.

Comparison websites are not always the cheapest option either when a lot of the bigger companies with better deals opt out from using comparison websites.

There are a few little tips that will help you keep your premium down
- Don’t over value the cost of your car
- Don’t go for the lowest excess you can
- Don’t opt in for extras you can get cheaper else ware
- Buy the policy online if possible

Over valuing the cost of your car is just adding cost to your premium and will not gain a penny from this unless the car is written off

The best way to view picking an excess is as an amount you can stretch to affording in one working month. If you can afford £200 don’t choose any lower because this will raise your premium and having the realisation of having to pay expenses out of your own pocket will have you driving safely in no time.

Always review the optional extras when buying an insurance policy and make sure you are not paying for things you don’t need. Windscreen cover is always a worthwhile extra if repairs are free but breakdown cover can quite often be picked up cheaper else ware.

The majority of the time when you get into a bump you will pay outside of insurance anyway due to the rise in premiums you will incur. Little things like calling the insurer for general questions are even logged and put against your policy with bigger companies.

Ok this post will not save you money but it my save a lot of your time, so I guess if you believe time is money then your in for a saving!

A lot of big Internet companies (Play and Amazon to name a couple) offer very low prices and free delivery making them a lot more appealing than buying on the highstreet. Internet shopping is a great way to save a few pounds and I swear by it but there is something you should take in to consideration before buying.

Most companies will have a few different payment options available for each product that vary in price and delivery timescale. The more you pay the better service you will recieve and thats a given but make sure you find out who will be delivering under the ‘free’ option. In most cases the company will be using the lowest and most cost effective delivery service (which just so happens to be the worst!) the Home Delivery Network.

My personal experiences with this company have been regrettable to say the least. Here are the flaws they make in just attempting to deliver two products.

1. Give my post to a random neighbour (I don’t even know them!)
2. Leave expensive parcel on my unsecured doorstep for anyone to take during the day.
3. Package mysteriously goes missing (presumably stolen by HDNL or off my doorstep!)
4. Package left on the doorstep is of course is broken!
5. Waited in all weekend for delivery attempts that never happened and they claimed a note was left.

Just don’t bother with the hassle and pay the extra couple of pounds and save yourself the huge headache of phoning up companies. HDNL surprisingly enough will just keep leading you on saying it is coming and have no complaint department! The retailer will sort out the missing or broken product but even then it has to be redelivered by the same incompetent people.

You don’t have to take my word for it, a simple Google search will get you 1 star ratings and stories about post left in bins, parcels given to strangers and so on. So I urge you to just avoid this comapany like the plague as the couple of quid saved will only end up being spent on Polyfilla for the damage you made to your walls in sheer frustration.

It is good for the online retailers to give us these low prices and free delivery but we as consumers deserve a certain level of professionalism and customer service that we are simply not getting here.

Most of us will generally work out reliability of a product by price scales or staying safe with household brand names. With the rising incentive of unbiased online product reviews we can also get a general overview of the product quality but not the reliability.

A good tip to find out the reliability of a product is to go instore and ask about certain products at the counter. Each product has a log of how many have been sold and how many have been returned.

It is always worth checking out reliability of a product as the false economy of unreliable products is not a worthwhile saving. When you spend out the extra you also get the additional quality of the product over the time.

Road tax is one of those expenses that well all begrudge because you generally don’t see anything for your money besides poorly timed and badly managed roadworks.

Paying for your tax all in one lump sum will save you a few pounds over paying in 6 month periods but this is not the only reason you should pay yearly. One half of your 6 months will also incur the tax inflation of that year and with the new ‘green’ outlook – this looks set to continue.

Last year my tax was set at 104.50 for 6 months or £190 for the year. So paying in two installments makes it £209 a year (£19 extra) which seems about fair given the extra 6 months to pay the extra.

But factor in the change in rates from the existing ones to the new £112.75 for 6 months and £205 for the year and you are looking at 217.25 for the year (27.25 extra) with the extra inflation added to the final 6 months.

This may not seem like a lot of money but in reality it will almost cover the cost of a basic MOT. If it is a case of you needing the extra 6 months to save up the money thenit is unavoidable but otherwise you are just wasting money by not paying yearly. If you swap car in the time you can transfer it over and if you want to cancel it you can at any time.

There is nothing more frustrating that the few seconds after being caught by a speed camera. It is over, you are caught and there is no point slowing too late or thinking of an elaborate way to get out of it.

The fine alone is not the problem, its the points and rise in insurance that comes along with it that is the real issue.

People are caught everyday speeding past gatso and mobile cameras. There is no elaborate undercover money-making scheme going here it is common sense. All speed cameras (including mobile cameras are documented online for each county). Most gatso cameras are easy to spot and with mobile cameras covered why are we still getting caught?

I do not encourage speeding but I do insist that people take the time to read what is right in front of them. Take 5 minutes before your next trip out of town or a new area and check the camera spots.

Many people rely on GPS systems to keep them from getting fines. But the reality is the software needs to be totally up to date each journey and the information completely accurate. 99% of the time this will not be the case so you need to take the initiative and do it yourself.

Due to the high numbers of us being caught softer penalties are being introduced. You can in some cases take a driving awareness course now to stop from getting the points and just pay the fine. This is good when it comes to insurance renewal.  

People have been hiding reg plates, claiming cars are stolen and even burning cameras. We can prevent things from escalating to this so easily yet we don’t seem to bother.

When it comes to end of a tough week there is nothing better than going out drinking to let off some steam. As far as drinking goes, we are all unique. Everyone has drinking limits, spending limits and a rough idea of how they want the night to pan out.

Where a lot of us go wrong is to assume that drinking at home before a night out will in turn save money. This is not always true as quite often this will lower your inhibitions before even getting out and then you still just spend the money. We are a lot more generous with our money after a few drinks.

Which is fine until waking up the next afternoon and realising the extra late night stop at the cash point you made. If you set yourself a cash or drinking limit you need to be in the right state of mind to enforce it.

Another early and expensive end to a night is brought on by drinking rounds in groups. There are situations where this is unavoidable, for example if you are out playing drinking games. But in casual situations it is best to just stick to buying your own drinks (whether it be the cheapest thing at the bar or something you actually enjoy). This not only gives you full control over you own money and allows you to drink whatever you want at your own pace.

Having to go out on a budget doesn’t make it any less fun, you just need to take the right approach.

This will not be a preachy post about giving up smoking, more of a realistic evaluation of how much you spend. I was a smoker for 10 years going from pre-rolled to rollies and then eventually phasing them out completely (for now).

There is the ongoing debate of what is healthier to smoke, rollies or pre-rolled cigarettes – the answer of course is neither. But there are factors to take in to consideration like how many you smoke, how much of each one you smoke and what strength of tobacco is in each one.

Pre-rolled cigarettes have chemicals in the papers that keep them alight while you are not smoking them. They are also a set size so you will generally smoke to the trade line unless you are rushed. An advantage is that you have a lot of choice over brands and strengths over the counter.

Roll ups are slightly cleaner than pre-rolled cigarettes but you will find that you smoke them much more intensely and this is often visibly apparent in the filter. Having to make them can cause you to smoke less rather than just picking one out of the packet. The tobacco in rolling cigarettes is generally strong but you can make them to the size you wish to satisfy your craving.

You could go on forever with arguments either way and never get anywhere but lets say you smoke around 20 a day. That would generally work out to around £5 for a pack of pre-rolled cigarettes and around £2.50 for 12.5g of tobacco.

Lets just meet at £4 a day and that works out to around £1460, of course this based on buying small quantities. Buying 200 (20 x 20) packs or 10 packs of 50g bags will work out cheaper but you will still be spending over £1000 a year which is worth considering cutting down for.

We often smoke because we have nothing to do or are restless so why not try cutting down and using the money you start to save on something to occupy your attention and time.

Many companies find that a good way to drum up business cheaply is to offer online vouchers. These are great for online shopping but also if you are not an online shopper then in most cases you can obtain printable equivalents.

Most printable vouchers are usually for money off at certain restaurants, travel services and sometimes clothes. These can come in really handy when you are having a hard month for money but still want to take your partner out for a nice meal.

You can check out a good selection of vouchers at myvouchercodes, there are also many other sites out there that do the same thing. Well worth a look if you are looking to get out the house and not spent too much money.

You will quite often see free eye tests advertised and these are legitimate ways to get a free eye test but not always the easiest.

In order to receive a free test you will need to register with the opticians giving out that offer and it can be a pain to transfer previous information and personal details.

The best way to save money is to ask your work if they offer contributions to eye tests and glasses. Just because you haven’t been told doesn’t mean they don’t offer it to employees.

In most cases eye tests will be paid for by the company and if the glasses are needed for work purposes then money can be contributed. Make sure to clear everything with your work before you go ahead and do it as they may be linked with a certain optician or require certain paperwork in advance.

In a lot of cases the company will require a VDU form to be requested from the optician and this then will be used for the reimbursement.

If they do this and you go about it correctly then you stand to save a decent amount of money.

We live in quite a disposable society and if something stops working we just throw it out.

Some of the time the fuse has just blown and prevents the appliance from working. If you buy yourself a few packs of different type fuses then at least you can give it a try.

This is something you will need anyway when a bigger item like the freezer or cooker blow a fuse. You will be surprised at how wasteful you can be sometimes.