How to Keep Car Expenses Lower

There are lots of things that we have to pay out for when we have a car. This can mean that running a car can be really expensive. However, there are also ways that we might be able to cut down on those expenses. This means that we could manage to reduce our bill quite significantly if we cut down in lots of different areas. The main ones are discussed in more detail.

Insurance

For some drivers, insurance is one of the largest expenses they have. There are ways that it can be reduced though. Firstly, it can be worth comparing different insurers to see whether you can find a cheaper one. Many of us have brand loyalty and therefore will want to stick with our current insurer but this can mean that we are paying a lot more than necessary. It is therefore worth checking. Even if you do want to stick with the same one, it is well worth asking them to see whether they can reduce your premium. Sometimes if you let them know that you are thinking of going somewhere cheaper they might just reduce the price or they might let you know how you can change your policy so that it is cheaper for you. Also try to keep your claims down as this can make it cheaper as can paying annually rather than monthly.

Breakdown Cover

Break down cover can be really useful. It can help you if your car breaks down and therefore you might feel that the peace of mind is worth it and that it will work well for you. However, it is worth comparing prices as there are a number of different break down companies and some will be cheaper than others.

A good breakdown cover plan can save you a fortune.

Servicing

Getting your car serviced can cost a lot of money at times. If it needs repairing then there will be additional costs too. However, there will be places that are cheaper than others for doing the same job. For example, if you go to a dealer, they are likely to be more expensive than going to a different garage. It can be a good idea to check the prices of your local garages and also ask local people for recommendations. You might even want to consider doing the service yourself, you should be able to find the information that you need online to show you what to do.

Fuel

Everyone has to fuel their car. It can be a good idea to compare the costs locally to see whether there are places that you can go that are cheaper. It is generally the case that supermarkets are a bit cheaper but you need to work out how much further you need to drive to buy it as this extra distance might outweigh the savings that you make. It is also worth thinking about whether there are ways that you can drive more efficiently to reduce the amount of fuel that you use.

Buying Cars

When buying a new car, whether brand new or second hand, it is good to think about a few things. It can be tempting just to think about what you want and need and the price, but it could be good to think about other things as well. Consider the cost of insuring, fuelling and servicing the car. Think about the cost of spare parts, the fuel efficiency and how much it cost to insure before you buy it as this will impact the ongoing running costs of it. It may mean that you will end up paying a little more for a car but you will then have less to pay out while you own it, so it could be well worth it.

What is The Difference Between Good And Bad Debt?

There can often be confusion about debt. Some people feel that debt is money that they can spend, it is fun and theirs to have and do not think about paying it back. Others will think about the fact that they will owe money and that this is bad and they do not want to do it. However, borrowing can be good and bad and it very much depends on your situation and how you approach it therefore you need to know what the difference is between them.

Good Debt

Good debt is something that will help you to be able to better yourself. For example, if you take out a student loan you will be able to go to university and then earn more money and therefore be better off financially. However, there is a bit more to it than deciding whether you need a loan or not and whether you think that it will help you to better yourself in life.

You do need to think hard about whether you will be able to afford the repayments. You need to find out how much they will be and how often you will have to pay them. Then you should be able to work out, by looking at your household finances, as to whether this will be something that you will be able to afford. It is a good idea to actually sit down with the figures and look at it all very carefully. You will need to consider whether your situation will change in the future as well, because some loans, such as mortgages will take a long time to repay.

You will also be wise to compare loan types and lenders to make sure that you are getting the best value for money from your loan. This means that you will need to give some thought to what you are looking for in your lender and then you will be able to decide whether you think that the lenders that you are choosing between will suit your requirements.

There are a lot of differences between good and bad debt.

Bad Debt

This is when money is borrowed for a purpose that is not seen as worthwhile. It could be perhaps, that you borrow money to buy a bigger house, when the one you live in is adequate, and the loan you take on is more expensive than you can afford and you take it from an expensive lender without checking first to see whether there are any cheaper ones available. It is basically the opposite of the above.

So, if you are able to think first about whether the debt will benefit you this will be a great start. Consider what you are using the money for and whether it is worth it. It is not always easy to make this decision, but at least if you give it some thought, you know that you will be able to eliminate anything that is obviously not going to help you.

It is also worth carefully looking to see whether you will be able to afford the repayments and if it is obvious that you will not then reject the idea. Lastly, think about whether you have compared lenders and loans to make sure that you are using the one that will give you best value for money. You need to not only consider comparing the different lenders such as Omacl.co.uk but also make sure that you are choosing the right loans type. It might be obvious in some cases, which loans will be the best but not always and so it is a good idea to make sure that you are aware of what loans are available so that you can calculate which will work the best. Then you will be able to compare companies that offer those loans to see which one will suit your needs the best.

Should I Buy Premium Bonds?

It can be difficult knowing where the best place is to put money when you are saving it. One place that a lot of people put money is the Premium Bonds. These can look attractive but it is worth having a good understanding of how they work before you decide whether to use them.

How do they work?

Premium bonds are a savings scheme where you buy £1 bonds which are entered into a draw each month. You can buy up to 50,000 of them and each bond has the same chance of winning. There are prizes of different amounts which vary from £1m to £25 and there are lots more smaller prizes than larger ones. You can withdraw your money at any time and when you buy bonds they will be entered in the draw following the next one – so the money has to be in the account for a full month before the bonds are entered in the draw.
How much is the interest?

The interest rate is difficult to calculate. There is one and it does change depending on the base rate. However, not everyone will get the rate because of the way it all works. As your bonds are being entered in a draw, there is a chance that you will get nothing. However, there is also a chance that you will get a large prize. Therefore, your own personal interest rate will depend on whether you win a prize or not. Although each bond has the same chance of winning, the more bonds you have the more likely it is that you will have a winning one. This means that it is more likely that the prize winners will have more bonds. However, there are still people that win big prizes that have a relatively small holding.

Should I buy premium bonds and how do they work?

Is it better than the lottery?

If you like to have a gamble then these can be much better than the lottery. This is because you will always keep your stake. So, if you buy 25 bonds for £25 you will be able to sell them again and get your £25 back whenever you wish. If you £25 worth of lottery tickets you will not get that money back. The only drawback with premium bonds is that you have to buy £25 worth of bonds at a time which means that you may have to save up the few pounds you spend on a lottery ticket each week before you cab buy any. However, it will be worth it because you will not only have a chance of winning a prize but you will also be able to get the money back to spend if you need it.

Is it better than saving?

There are many savings accounts that will give a guaranteed return that is better than the average interest available on premium bonds. This means that if you want a guaranteed rate of return then these accounts will be a lot better. However, you will not have a chance of winning a large amount of money, so you will need to decide which you feel will be the best for you. Compare the interest rates and consider what you want. If you want a higher savings rate, you will have to be prepare to tie your money up though or perhaps give notice on withdrawals and so you will need to decide whether you feel that this is worth it or not. It can be tricky to decide and you could always split your savings between the different accounts so that you have a mix and then some guaranteed interest and some chances of winning money.

How to Find Cheap Insurance

We all tend to buy insurance. Some of us will only buy essential insurance. This is things like basic car insurance which it is illegal to drive without or life and buildings insurance if we have a mortgage. Others of us will have more insurance such as pet insurance, contents insurance or health insurance. There is no getting away from the fact that insurance is expensive though and so we should make sure that we are careful to make sure that we are not paying more than we need to.

Value for Money

It is important to make sure that when we are looking for cheap insurance that we do not settle on buying something cheap which is not suitable for us. There are many different types of insurance at different prices which means that there is a good bit of choice. If you are looking for the cheapest, you might wonder why people pay more when they could just have the cheapest one. The reason for this is because the different policies offer different things. If they all offered exactly the same then it would be easy to just go to the cheapest one and know that you were getting the best value for money. However, they offer different things and we all have different needs so it is a case of trying to find a policy which meets your needs for the best price.

Comparison Websites

We can often be tempted to go to a comparison website to find the cheapest. This can be a good way of doing some initial research. However, it is worth noting that the website owners will get commission on leads generated by their recommendations. So, if they show a cheap insurer and you click the link on their site and visit that insurer and then take out the insurance they will make money. There is nothing wrong with this, but you need to be aware that it could bias their choice of insurers. No website has them all and they may just pick ones that pay a good commission and ignore those that do not. There may also be some insurers that do not appear on these sites and only deal directly with customers.

Shopping around for car insurance can save you a fortune.

Own Research

Therefore it could be wise to do some of your own research. Think about what you are looking for in an insurer and then pick some that will fit in with those requirements. You may be best using a search engine to see which insurers are available but there will be a lot and it will take time. You might want to find ways to lessen the work such as only looking at insurers that come recommended (if this is something that is important to you). It will be worth it though if you can find one that offers good value for money.

Stick to Your Insurer

If you are happy with the service your insurer provides but would like to pay less money then it could be a good idea to try to negotiate a lower rate. A good thing to do is to go to a comparison website and get some quotes and you are bound to find some cheaper than the renewal quote with your current insurer. So, give them a call and tell them you have found lower prices and you would like to stay with them but hoped to pay less and you will find many will lower their prices. They may also be able to give you suggestions on policy changes you can make to reduce the cost such as increasing your excess.

How to Increase Your Savings

There are many of us that would like to have more money in our savings account. It can be a nice feeling to know that we have money to fall back on or we might be saving up for a specific thing. However, at times, it can be hard to know exactly how to do this. We all know that to save more we will need to spend less or earn more, but practically it is not always easy to know how to do this so below are a few tips.

Save First

It can be wise to set up a direct debit to put some money into your savings account every time you get paid. This could just be a small amount, but every bit will help you. It can be good to calculate how much you will be able to afford. Consider what you normally have left before you are next paid and you could do that much, but if there is not often much or anything then just make it a small amount. The reason for saving first is that if the money is not available to spend that it might force us to budget during the month.

Prioritise Spending

Make sure that you prioritise your spending so that you only buy things that you really need to start with. So, pay your bills, rent, food, travel to work, contracts, insurance, loans repayments and things like this but do not buy luxury items. Once you have paid the essentials you will be able to work out whether you can afford luxury items and to save. It might be that you will be able to buy some but you will need to cut back on what you normally buy.

It helps to prioritise your spending.

Compare Prices

It can be good to compare prices on everything that you are buying. This includes insurance, loans and electricity as well as food and petrol. If you can cut down a little bit in every area then this could add up to a significant chunk of money that you can save. Obviously, you might want to get good value for money and may feel that you should be paying a bit more for certain things but it is worth checking whether you can cut down, especially on things that you pay significant amounts of money for.

Earn Online

If you are looking for some extra money, then it often not possible to get a pay rise or do more hours in your current job. One way to earn a bit more is to earn some money online. Although this is unlikely to pay as much as you get in your job, it can be a more relaxing and fun way to earn money. For example, you can earn money by completing surveys, doing freelance work or just watching videos. The rate of pay is lower, but you can do it at home and you might be able to watch TV or do other things at the same time so it does not feel so much like work.

Make Money From Your Home

If you won your own home, even with a mortgage, it could be possible to make some money by renting out certain parts. You could set up a B&B, rent out a spare room, rent your driveway out or perhaps attic space or your garage. If you have space that you are not using then there is always a way to make some extra money from it. There are websites you can go to which you can advertise your space on or you can just let family and friends know and they might be interested. If you have a mortgage you will need to check with your insurer.