Credit Crunch Busting Tips

Posted By admin on December 2, 2008

Hello, and welcome to our new website! Each week, we will be adding a short article and some tips on how to save money without too much effort. With Christmas fast approaching, we will be adding some festive money (and time) saving tips over the next couple of weeks. Be sure to send us your favourites!

We are all busy, and somehow there just doesn’t seem enough hours in the day to follow all the advice we get. Somehow, the ‘convenient’ option, which nearly always costs more, seems quickest. But is it?

Some of the things we write about have been tried and tested in a normal, busy home. No gimmicks, no promises, just simple, easy tips that will soon become routine, and therefore, (almost) effortless! We will also be trying new things, and will let you know what doesn’t save time or money. Our struggles will be posted here for all to laugh at, smug in the knowledge that some other idiot tried it first!

We are all familiar with the saying “time is money”. Well, if you can save some time, you can spend it saving money!

To kick off, here are some great time saving tips!

Time Bandits

Always on the go? Too busy to stop? Identify your particular ‘Time Bandit’ and how to avoid it.

Telephones…….including mobiles!

How much time do you waste on the phone? Checking your mobile and texting? Of course it’s important to keep in touch, but do you really need to send umpteen texts when a five minute call later in the day will say it all. . Think about it, all that time checking your mobile, deciding what to say, thumbs flying, sending, then checking later for the reply. The time you save will enable you to sit down with a cup of coffee and chat for five minutes. Set yourself a limit so you don’t burble on endlessly. Say what you want to say, tell your chum when you will call again, and hang up! Then tell them it’s their turn to call you next time. If you find a good telephone service provider, it could actually cost you less.

http://www.uswitch.com/Home-Phone/Index.aspx

http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/

The biggest time bandit is “Please listen to the following options”. There’s no need. Use this handy website for alternative numbers (some free) and cut your waiting time. You often get through to a real person first time. This can save you hours……and pounds!

http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php

Email and computers

You only need to check your email once once or twice at most each day. Most of it is probably spam anyway. Check it, answer any you need to, and turn it off. It seems to be a common misconception that we should all spend all our time available to everyone! Not so, you have a life to lead. Use your computer as a tool to help you, and for leisure when you have some. Don’t let it rule you. Yes, that new game is absorbing, but discipline yourself to switch your machine off when you have done the really necessary stuff. Play the game later when the kids are in bed and you can have an hour to yourself.

Shopping

The simplest advice here is ….don’t go shopping unless you really NEED to! Just because you always shop on a Friday, doesn’t mean you have to. Move your shopping day once a week, so if you usually shop on Friday, the next week go on Saturday, the week after on a Sunday. Supermarkets are open all hours nowadays, and if you stretch your imagination and the contents of your storecupboard, you can save time and money!

Take a list….and stick to it. Write the list in order of the aisles in the supermarket. That way you can whizz round once, instead of backtracking and wasting time. Allow some time to look at special offers, but don’t buy them unless it is something you normally use. Always ask “Do I really need that?” Learn to recognise the difference between need and want. If you really want it, wait until your next visit to the shop. You probably won’t want it by then!

Cooking

Don’t kid yourself that convenience food is faster, or cheaper. Factor in the time (and petrol) you spend going to the shop to ‘pick up something quick’ for dinner. Also, allow for the fact that many convenience foods rely heavily on seasonings and beguiling ‘low fat, low salt’ labels. They often mean low taste and they don’t fill you up as much as ‘real’ food. In the hour you spent rushing to the supermarket or take –away (ruinously expensive, but fine now and again as a special treat), you can easily sling together a double lot of Chilli or Bolognese sauce, and freeze the leftovers. It doesn’t get much more convenient than walking to the freezer and taking out a couple of portions and popping them in the microwave.

“In talking to people at work about this subject, we find that a lot of people feel that you can’t come home from work and have a meal ready before eight pm.so they order take out. Well, we get home around 5 pm and we have usually finished our meal by 6 or 6:15. We know what we are having for tea before we go to work and take out anything that has to thaw. Most meats and fish will cook in 30 to 40 minutes or less. In that time, the spuds (cut fairly small) will cook as well and fresh veggies only take a few minutes in the microwave. “
Tom

The school run

Get together with other parents locally and arrange a school run rota. Use the time you save to follow some of our tips later in the series!

Housework

Don’t be a slave! Whilst we are not suggesting you should live in squalor, remember you live in a home, not a show home. Don’t dust everyday, only when it needs it. Instead of running round tidying up after everyone, simply get one old pillowcase per family member, hang it up somewhere convenient, and as you find belongings that need putting away, shove them in the relevant pillowcase. Next time someone says “where’s my……?, just point them towards their pillowcase. They’ll stop asking after a couple of weeks. They might even start putting their stuff away when they realise you aren’t picking up after them!

Delegate

The saying “if you want something done, ask a busy person” is true. Not because busy people have much more energy than everyone else, but they have learned to delegate. Before you set off on a mammoth task, ask yourself if there is anyone else who can help with it, or even do it for you. It might not be to your exacting standards, but so what? At least it’s done. You don’t have to do everything, and remember that most people feel flattered to be asked. We all love to be needed! Delegate small tasks like emptying waste paper bins to the younger members of the family. They like to be included. Older children can be given responsibility for emptying the dishwasher or vacuuming. If you meet resistance, bribery often works. Don’t offer money, but explain that you all live here, everyone has to do their bit, and all those who do help, will share in the treats. Treats can be inexpensive, fun and include everyone, (more on that later in the series). Most kids hate to think they will miss out!

You can save masses of time simply by roping the rest of the family in. Try not to nag, though, or it won’t work!

Well, that should get you stared. Think about your own personal ‘time bandits’ and work out a strategy for beating it! Next week, we’ll give you some tips on how to save money now you have all this extra time on your hands!

Finally, if you have any great money saving tips, please share them! Use the submissions form and we will publish the best tips. No cash prizes we’re afraid, this site is free after all, just that warm fuzzy feeling you get from helping others!

P.S. Please take a moment to read our Disclaimer.

Categories: Time Savers
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