Things have been a bit tough for me over here at Lean Times HQ. I have been hit with some quite large bills that come with some rather unpleasant badgering, if you are a regular reader you might remember that I was made redundant from my best paying freelance gig due to my employer losing his biggest client. [...]
The next thing in your Mission Possible action list will be to cut back as much as possible, this is not a fun idea, I know but help is at hand. Before making drastic cut backs that will truly hurt, make the ones that you won’t notice. These are mostly services like your mobile phone [...]
In the times of a struggling economy where debt and unemployment continues to mount on shoulders everywhere, it becomes more about holding on to what you have than necessarily on generating income. Survival of the fittest becomes survival of the solvent. In an effort to part with as little cash as possible, an idea that [...]
We all try to be super precise when noting down our spending and a lot of the time we end up underestimating the amounts. Unless you have the time to go through every single receipt, it’s worth adding a bit extra to what you spend when you draw up your budget. Think about your morning [...]
Apparently it takes 21 days of repetition to make a habit so I am trying to make a habit of bringing my lunch to work. I know the only way to make this work is to find fabulous recipes that don’t take ages in the morning and are as lovely as getting food on the [...]
Last week, I wrote about getting back to business in September. I think every few months, say every quarter, it is a good idea to have a look at where your money is going. With inflation making food prices escalate and the heavy energy hikes, it is vital to keep an eye on where it [...]
I seem to be bumping into more and more ‘well off’ people that circumsances have changed whether it be from divorce, businesses failing or just the banks putting the squeeze on them. Well welcome to the frugal gang! We have all been there at sometime, I have been on frugal bandwagon for longer than I [...]
Most Personal Finance Bloggers cite the now famous quote “I’ve spent $40,000 on shoes, and I have no place to live. I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes! This does put a fashionista’s life in perspective, but there are a few more life lessons to be learned from SATC. Here [...]
Dave Ramsey says (yes I am mentioning him again) that the first of his Baby Steps is to have an emergency fund of $1,000 before you start to pay off your debts. I was thinking that since I live in the UK, I should just convert it to £1,000 then I got thinking. How [...]
Ages ago, I wrote the post eBay I Love you! and would you believe, the love is still going strong. Most people think about eBay when they are looking for something special, like a specific antique plate that you need to replace or something second hand that you don’t want to pay full price. I [...]
I live pretty much on my own and I like living with a couple of cats and a fiancé that pops in and out. I enjoy having my own space but am not thrilled at paying extra for privilege. When you are a Lean Singleton living on your own, you have to know how and [...]
I have gotten very hot on putting money aside at the moment, since last month was a Lean Time for me financially. I am now taking 10% of every payment and putting it straight into my ING savings account. The other way I ‘trick’ myself into saving is on the first of the month I [...]