How to Cut Down Cost of Living Expenses.

On the Kiran Trivedi blog this week, I let you know how to cut down cost of living expenses so that you can protect your personal finances in the long term.

Life is More Expensive These Days

It seems that life is just more expensive these days doesn’t it, Kiran Trivedi readers? Food prices are higher than they used to be, energy prices are higher than they used to be; even rail fares are due to go up by 3.5% next year. Again.

Rail fares are due to go up by 3.5% next year

It’s simply more expensive to get by than it was ten, or even five years ago. This means that you have less money to go around in the budget, making it much harder to protect your personal finances.

Cutting Down the Cost of Living

The thing is though, that you don’t have to let exorbitant cost of living expenses hold your personal finances hostage. There are plenty of ways to cut down the cost living, including…

• Doing Your Research: It’s time to dust off this old chestnut. I’m always telling you to do your research before you buy, and it’s definitely a way you can cut down cost of living expenses. Before you buy, look at a product, do your research and ask if you are really getting value for money.
  
• Shopping Around: One extremely effective way to cut down the cost of living is to shop around for the cheapest provider. Take energy bills, for example. You pay ridiculous amount with the Big Six, but by switching to a low cost supplier, you can shave hundreds of pounds off of your household energy bill!
  
• Looking at What Package You Have: When it comes to the larger things, like telecoms, look at the kind of package you’re paying for. Are you using every feature you’re paying for? Can you find a package better suited for your needs at a fraction of the cost etc.
  
• Making Lifestyle Adjustments: One of the best ways to cut down the cost of living is to simply make a few lifestyle adjustments; walking to work rather than paying for the bus, making your own lunch rather than shelling out for an expensive sandwich etc.
  
• Using Your Will Power: Another easy way to cut down the cost of living is just to say no every once in a while and refrain from indulging yourself. Help yourself by doing things like leaving the debit card at home, so you’re not tempted to buy things you don’t need, like six out of every ten people in this country already do on a regular basis!

It’s Really Easy to cut down the Cost of Living

These tips may sound basic, Kiran Trivedi, but that’s the entire point of this article. They are. It is really easy to cut down cost of living expenses to protect your personal finances as long as you stop and think!

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Is It the Right Time to Sell Your Home?

With the UK housing market riding higher than it has in years, this week on the Kiran Trivedi blog I ask whether it is the right time to sell your home.

The Rise and Rise of the UK Housing Market

The housing market’s a world away from where it was a few years ago in the wake of the financial crash. The UK’s astounding economic recovery, along with government schemes like ‘Help to Buy,’ have persuaded people to let go of their reservations and jump back on the property ladder.

And the figures certainly back it up. According to data from HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC), home sales are rising. Specifically, HMRC has noted that a total of 100,360 homes were sold in May, up from 95,600 in April; hitting their highest level of 2014 so far.

Mortgage Approvals Are Down… Again

So more homes sold logically suggests more people are buying; but is this set to continue. Not according to the British Bankers Association (BBA). Last week, the BBC reported that the BBA suggested that the "heat is coming out of the housing market."

The Association argued that despite the record number of current house sales, mortgage approvals – an indicator of the trajectory of the housing market – were down. Specifically, mortgage approvals slumped to 65,132 in May, down for the fourth consecutive month, and measured 3.5% lower in total than in the same month of last year.

The Mortgage Market Reviews Are making it Harder to Buy Homes

Chief economist at the BBA, Richard Woolhouse, attributed dropping mortgage approval figures to the introduction of Mortgage Market Reviews; new affordability tests for home loan applicants.

Woolhouse argued that: "These are the first mortgage approval figures we have seen since the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review, so it is significant they have fallen for the fourth month in a row."

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The Art of the Counterfeit: Spotting a Fake

You always have to remember, Kiran Trivedi readers that one of the biggest threats to your personal finances is when you’re tricked into buying a fake product. In order to help protect you from the risk this brings, I thought this week I’d give you a few tips on spotting a fake.

Kiran Trivedi knows it’s not rocket science. If you are tricked into buying a fake product, especially a big ticket item like a fake designer piece of clothing, then you are blowing money on something worthless, and either you’ll simply lose money on something that is not going to add any value to your life, or you’ll have to fork out more money on buying a replacement.

This is bad enough – however there is more than one way to skin a cat, and as such, more than one way to be taken in by a con. An article by the BBC brought this to my attention, as it highlighted the top five cons tricksters run on you to make you part with some serious cash.

It was certainly illuminating. According to the news source, the top five cons that can cost you the most money are the fake solicitor, fake holiday tickets, fake debt help, fake job adverts and fake alcohol.

It’s easy to see why these cons would be so effective and so detrimental to UK consumers. They are all either essential or popular products/services, and thus not only can they bring in significant amounts of people, they can part them from a lot of cash.

Counterfeit bill in the US

Kiran Trivedi’s Top Tips

So if you want to protect your personal finances, what can you do? Here are a few tips straight form the Kiran Trivedi blog:

• Use your common sense: If something feels like a con, walk away, it probably is. 
• Research: Once again, use the internet to look up who you are dealing with. Research is everything!
• Identification: If you have any doubts, check for ID or official verification if possible (this usually depends on the industry involved).
• Caution: Protect your details, don’t give them out unless sure, avoid online banking and pay in cash when possible to minimise any damage a potential scammer could do.

The reality is that it is so easy to get scammed in the modern world- it’s happened to nearly everyone at one point or another. If you want to protect your personal finances, take precautions and always remember to do your research! A great place to start is the Kiran Trivedi Blog.

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