Category: Finance

Overspending on a holiday is a very easy trap to fall into. The excitement of being in a new place, seeing sights, and eating new food can quickly total up. However, you can do all of these things without going over your budget. By implementing a few ideas, you can make sure your holiday is not ruined by money and cash worries. Below, we discuss our tips for holiday budgeting. 

Be Flexible

When booking transport and accommodation, you can save a lot of money if you are able to be flexible. Flights and train tickets can drop drastically if you can shift around days and times. Trains are much cheaper if you travel off-peak and book well in advance. 

Try to utilize price comparison sites. They can get you the best deals on flights and accommodation and often have offers available. 

Luggage

Luggage can really add money to a flight, particularly when flying with budget airlines. Most of their prices are advertised without hold luggage and strict hand luggage restrictions apply.

Use this to your advantage by only booking the number of cases needed. If you and your partner can fit the children’s clothes in two cases, then you can save money on expensive hold luggage places.

If you are traveling somewhere for a longer period of time, it can be cheaper to send clothing via post than book extra hold luggage. Look at parcel comparison sites using the dimensions and weight of your package and send them to your destination.

Plan for ATM Withdrawals

When withdrawing money from abroad, prices can vary drastically. There are three factors to consider; ATM fee, bank fee, and exchange rate.

The ATM fee is the money charged by the ATM operator for the use of their machine. These fees can vary from free services to extortionate prices. Ask locals in the area which are the free ATM machines and use them. 

You should also check the bank exchange rates from your currency to the local currency. Most bank ATM machines will have fairly reasonable exchange rates, but independent ATM operators can charge high fees.

Next, consider the charge that your own bank makes for taking money out abroad. To minimize a loss on all counts, always keep ATM withdrawals to a minimum, withdrawing as much money as you possibly can to maximize your loss.  

Holiday Budgeting

Before the holiday starts, count up the money you have saved. Deduct any money for transport or hotels, then divide the rest by the number of days you will be away. You now have a daily budget for your trip. 

If you do not spend all of your holiday budget in one day, then carry it over to the next. However, try not to exceed your budget on any given day as it can be hard to make up the losses. You may want to also have a separate budget for buying gifts and souvenirs that runs for the whole trip. 

Budget for Time

Arrange your personal finances around your times. For example, you may be spending one day on a flight which will cost you far less than a day in a city. For every day like this, carry your daily budget over to the next.

If you find yourself spending more money than you planned, slow the trip down a little. Instead of going out every day, spend a few days by the pool. You may decide to cook in an apartment instead of going out for expensive meals or eat food from a street vendor. 

Pay Using Card

When paying by card in a shop or bar, always choose to pay in local currency. Paying in your own currency usually has a higher rate with conversions fees, so you will end up being charged more. When using a credit card, the rate will be set by Visa or Mastercard and will likely be much lower. 

Research Local Deals

Before you travel to a destination, do some research online for local deals and offers. These may be in the form of discount coupons for trips and sights, or for meals and food. 

Many restaurants have excellent tourist meals for visitors. You can save a lot of money, eating at very high-end restaurants in this way. Check local review sites for great places to eat then check their website to see what they offer. 

Create Your Own Tours

Arranged tours and guides are very useful. But they can also be very expensive. Save money by planning your own itinerary. 

If you are the adventuring type, get online, and utilize public transport. You may even hire a car or bicycle to go and see the sights. The joy of this is that you see a lot more of the destination and often find shops, food, and sights you would not have been exposed to before. 

Some city breaks even offer free walking tours. They are organized by knowledgeable guides who ask for a contribution at the end. You simply pay what you think they deserve and have worked for. 

Some destinations also offer combined travel and discount cards. They allow you access to transport and discount at major attractions and eateries. Family tickets can save you an awful lot of money in the long run. 

Coming Home

When you return, exchange any large amounts of leftover currency at ane exchange. For medium amounts, it may worth be worth the effort so it could be better to just spend them at the airport on your way home. 

If you are looking for more advice on holiday budgeting or general money management, then make a visit to our blog a regular stop. Whether it is personal or business finance advice, we can help you organized your money starting today!

The American economy has millions of people working paycheck to paycheck. As if it’s not enough, 80% of Americans are walking around with some type of debt to keep their head over water as a way to afford bills or pay back tuition looking for ways to reduce debt.

Debt also happens to those who have a poor understanding of finances or those who desire to meet a certain lifestyle. It can be exhausting to try to pay back what you owe when it is a lot. If you need tips on how to reduce debt and get back on track, keep reading. 

1. Learn Where You Stand

There are two types of debt a person who owes money has: problem debt and managed debt. When you are riddled with debt uncertain of how to pay it back, you are dealing with problem debt. This is because you are in a position where you take out more than what you can afford. 

The goal is to turn problem debt into managed debt so you can work to pay it back to be debt-free. This cannot happen if you do not know where you stand. The best way to be clear about your financial situation is to pull out a pen, paper, and your credit report. 

Your report will provide you a list of credit cards and loans you have, how much you owe, and whether or not you are current on the payments or not. If there happen to be discrepancies on your report, now is the time to correct it. 

2. Budget and Start a Debt Plan 

Before you contact lenders, you should create a debt management plan and create a budget to see what you can afford to pay. You may be able to pay more than you think each month if you can cut out certain expenses you do not need such as shopping. 

If you are able, you could also increase your budget by working more hours or finding another job. You can do this by yourself or you can work with a financial consultant to help add structure to your plans and guide you. 

3. Pay off Debt With the Avalanche or Snowball Method

You are in better control of your personal finances when you can order how, how much, and when you repay money you owe. There are two types of debts you may have. The first, known as revolving debt, comes from credit cards that have a monthly balance each month when you do not pay it back (in full). 

There is also installment debt that is a chunk of money you owe at once — although you pay back in installments. This is the case with mortgages, personal loans. Both can affect your credit score. It’s helpful to use the avalanche or snowball method when you are paying your debt back. 

Avalanche Method

With this method, you pay off debt from the highest interest to the lowest. Overall, you want to make at least the minimum payment, but add more money to accounts with higher interest. You continue this process to the end and doing this method helps you decrease the total amount of money you owe by reducing the interest. 

Snowball Method

With the snowball method, you are doing the opposite. You are paying back from smallest to largest. This method also works to lower the amount of debt you owe, but by eliminating debt which stops interest. 

4. Negotiate to Settle 

If you do have some money on the side or can get it, you may be able to clear the debt you owe quicker by settling on the balance with a lender. With this method, you are paying less than what you owe on the balance that the lender accepts. 

This amount may be as little as 20% or as much as 80% to 90% off your balance. The only way to figure out how much you can get off is through negotiation. Upon receiving your payment, they will show your account as paid. 

5.  Consolidate Debt

Another option to address debt is to consolidate it. A major benefit is that it can help with your credit scores. When you consolidate debt, you are rolling all your debt, including the interest rates, into one single payment and interest.

The attractive thing about debt consolidation is that you save more by having a reduction in interest so you can pay back the money you owe faster. This method is also ideal for those who find it hard to keep up with multiple payments. 

6.Do Not Add On to Debt

The last thing you want to do as you are working to repay debt is to add on to it. You should never attempt to get another loan or card to pay an existing debt. More often than not, this will make matters worse and it will be more difficult. 

This also means you need to change old habits that caused you to get in debt in the first place if you have problems spending. A good tip to avoid getting in more debt is to stop using credit cards when shopping and switch to cash when you know you cannot pay the balance back in full. Relearning to use cash rather than depending on credit cards can make a huge difference. 

Reduce Debt to Get Back on Track With Your Finances 

When you first get a credit card or loan, it can be an exciting feeling. It feels nice to be able to get something you want or pay a bill you previously could not afford to pay back. Every time you use money from a lender, you should always keep in mind the money is not yours, and it comes with interest.

When you do not pay what you owe, you will find it hard to get future approvals and notice a plunge in your credit score. There is a way to reduce debt and get rid of it when you acknowledge you have it and use the tips to get ahead of your finances. 

If you want to find more ways to keep your money in check, take a look at more blogs on the finances section on our website. 

Talking about money is a major taboo in countries and cultures around the world, and the UK is no exception. While discussing finances with friends and family can be nerve-wracking, staying quiet about how we earn, spend, and save contributes to poor financial literacy. As a result, many of us never learned how to budget when we were young. Once you start earning a real paycheque, though, learning how to manage personal finances is crucial. Thankfully, budgeting sites and apps can help even the most novice beginners get a handle on their spending habits.

Here are five of the most helpful free and paid money management sites you should go to for budgeting tips and UK banking advice.

1. Yolt

Yolt is one of the best-known budgeting apps in the UK. It’s an open banking platform that lets you see all your linked accounts on one dashboard and track your spending from each of these accounts. You can also use the app to set budgeting and savings goals, transfer money securely to friends, and track your finances based on your payday instead of a calendar month.

The most unique part of Yolt is its stealth mode, a feature that camouflages your real balances and account information from prying eyes. Activating stealth mode will alter your standard currency and randomise other info while still allowing you to show what the app’s interface looks like.

The downside of this app is that you can’t use it on the web, only on a mobile device. There’s also a delay before transactions register in your account, meaning you can’t quite view things in real-time.

2. Money Dashboard Neon

The original Money Dashboard was a pioneer in the world of budgeting sites, but they’ve since scrapped the old interface and come out with a brand new app—Money Dashboard Neon.

Like other budgeting apps, Neon lets you connect your bank accounts to track them all in one place. It also allows you to break your spending into different categories and build a custom budget. Users can even sync their pay cycles for more accurate budgeting and schedule automatic payments through the app.

The downside of Money Dashboard is that to keep their app free of charge, they sell user data to third parties. Even though they anonymise the data and promise not to release your identity, this could be a deal-breaker for more security-conscious folk.

3. Moneyhub

The Moneyhub personal finance app is a bit different than the others on this list because it requires a paid subscription. The organisation’s reasoning, though, is that they’ll never sell your information to third-party buyers—something that’s very important when we’re looking at banking. The subscription won’t set you back much, just 99p per month or £9.99 per year, and the security is well worth the cost.

Moneyhub’s other standout features include an overview of all your financial accounts, detailed analyses of your spending, and the ability to set spending goals for yourself. You can also use the “nudge” tool to avoid missing a payment and get notified of ways to save.

What sets Moneyhub apart from the rest is the “forecast” feature. With this tool, you can add in a theoretical change to your budget (such as getting your car repaired or going on holiday) and see how it will impact your future finances. This empowers you to spend wisely and never be caught off guard.

4. Cleo

Have you ever wished that your bank accounts came with a financial advisor who would tell you exactly when you can and can’t afford something? With Cleo, the AI budgeting app, your wish can come true.

Cleo uses a healthy dose of sass and millennial humour to give it to you straight. If you’re trying to decide whether going out for a pint is a good idea, ask Cleo. She’ll analyse your current account balances and upcoming expenses to tell you “absolutely not” or “yes, but then you can only spend £15/day for the rest of the week.”

If even that isn’t enough to keep you from opening your wallet, you can always ask Cleo to roast you. She’ll come back with a flurry of memes and drag you for your financial choices (or begrudgingly admit when you’ve done a good job).

5. Emma

Emma may not be a budget planning app, per se, but it does make saving and sticking to your budget a lot simpler. Emma is, as the founders say, a “fitness tracker” of sorts that watches your transactions instead of your heart rate.

This app links directly to your bank accounts, investments, and credit cards to provide a real-time view of your entire financial state. The main feed on the home screen includes easy-to-understand summaries of your account totals and upcoming reminders. Deeper inside you can find detailed analytics, information about all of your linked accounts, and a money-saving tool that helps you find better deals on recurring bills.

Emma is unique because it applies the concept of gamification to your money. The app prompts you to complete “quests” that will help you understand how to use all of its features to the fullest. If you need more robust features than the free version provides, you can upgrade to a “Pro” account at any time.

Give These Budgeting Sites a Try and Take Control of Your Finances

Curbing your extra spending and understanding where your money goes doesn’t have to be painful. These budgeting sites make money easier to understand and—dare we say—can even make budgeting fun. If you’ve ever had questions about how best to direct your dollars or just want to see your finances displayed in an intuitive format, give one of them a try today.

The way you budget and spend your money is important, but where and how you save it has just as much of an impact. Take a look at this article for help deciding whether a commercial or investment bank is more in line with your financial goals.

1 in 10 adults in the UK are turning towards financial advisors to help manage their money and investments wisely. 

A financial advisor is a trained professional who can help you get the most out of your dollars. They help you know where to invest to get the best returns. And also how to manage your finances to meet your goals. 

Taking advantage of financial advisors can be a game-changer for many people. But often people put off asking for help and advice in this area. 

We’ve put together the top five reasons why you should work with a personal financial advisor. 

1. Training and Education in Finances 

The first reason that you should work with and listen to a financial advisor is that they likely have more knowledge about the subject than you do. 

A trusted financial advisor will often have certification beyond their college education. This certification will be earned by completing various educational requirements and then passing an exam covering the things they’ve learned. 

The economy, market trends, and predictions, and even the worth of a dollar are things that are continually changing.

Financial advising educational systems will give these professionals the training necessary to keep up with all the changes. Not only will they be able to keep up, but they’ll also be able to explain things to you in a way you can understand. 

And from there they can give you sounds, steady advice based on the information they’ve been given about your situation and the current economic standings. 

You can certainly take a DIY approach to managing your finances, but you may lack the knowledge and training to do it successfully. 

2. Time to Dedicate to Watching Markets

In order for investing to be successful and make you money, you have to buy the right stocks at low prices and then sell them at higher prices. This requires you to watch the market to know when things are low and high. 

Timing is everything in making money from investments. 

It takes consistent effort on a daily basis to be able to see trends throughout the market. The average person doesn’t have a lot of spare time lying around to watch for and interpret the trends they’re seeing. 

Instead, you could put your confidence in a financial advisor whose job it is to watch and understand the market trends. 

These professionals often spend a significant amount of time keeping themselves informed and in the loop of what’s going well and what’s not in investing. They’ll have a  better knowledge of things to buy and what to sell. 

You could half-heartedly make investing decisions in your spare time or you could leave those up to the professionals. 

3. Keep Complicated Situations Organized 

The traditional economy of a single income household has been changing rapidly over the last decade. Now many people rely on side hustles and secondary jobs to earn all of their income. 

While all of these sources are great for your bank account, they can make your financial situation a little more complicated. 

It can be hard to keep everything straight and have a good comprehensive view of your financial state. This requires you to keep detailed records of what’s going in, what’s going out, and any other changes to your account. 

The best financial advisor for you will be one who understands your situation. They’ll be able to keep things organized for you and give you advice on how to use your money the best way. 

They may also be able to help you make sure you meet tax or other legal requirements based on their better understanding of the laws in your area. 

4. Know How to Work Towards a Goal

Most people have some kind of financial goal they’re working towards, whether they realize it or not. It could be to save for a down payment on a house or pay off some unwanted debt. Or maybe it’s as simple as not wanting to feel stressed about their money situation. 

If you have a goal in mind to help your financial situation, it’s a great time to work with a financial advisor. 

A lot of times the outside perspective of someone unattached to your situation can make a big difference in making a solid plan. They can show you weak spots in your spending and other ways you could save. 

You can come with questions to ask a financial advisor for a professional opinion. This helps you to make the best choices for your family. 

Working with a financial advisor may also give you the motivation and determination to make better choices. Almost like a new level of accountability to keep you honest!

5. Less Worry During Life Changes

Our lives are always changing; we move, change jobs, add to our families, and acquire new assets. All of these things (and many more) change our financial situation. 

A financial advisor will be able to help you navigate through all of those major changes. 

They’ll be able to give you advice on how to adjust the way you spend, save, and invest in order to best fit your new needs. They can help you amok he necessary changes to continue on your way to more financial freedom. 

It can be very stressful to have to deal with change in your life. There are so many unknowns regarding how things will actually look in the future. 

Eliminating as much stress as possible will help the transition be much smoother; this can be done by working with a financial advisor. 

Following Your Financial Advisors Advice 

Speaking with financial advisors and getting their thoughts and advice is the first step to greater financial success. 

But the most important part of that success comes when you act on the advice given. Taking action on the investments and opportunities presented will give you the best results. 

If you want to learn more about financial advisors, good investment practices, or other wealth management tips, check out our blog for great advice! 

The global market for green energy is expected to grow to a value of $1.5 trillion by 2025. 

When you consider the fact that this was a market that barely existed a few decades ago, it’s obvious that investing in green energy has made many people rich. It’s also going to continue making people rich for as long as the world needs renewable energy, which is likely to be forever.

The question, therefore, is this: what is the best way to make money from the green revolution if you’re new to the game?

Read on as we look at the answer to that question and set you on the path to becoming a profitable green investor.

The Different Ways of Investing in Green Energy

There are many different ways to get exposure to green energy. The right one for you will depend on your risk appetite, the amount you want to invest, and whether you want to be actively involved in the investment.

We’ve looked at the different options in more detail here.

Starting a Business

If you want to take an active hand in the green energy market, you could set up a business in the field. There are a few different options here.

Wind and solar energy are the two main forms of renewable energy in the world today. If you enter this industry, you’ll likely be setting up either a wind farm or solar farm.

This is, of course, specialized work. You’ll need an educational background in energy or physics, and you may need prior professional experience of working with renewable energy.

In order to produce energy on an industrial scale, you’ll also need to make a considerable initial investment. Solar panels and wind turbines are both expensive to buy in bulk. They also take up considerable space, which means that you’ll need to have a large plot of land to work on.

Buying Stocks

If you don’t want to set up a green energy company yourself, you could choose to invest in one that’s already in operation.

There are many different options here, from established energy giants to brand new operations. The latter will not feature on public stock exchanges, however, so you’ll need to look to different investment platforms for these.

If you invest in a new start-up while its shares are cheap and it goes on to create highly valuable energy solutions, you could end up multiplying the value of your investment many times over. On the other hand, if the company goes bankrupt, you’ll lose all your money.

If you’d prefer a lower-risk stock investment, it might be a good idea to look for a publicly-traded, blue-chip green energy company.

Investing in a Green Mutual Fund or ETF

This is similar to investing in green stocks. It will offer passive exposure to the green energy market, giving you financial benefits if and when the market as a whole improves.

The key difference between this and the option of buying company shares is the risk-reward profile. Because funds diversify your investment across a large number of ventures, you won’t lose all your money because of one company’s bad decisions.

However, you will also have a much more limited growth capacity. 

There are a couple of important differences between an ETF and a mutual fund. Most significantly, a mutual fund is actively managed, which means that fund managers will pick up and drop stocks in real time on the basis of market trends.

ETF managers, on the other hand, pick a basket of stocks or index at the fund’s inception and leave them in place regardless of trends. Because of this passive strategy, ETF fees tend to be much lower.

Setting Up Solar Panels or a Windmill

This admittedly isn’t an investment in the business sense. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not a great bet.

Recent COVID-19-related dips aside, fossil fuels are getting more expensive. As oil-producing countries tinker with the supply chain and the reserves of natural fuel continue to dwindle, the price of non-renewable energy will eventually become unsustainable.

When that happens, the homes and businesses that are self-sufficient in terms of energy will be much better off. If you live in an area that gets a lot of sun or wind, this is something you should consider.

The Advantages of Investing in Green Energy

The main advantage of investing in green energy is the market outlook. There aren’t many industries with as bright a future as renewable energy.

Green companies also benefit from government subsidies and tax breaks in many areas. Because many places desperately need green energy, ruling bodies are happy to incentivize its development in whatever ways they can.

To make the most of this, you should research political attitudes to green energy in a given country before deciding to invest in a company from there.

Depending on the investment you make, you might also be helping to fund a company that makes a real breakthrough in the field of clean energy. There are countless capable energy specialists that only need start-up capital to start building the energy solutions of tomorrow.

Investing in the Energy Solution of Tomorrow

When it comes to investments with future value potential, you might find it difficult to come across a better option than green energy. Our planet’s energy requirements are massive, and continuously growing, while non-renewable energy resources continue to dwindle.

Investing in green energy is therefore likely to be a successful strategy. However, to make sure you take on an investment that suits your goals and outlook, you’ll need to do a little research on the various available options.

To learn more about investment opportunities, check out our finance section.