So life has been a little weird the last few years as an American living in the UK, while going to school, and I was thinking, for today’s post, I would share some of the ways I save money (not huge amounts of money) but that still work over here. Cashback Rewards If you don’t…
It all began with a sketchy-looking Instagram post that caught my eye: “Check to see if you are owed any unclaimed money.” It seemed 100% like a scam, but good personal finance blogger that I am, I decided to investigate. I went to MissingMoney.com and entered my first and last name, fully expecting to find…
Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love, but let’s face it, it can be a pricey night if you try to Valentine it up like the movies and commercials tell you to! Whether you’re saving up for something special, living on a budget, or simply want to keep it simple, there are plenty of…
Pexels. CCO Licensed. Need a new lawnmower? There are thousands of different models to choose from. To help you cut down your options, here are a few important factors to consider. Petrol or electric? First, it’s important to consider which fuel source is best suited to you and your garden. Petrol mowers are the most…
Source The cost of pretty much everything has gone up over the past few years. Because of this, you may find that your money doesn’t seem to go as far as it used to. If you’re feeling the pinch and your financial situation is starting to stress you out, you might want to do something…
It seems like life here has finally fallen into a more predictable pattern, so I was curious to look at how spending looks from October 2023 in London to October 2024 in Peterborough. While both months were heavily influenced by my commitments to school and work, the differences reveal just how much life can change…
Halloween is right around the corner, and whether you’ve been planning for weeks or just realized you need a costume, it doesn’t have to break the bank. There are plenty of ways to create a fun, unique, and cheap Halloween costume that still makes a statement. If you’re on a budget, here are some easy…
So I’m clearly not the most struggling student, but I have noticed that food is always one of my worst areas on my budget. I think it’s because it’s so easy to justify it as a need. But when it’s necessary, it’s very doable to scale back. Below are a few things I’ve learned about…
Pexels – CC0 License It seems that the retro gaming world is experiencing a major revival right now. Lots of people are investing in consoles like the Steam Deck or the Retroid to relive parts of their childhood and it’s easy to see why people are doing this right now, especially in the ensuing years…
Image Credit. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look your best all the time. In fact, there can be a lot of benefits to paying some attention to your appearance. Whether it’s fair or not, it’s a fact that society favors people who look more attractive. You might find that strangers are more open and…
I’m pretty sure I’m going to be slightly scarred from living through the 2023 London utility bills last winter and going into this winter I just… wasn’t having it. I don’t understand how they charge me. I live in an ancient apartment that is nearly impossible to warm properly. Both the electric and gas meters…
While healthcare is a necessary expense, it still helps to adjust your lifestyle to reduce the risk of costly medical bills. As such, a previous post highlights health improvement tips to manage healthcare spending, which can reach an annual average of $4,500. Such tips include eating healthy and staying active to avoid overweight and obesity,…
Pexels One significant part of your life is your finances. It’s important that you can pay your bills on time and that you have the necessary funds available to you when you need them. It’s possible you’ve been wanting to get better organized financially but haven’t had the time to concentrate on this matter. Now…
I’m an American who lives in the UK, so I think about tipping kind of a lot. In America, tipping is pretty common practice. I expect to tip in most situations. In Europe, this is considerably less so. But, I have noticed an interesting shift here. With everything being automated, most of the tap payment…
This week I’ve been focused on what I can do to my holiday spending as frugal as possible. Not necessarily cheap, but I’ve been more focused that the last few years on the best ways I can maximize saving money on stuff I was going to buy anyway. Create an email account for loyalty cards…
Friends. I caved the siren song of cheap things. I bought some stuff from Temu. I will admit I knew like nothing about Temu other than… this stuff is suspiciously cheap. How do you even make stuff this cheap? I hoped it was because with a nice, long shipping time, that’s no problem these days.…
So this past week I had one of those moments where I was feeling particularly frugal and DIY-y and found myself in possession of a lot of mint. Like, literal mint. This is not slang for something else. Or money. Sadly. I bought a mint plant a few weeks ago for like £1.50. That seemed…
Pixabay It’s easy to start worrying when a recession hits. When the whole country struggles financially it could make you wonder if your personal finances will be safe. In addition, with the rising costs of living, you may already have needed a boost to your income. Is it possible to boost your income during a…
I got addicted to coffee considerably later than most folks I know. Through most of my twenties I had a tradition of getting a fancy drink at the coffee shop on board the ship where I worked on the last day of the cruise before settling in to do my end of cruise paperwork and…
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels We all go through financial difficulties at some point in our lives. It could be due to unexpected expenses, job loss, or a medical emergency. Whatever the cause, it’s essential to know how to protect yourself in these situations. This post will discuss ten ways to help you get…
Sometimes I think I deal with money like a total lunatic. Exhibit A: This lamp. You may ask, who really cares about a silly lamp? But in this case, I do. I first saw a lamp like this approximately 5 years ago. 3 years ago, I moved into an apartment and thought – I will…
It’s an interesting moment in life when you realize that no matter how much money you’ve saved, you may not be able to stop something. In the last few weeks, there has been the development of a plan for rolling blackouts in London through the winter if there’s not enough oil to generate enough electricity.…
It’s safe to say that all of us want to earn as much as possible in order to afford all the things that we deem necessary for ourselves, from a car to a home and everything in between, but earning a lot seems to be directly correlated with spending a lot. If you find yourself…
Money worries are something we all deal with from time to time. However, a recent study has revealed that an alarming 77% of Americans are worried about their financial situation. Of course, there are many reasons behind this spike in financial uncertainty. After all, we are still dealing with the shockwaves of the COVID-19 pandemic…
So I’ve done pretty well here. To begin with, I’ve been lowkey obsessed with tips like Hints from Heloise (do ya’ll remember her?) pretty much my whole life. I love a good tip. I don’t use a solid 95% of them, but the 5% that really work for me are pretty great. So what do…