Overall in the last few months we’ve seen an increase in the cost of fuel for the home – gas and electricity prices have increased across the board in a fairly noticeable way, however petrol has been coming down recently, and even diesel has started to drop in price again too.

Food prices have apparently gone up, but I can’t say I’ve personally seen a noticeable change in how much my shopping is costing me, and I’m not really any different to most people, I buy mostly from the supermarkets and shop across the ranges, buying some of the value end products and some own brand and a few brand name items. I’ve also noticed that supermarkets seem to be offering some really excellent deals on things at the moment and have on occasion taken advantage of them myself – one of the most recent being the Morrisons offer of buy one get two free on the Pepsi range of 2 litre bottled drinks.

Interest rates are lower than they’ve been in years, so we’re not earning as much on our savings, but we’re also paying lower interest rates on our debts too. Statistics seem to show that certain white goods like washing machines have dropped in price as well, so why are we struggling?

Could it be that the biggest struggle is that we’ve all got used to a lifestyle where we live above out means? So many of us are used to waving that credit card around or borrowing from the bank, that now the banks are starting to be more controlled in how much they let people have we don’t quite know how to cope with it.

A rule of thumb that I was taught when very young was first take the amount of your income and remove from it the amount you NEED to live on. - that’s food, household bills, rent, mortgage etc. but NOT loans, credit cards and things. Next you look at the remaining amount and divide it into three pots. Pot one is for Debt – this is what you use to pay back any money you owe. Pot two is for Savings – This is so that you can put a few £’s aside so if you need money for something like the washing machine breaking down, you have it. Pot three is for living. This is the money you can use to buy presents, spend on going out or on new things that you don’t actually NEED. It’s a concept that’s worked well for me over the years, and one I’ve suggested to others who have gone on to successfully use it to get themselves out of debt and back on an even keel.

Here is an extract from the article - it made me laugh.

“I believe that part of the reason so many of us feel obscurely dissatisfied in some way is to do with our strange, deluded (and very unthrifty) expectations. I also believe that these are a direct consequence of two things: a) celebrity culture, in which everyone always seems beautiful, rich, happy and fulfilled, and we, by comparison, seem plain, poor, beset with small miseries and chronically unfulfilled/frustrated; and b) the sneaky influence, and legacy, of all those thousands of self-help books, which have now been around for a couple of decades, and which all contain the same message: you’re super-special and deserve everything, and if you’re not getting it, it’s because you’re a victim.

Point a) is easily dismissed: it’s called PR and I sincerely hope that the lovely readers of this publication have enough gumption to see the smoke and mirrors for what they are. (It’s also called airbrushing, and sometimes eating disorder, and often drug habit.)”

You can read the full article here, I think I may buy the book - I’m hooked.

It seems to me that some things are a pretty safe bet and yet when I’ve tried them, I’ve still found myself disappointed. Others, I’ve tried with trepidation, and been very pleased with the results and there does seem to be a fairly large amount of trial and error involved. An example of this for me was that cheaper wrapping paper seemed pretty obvious to me when I bought it – after all, you wrap the present, and someone unwraps it and then the paper is thrown in the bin, but sadly it was a false economy as the stuff was so thin you could read the title on the dvd I was trying to wrap, and so I had to use twice as much as I would have of the more expensive paper.

So how do we get it right? I’ve found that discussing things with friends helps, particularly people who I know have similar tastes and values to myself. If one of them tries something different and says yeah it’s not bad, then I think hmm maybe I’ll give it a go. If they say don’t touch it, it’s rank then I’m likely to not bother trying it.

Forums and discussion boards are useful too I think – people can talk about their choices and preferences and that helps everyone. Also I think some people feel a bit self conscious talking to friends about economising, but talking to strangers when you can use a ‘username’ and no one knows you, doesn’t feel so embarrassing.

In a recent article on Peazyshop Ross mentioned buying cheap batteries and having them only last 10 minutes, and feeling disappointed that he’d wasted his money while trying to economise. I find myself going the other way, I buy the rechargeable batteries so that they last – well if not forever then often for longer than the product I’m putting them in anyway! – Ok, it still costs me money on my electricity bill to recharge them, but less than replacing them each time would. I’ve not sat and worked out whether I’m reeeally saving money or not, but it certainly feels like I am by doing it that way, and I also feel I can pat myself on the back because I’m being a bit greener too.

How do you do it? Have you found a way to balance the money saving advantages of the cheaper no name brands with the quality of the brand name products? Or do you think all brand names are just that – names and nothing else?

The most recent 2 I have found are Miss Thrifty & Notes From the Frugal trenches. There is some really good content on these blogs def worth a read.

If you have any other sites worth visiting leave a comment below and let me know.

After I got home and started to use them the batteries lasted literally all of 10 minutes so they really were a false economy.

I read this interesting blog posting about the same topic today and it got me thinking about what things I would economise on and what things I certainly wouldn’t change.

I have always been a firm believer in buying good shoes and having a few pairs which I look after and have lasted me really well.

Shampoo and conditioner I certainly wouldn’t change I always buy Tigi haircare stuff out the salon it’s expensive in comparison to high street stuff, but a little goes a long way and it makes my hair nice.

Food I think to a point you can economise on - if you buy good quality raw ingredients they almost always cost less than buying value added pre packaged foods, so yes I think you can get buy cheaper quality food.

Stuff for the house cleaning products etc, I think you can economise, I don’t see the difference between supermarket brands and posh brands, I have even tried to make my cleaning products own on occasion.

Not sure what else I would cut back on - need to have a think about that, what stuff would you cut back on?

You can find out what your credit score is like by contacting places like http://www.experian.co.uk or http://www.equifax.co.uk. If you have ever missed a payment, or encountered a problem then it will have affected your credit rating, and even people who have never had a problem can have low credit ratings if they’ve never used credit to pay for anything, or ever had a bill or bank account in their name.

You can improve your credit rating by making sure you do a few simple things.

Make sure you are on the electoral register – not being registered is likely to affect your rating negatively so make sure you do get yourself added.

Don’t apply for too many things at the same time – If you apply for something like a credit card, and get turned down, wait… don’t try to apply for another immediately. The more times you get turned down, the worse your rating will get making it even harder to get accepted.

Don’t have too much unused credit – If you have old credit cards that you no longer use, get rid of them. Keeping them hanging on isn’t actually a good idea as having too many things can drop your credit rating too.

Never miss a payment! If you miss even one or two payments then it can affect your credit rating for years to come so it’s important to always keep on top of your bills and make sure you contact a lender immediately if you have a problem.

If you have a low credit rating because you’ve never needed credit, and therefore the lenders don’t really know you exist, as well as getting yourself on the electoral roll as mentioned, it’s also a good idea to get a bank account and see if you can set up a bill or two to be paid from the bank account by direct debit – this way you will stop being a non-person in the world of credit and they will start to notice you exist.

Related Articles - 10 steps to a better credit rating, Six credit score myths

If you would like to help this months charity visit this link - http://peazyshop.co.uk/peazyshop-fundraising

One such business that has seen an increase in trade are Cobblers, more and more people are now choosing to have shoes and boots repaired rather than buy new ones. It is interesting that it takes an econimic downturn for people to realise that things can be repaired and made new again. I will be interested to see if this trend continues once we have weathered the worst of the crisis.

Personally I have always tried where possible to mend or repair something before I consider chucking it in the bin.

We seem to live in such a watseful world where everything is disposable and you don’tneed to take care of something - but what is wrong with trying to fix something forst, it seems to be a dying art these days when really it shouldn’t!

Old Fashioned Stuff
Make and Mend

I have had a look around and it was a toss up between the Airmiles card or the American Express cashback card. I opted for the airmiles card because you get two free flights with the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Credit Card account if you apply by 31 December 2008 and it has a typical 15.9% APR variable.

Does anyone else do anything similar to get something back from your monthly essential purchases?