Budgeting
A good budget will change your life
There are many things that make you think, but few make you change the way you live you live your life, having a good budget and being mindful of what you spend could not only save you money it could also save your life.
It used to be said that there are “Jobs for Life” and that an education is key to a successful career, but these days no-one can be 100% secure in their job and there are countless graduates across the world looking for a jobs, so in this hard financial climate we all must be careful and watch what we spend.
In all aspect of our lives Budget is the new key phrase, from budget airlines, budget hotels, budget accommodation, budget your money and make sure your monthly spending is within budget, we all should try and make friends with this new kid on the block “budget”
How can we be friends with “Budget?”
To be honest the majority of us already are friends and definitely do budget in some way or another. Whether it means buying cheaper shop brand products, taking public transport, making your own packed lunch instead of take away or even just spending less on a weekly basis we have all budgeted a bit over the past years.
It can be hard to cut down on certain things that we are all used to, but given the right direction we can still enjoy most things without breaking the bank.
Here are some tips to save money and stay within your budget.
Travel, everyone needs to travel at some point, whether down the road to the shops or abroad on holiday, either way money can be saved. If somewhere is close enough to walk to, walk there don’t be lazy and get the bus, for longer journeys look at the cheapest tickets, for example day travel cards or Oyster cards in London for example, then for air travel always look online for the best ticket deals and keep an open mind and try and be flexible with your travel dates there are lots of bargains on flights if you look.
Holiday Accommodation, always check around again online for the best prices, look at all options available not just Hotels and apartments, great deals can be found in guesthouse, bed and breakfast or even hostels accommodation, there is no need to spend massive amounts of money on a place you only want to put your head down for a few hours, after a hard days sight seeing and enjoying your self around town or on the beach.
Finding a Jobs
This is a hard one, try and stay positive and don’t loose hope, your CV is what forms a potential employer first impression of you, so make sure you tailor your CV to their Company and industry, the Employer will see Hundreds of CV, if not thousands, so make sure your CV stands out for the best reasons. Here are some tips
• Use Bullet points for key points
• Keep your CV to Maximum of 2 pages
• Highlight your Education and work experience
• Don’t use long winded Jargon filled sentences
• Be precise and to the point
• Explain what you can bring to the company
Your CV is the most important thing when looking for a job, because if the employer doesn’t like your CV you will never even get an Interview, so make sure your CV is true reflection of yourself and makes the employer want to know more about you.
Food and entertainment
In some ways this is the easiest and also the hardest place to budge, its true we all need to eat and keep ourselves amused, but how can you do this without feeling as if you are missing out.
When you buy your weekly shopping try to plan the meals for the week and consider which items can be substituted with cheaper options, for example if Heinz baked beans are 64p and shop brand are 28p why not buy shop brand and keep the change.
There are some things that you will want to eat or do that you will pay the full price but if you save on a lot of other things you will have money left to enjoy yourself.
One thing I did that really brought this home and highlighted what we can save is to put aside all the money that I had saved on the different things and then counted it up at the end of the month. I was very pleased and surprised with the money I had, there is no harm in trying so go ahead and start to budget in your life.
There are many things that make you think, but few make you change the way you live you live your life, having a good budget and being mindful of what you spend could not only save you money it could also save your life.
It used to be said that there are “Jobs for Life” and that an education is key to a successful career, but these days no-one can be 100% secure in their job and there are countless graduates across the world looking for a jobs, so in this hard financial climate we all must be careful and watch what we spend.
In all aspect of our lives Budget is the new key phrase, from budget airlines, budget hotels, budget accommodation, budget your money and make sure your monthly spending is within budget, we all should try and make friends with this new kid on the block “budget”
How can we be friends with “Budget?”
To be honest the majority of us already are friends and definitely do budget in some way or another. Whether it means buying cheaper shop brand products, taking public transport, making your own packed lunch instead of take away or even just spending less on a weekly basis we have all budgeted a bit over the past years.
It can be hard to cut down on certain things that we are all used to, but given the right direction we can still enjoy most things without breaking the bank.
Here are some tips to save money and stay within your budget.
Travel, everyone needs to travel at some point, whether down the road to the shops or abroad on holiday, either way money can be saved. If somewhere is close enough to walk to, walk there don’t be lazy and get the bus, for longer journeys look at the cheapest tickets, for example day travel cards or Oyster cards in London for example, then for air travel always look online for the best ticket deals and keep an open mind and try and be flexible with your travel dates there are lots of bargains on flights if you look.
Holiday Accommodation, always check around again online for the best prices, look at all options available not just Hotels and apartments, great deals can be found in guesthouse, bed and breakfast or even hostels accommodation, there is no need to spend massive amounts of money on a place you only want to put your head down for a few hours, after a hard days sight seeing and enjoying your self around town or on the beach.
Finding a Jobs
This is a hard one, try and stay positive and don’t loose hope, your CV is what forms a potential employer first impression of you, so make sure you tailor your CV to their Company and industry, the Employer will see Hundreds of CV, if not thousands, so make sure your CV stands out for the best reasons. Here are some tips
• Use Bullet points for key points
• Keep your CV to Maximum of 2 pages
• Highlight your Education and work experience
• Don’t use long winded Jargon filled sentences
• Be precise and to the point
• Explain what you can bring to the company
Your CV is the most important thing when looking for a job, because if the employer doesn’t like your CV you will never even get an Interview, so make sure your CV is true reflection of yourself and makes the employer want to know more about you.
Food and entertainment
In some ways this is the easiest and also the hardest place to budge, its true we all need to eat and keep ourselves amused, but how can you do this without feeling as if you are missing out.
When you buy your weekly shopping try to plan the meals for the week and consider which items can be substituted with cheaper options, for example if Heinz baked beans are 64p and shop brand are 28p why not buy shop brand and keep the change.
There are some things that you will want to eat or do that you will pay the full price but if you save on a lot of other things you will have money left to enjoy yourself.
One thing I did that really brought this home and highlighted what we can save is to put aside all the money that I had saved on the different things and then counted it up at the end of the month. I was very pleased and surprised with the money I had, there is no harm in trying so go ahead and start to budget in your life.