Find out about the ship and ports of call

Before your cruise, it’s a good idea to research the ship you will be sailing on, if possible. There are thousands of YouTube videos about cruising –  you are bound to find at least one featuring your ship (unless it’s brand new). You could also look at the cruise company’s website, travel blogs, and Pinterest for more information. This will help you understand what facilities the ship has so you can plan what you’d like to do on board. You could see if there are any online forums, or Facebook groups you could join.

Your cruise should also have an itinerary, which will show the ports of call or sea days, and any particular dress code (for example if they have a formal or celebration night, dress code may be black tie).

It’s also a good idea to research the ports you will be calling at – this was a good resource for me. You can find out whether it’s possible to walk into the tourist areas, or whether you might need a taxi or a shuttle bus service. You might also want to find out what local attractions there are – the cruise ship will do excursions, but you can also look at booking these independently if you want to. This could be a cheaper way of doing it – although with the cruise-run excursions, if they are late back for whatever reason the ship will wait for you. It won’t necessarily wait if you are doing these independently!

What will the weather be doing?

Check out the weather forecast for the areas you will be travelling to – you won’t be able to get an accurate one until much closer to your travel date, but you can get an idea of the type of weather to expect, which can help you plan your packing!

Documentation and online forms

You should also check what documentation or online forms you need to complete for the cruise company – and whether any visas are required. There may be some health and identity documentation for the cruise company before you can travel. Some offer online check-in a few days before you leave – when you can also print off your luggage tags and boarding card (if you’re flying). Keep a close eye on what documentation you need, or online information to complete before you travel, and also check your passport validity (and any visas required). You should buy travel insurance as soon as you have booked your cruise, so it covers you for anything that happens before you depart. Make sure it has cruise cover (some cruise companies insist on this), and it may also need to have Covid-19 cover. Although a lot of this could be saved online, so you can access it from your phone, I always like to have a printed copy of things like the boarding pass, travel insurance and so on in case there are any technical issues that prevent me from accessing the information on my phone.

Money

Organise your travel money – check the currencies in the places you’ll be visiting and make sure you have enough to cover expenses such as drinks/meals and souvenirs. Depending on whether gratuities are included in your cruise fare, you may wish to take money to give as tips – so make sure you have plenty of small denomination notes. Organise buying any currency a couple of weeks beforehand and shop around for the best deal – whatever you do, don’t buy it at the airport as it will be more expensive!

It might also be a good idea to get a debit card that doesn’t charge a fee if you use it abroad – I personally use Starling, which I’ve found to be excellent. Other types of cards are available such as pre-paid travel cards like Revolut. Have a look at MoneySavingExpert.com to check out the very latest deals and offers on spending money abroad.

Personal items

If you use any medication, make sure you check your supplies a couple of weeks ahead of time, and order a prescription if needed. Try and keep any medication in the original packaging, in case of any queries when you are going through security – especially if it’s a liquid or gel medication item. Make sure any essential medication is in your hand luggage rather than your checked suitcase.

Stock up on painkillers, antacids, recovery powders (for if you eat or drink too much…just saying… ), eye drops, suncream, sunburn cream, mosquito spray,  antibacterial gel, period products, seasickness remedies, medicine for diarrhoea or constipation.

If you need to organise any personal or beauty care book it in advance – e.g. hair cut or colour, waxing, nails.

Packing

Once you know the itinerary and have a rough idea of the type of weather to expect, you can start to plan your packing. Try to pack clothes that you can mix and match, and make several outfits out of. If there is a formal or black tie evening you will want to take appropriate clothing – but if getting dressed up that way really isn’t for you, you could probably opt to eat in the buffet or one of the more casual dining venues on that evening. Just make sure to check the cruise website, or ask on the Facebook group. Roll your clothes rather than folding them as this helps prevent creasing. Shoes take up a lot of space so try to take footwear that will cover you for different outfits. Make sure you take (or travel in) a pair of comfortable shoes, as you will likely do a lot of walking, particularly if you’re on an excursion. You might also need particular shoes for on-board activities or excursions – for example closed toe, lace-up trainers, walking shoes etc.

Use packing cubes – or compression cubes, which squeeze the air out of your clothes and take up less space. A hack I recommend is splitting your toiletries up into several smaller bags rather than using one big bag, as then you can fit these into the nooks and crannies of your case rather than a single bag taking up one big space. Also put all your liquid toiletries in the same bag, if you can, and put this bag inside a ziplock bag. You could also wrap these bottles in clingfilm in case of any leakages – pressure in a plane can sometimes force bottles to open and leak everywhere (as I once found out…). Take travel-sized toiletries for everything –if you have a large bottle with only a little bit of product in it, transfer it to a travel bottle. Every little bit of space and weight will help when you are packing!

Use all of the spaces in your case – the pockets on the inside and on the outside, for packing small, unbreakable things such as books, and small items of clothing. Buy some thin shoe covers, or use shower caps to pack your shoes in so they don’t make the rest of your things dirty. Pack heavy items at the bottom of your case, where the wheels are, to help balance it out. Pack anything valuable, as well as your meds, in your hand luggage so you have it with you at all times. Obviously also your passport and any travel documents!  Try weighing your luggage to make sure it’s under the weight limit – you can buy these for a reasonable price.

Check whether you will need to take a travel adaptor. An extension lead can also be a good idea (but this must not be a surge-protected one as these are not allowed on board). You can’t take irons or steamers but there may be a launderette on board with ironing facilities, and you may also be able to use the washing machines. If not, there will probably be a paid-for service if you need any washing or ironing done. You could also take a wrinkle release spray for any stubborn creases, or hang your clothes in the bathroom while the shower is on. Make sure you pack your chargers for any electronic equipment – I would recommend these are in your hand luggage. Laptops and tablets will also need to be in your hand luggage.

Check the size of hand luggage you are allowed to take, and remember you will be carrying this round with you in the airport once you’ve checked your case! I would always recommend taking a fair-sized bag as hand luggage even if you like to travel light, for a couple of reasons. One, you might buy stuff while you’re away that won’t fit in your case. Two, you may need to leave your suitcase outside your cabin on the last evening, which then gets sent to the airport for you. This means you’ll need stuff for the morning, like toiletries and clothes, and you’ll need somewhere to pack your overnight stuff. This is also why it’s a good idea to have travel-size toiletries because these will be in your hand luggage on the way home!

Prepare your entertainment

Make sure you have some personal entertainment material for travelling or downtime, such as books or magazines. Download some movies or box sets beforehand onto your phone/laptop or tablet. You may also be able to use the Kindle app, or take your Kindle, to save you carrying books around with you (and check your cruise website to see if there’s a library on board). I buy my books from charity shops, so if I take a couple on the cruise, I can then leave them behind for other guests to enjoy once I’ve read them.

Final checks

Make sure you check your boarding time a couple of days before travel, and make sure you have organised a way to get to the airport or cruise port (and home again!). If you are travelling independently to the cruise port, I would recommend getting there the day before you sail, in case of any travel delays. It can be extremely stressful if your flight is delayed for example, and there’s a chance you might miss the cruise departure. Better to get there a day before and have an extra night in a hotel!

Leave details of your travel arrangements at home, or with a friend so that if there’s an emergency people know how to get in touch with you (you may not be contactable by phone depending on where you are!).

Make sure you have all your documentation to hand, and that you have checked in online.

That’s it! You should be well prepared, and ready to enjoy your cruise!

Hope you’ve found these helpful – let me know in the comments if you think of any more!

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A cruise is a great option for solo travellers, and in fact this is a really growing segment of the cruise market. More and more cruise lines are catering for solo cruise travellers now, by offering solo cabins, restricted areas for solo use only, low or no supplement for different cruises, and solo meetups on board. So it really doesn’t have to be expensive to cruise alone – in fact there are some great bargains to be had, especially if you can be flexible when you travel.

Lots of resources are available for solo travellers, such as specialist travel agents, Facebook groups, online forums. These can all make it easier to plan your cruise. One of my favourites is a UK based agent called Passion for Cruises – who also have a lively Facebook group and a newly launched YouTube channel!

Solo travellers aren’t all single; some have partners that don’t want to cruise, or can’t take leave at the same time as them. Even if they are single, they aren’t necessarily looking for romance – but friendships are often made on board!

It’s a great opportunity to visit multiple locations – and you are travelling with thousands of others in an enclosed environment. I certainly felt very safe when I cruised with P & O Cruises on Azura in September 2022. It was my first cruise, and I had an amazing time.

You can please yourself

If you have a holiday destination in mind, but your partner or friends don’t want to travel there, if there’s a cruise that goes there it’s a great way to go to a place you’ve always wanted to visit. So many times I’ve heard people say ‘I really want to go on a cruise but my partner doesn’t’. Well – you don’t have to! Why should you miss out on going somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit just because someone else doesn’t want to go there?

And in fact, that leads me onto another great reason to cruise solo – you can please yourself where you go, and what you do. I was able to suit myself; in the day I’d either get off the ship and wander around wherever we’d docked, lie on a sunbed soaking up the rays or find an activity to do on board. I didn’t have to consider what anyone else wanted to do and fit in with their plans. In the evening, I had dinner at the same time and at the same table most nights, so a friendship developed between me and some of the other lady solo travellers. We’d often go to a show together after the meal, or for a few drinks. But it was up to me what I wanted to do!

If you don’t want to, you don’t even have to get off the ship in port. You can choose to stay on board if that feels safer to you, or you don’t want to tour a port on your own. However, taking a cruise-organised excursion can be a great way to experience destinations more safely – you’re picked up from and taken back to the ship, and you’re travelling with other passengers on your cruise. Because it’s a cruise-organised excursion, if there is an issue during the trip (for example, you get stuck in traffic) the ship will wait for your return. They won’t wait if you’ve gone off and done your own thing!

Lots of opportunities to meet people

There will probably be solo meetups on board, where you can meet other solo travellers and maybe even find someone to go on an excursion with. You can arrange to meet up for drinks, or for dinner. Or you can choose not to go – I didn’t go to any meetups on my first cruise, but I got to know lots of people on board (solos and couples) as people are very friendly and will chat to you. At dinner I sat with other solo travellers, and we became friends; also doing excursions together, going to dinner at the speciality restaurants and meeting up for drinks. Solo cruises can be a great way to meet like-minded people and become friends for life!

Trying new activities

Cruises have a huge range of activities and entertainment on board, which you can choose whether to join in with or not. No-one will know you – so what does it matter if you feel embarrassed? You’ll never see these people again, and you could end up finding a new hobby! But you have the option as to whether to do something, or not. Entirely your choice! It’s a great opportunity to try something new – and there really can be a huge variety of activities, from ballroom dancing to art classes, quizzes to vocal workshops, fitness classes to deck games.

Depending on the cruise line, you will meet a wide variety of ages – cruising isn’t only for the older generation now, lots of younger people and families also do it. Obviously, if you do a cruise with a line like Saga, you will be in the company of older people as they only allow over-fifties to book (although they can take a companion over 40). This might be attractive to you if you’re in an older age bracket and want to be in the company of others of similar age. Some cruise lines may attract a younger age profile, such as Carnival, but honestly, I don’t think age really matters! The key thing on a cruise (or any holiday) is to go with a positive attitude and be willing to talk to people.

Once you’ve accomplished your first solo cruise, you will feel a huge sense of achievement – and you may be like me and get hooked on cruising!

The post Why is a cruise a good idea for solo travellers? appeared first on Who moved my coffee?.

Mine was very simple – it was a list of renovations and tasks that I wanted to complete around my home – not a defined project, with timescales and milestones (like installing a new kitchen); that would make complete sense to write down so you can see what you need to do.

No – this was just a list of things that I wanted to buy, DIY jobs that needed doing or just home crafts that would enhance my home.

I wrote the list down in my planner, looked at it regularly – and actioned it. Within a year, everything on the list had been ticked off.

Since then, I have created other such lists – travel destinations, big goals I want to achieve in the next ‘x’ number of years and so on, and slowly but surely, the lists are getting ticked off.

Why does writing your goals work?

There is some science around this – writing things down means that your brain is encoding – this is a ‘biological process by which the things we perceive, travel to our brain’s hippocampus where they’re analysed’ (Mark Murphy-Forbes 2018).  Decisions are then made about what to store, and what to discard. Writing helps that process. There is also something called the ‘generation effect’ – individuals demonstrate a better memory for the things they’ve generated than the things they’ve merely read. This is why writing down notes from lectures and talks, or meetings, helps things to ‘stick’ in your brain rather than just disappear.

So what are the benefits of writing your goals down?

It helps you to clarify what you want – from an idea floating around in your head, to recording it on paper (or on a screen, whatever suits you best) – the act of writing it down means that you are identifying exactly what it is that you want to achieve. It also helps you to track your progress – ticking off a list is very satisfying!

Do they have to be big goals?

Not at all – as I said, my interest in this started when I had a list of tasks around the house that needed to be done. Simple lists of things you want to achieve within a certain timescale can be very powerful, when written down. For example:

One month tasks

• Research holiday destinations
• Plan Christmas holiday arrangements
• Book decorator in

Medium term tasks (three months) could be a project, such as:

Decorate the lounge

• Research ideas on Pinterest
• Collect paint and wallpaper samples
• Work out a budget
• Decide on decorator or DIY options
• Produce project plan, breaking down decorating steps

However, if you do have a big goal (to become financially free, for example), a plan of the steps you need to take will be extremely useful. It could look like this:

Becoming financially free

• Research the theory and principles behind FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)
• Identify your current financial baseline and your target ‘money pot’
• Break down current budget and identify ways of saving money, to move to investments
• Open investment accounts
• Automate saving
• Track progress
• Modify timelines/amounts accordingly

How to start

You can start small, by writing a list of three daily or weekly goals you want to achieve, ticking them off as you complete them. Creating a routine of writing down your goals/tasks, tracking them and completing them will give a sense of accomplishment, and create focus on what you want to achieve.

The key thing is….

It’s important to actually take action on the goals you’ve written down – information on it’s own won’t help you to achieve these goals, you will need to actually do something! Create a routine whereby you regularly review your goals; maybe you have a list next to your computer, or next to the kettle, or pinned on your bathroom mirror – wherever you will see it regularly. This will get the item into your mind, and then consciously or subconsciously you will start to take action to achieve those goals.

If you want to look into this a bit more, I can recommend this YouTube video by Modern Health Monk, which is where the penny dropped for me!

Have you had success with achieving your goals? Let me know in the comments!

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The changing of the seasons, the loss of those warm, long days (if we’ve been lucky enough to have sun here in the UK!) and the nip in the air that tells us Autumn is on its way. The change of each season reminds me that nothing is forever, changes up my thinking, and gives me a fresh perspective.

I love change, after a period of stability – no-one loves living in a constant state of change do they?! – and the changing of the seasons gives an opportunity to reset, or bring some changes to different areas of my life.

My work life is changing from this September – I am reducing my hours and going down to four days a week. This will give me a bit more space from work, which at times is all-consuming, and enable me to spend more time doing the things I love, including working more on this blog. I have so many ideas, and ways that I want to spend my time, and I’m really looking forward to it!

Here are some of the things I do to feel like I’m having a fresh start each September:

Planning – is it too early to mention the C word?! Winter is coming, and with it the holiday season, and it’s time to start thinking about Christmas and getting a jump on present planning! I also like to plan activities in so that I have something to look forward to – like an upcoming holiday.

Wardrobe changeover – it always seems to happen so quickly; the weather one day is warm enough for sandals and summer dresses, and the next you need your boots and sweaters! Packing up your summer wardrobe and getting out your winter clothes is an annual ritual, and rediscovering clothes you love (hello boots that I’ve had for 10 years!) is a lovely feeling!

Changing up your recipes – time to start cooking up the soups and casseroles that are a staple of the cooler months. There is nothing better than having a meal in the slow cooker all day that you just need to serve up when you get home!

Hobbies – my favourite sport of ice hockey starts up again in September after its summer break. I love having the summer off (and tbh the season often outstays its welcome by April, if the team hasn’t played well…) but it’s great to be back in the rink watching a fast-paced sport and catching up with friends. Each season brings fresh hope that the new players have an impact and improve the team’s performance.

Making my home cosy – I love the ritual of going round and closing the curtains and blinds, and cocooning myself in my home. Deep throws, plump cushions, candles and soft lighting all make me feel safe and warm.

What are some of the ways you welcome in the start of Autumn? Let me know in the comments!

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First thing to do (if you haven’t already) is to declutter – don’t pay to move stuff that you don’t need – or worse, that you don’t have space for in your new home. I’ve got a blog post about preparing your home for sale which has some useful information in it about decluttering.Essentially you need to prioritise getting rid of ‘big’ stuff that you don’t want to take with you – for example, that old exercise bike that is cluttering up your garage. And don’t forget about places like sheds and lofts! These are the most likely to have stuff in that you’ll get rid of or donate.

Packing your stuff up

Start to do this early!! You could start packing up your pictures and ornaments first, as you don’t need those frequently – but you’ll probably still be packing up your kitchen the day before you move, as you use it on a daily basis.

You can buy your own boxes from specialist websites or even from Amazon. Make sure you have enough (good quality) tape, with a proper tape dispenser, and a supply of markers to identify the box contents or labels. You’ll also need something to protect any fragile items during the move like bubblewrap or strong paper – I used this wrap from Amazon. I used these labels last time I moved – I stuck one on the top and one on the front of each box, together with writing on the number of the box. I then put one label on a piece of A4 paper which I stuck to the door of the relevant room in the new house and all the removal team had to do was put boxes with the corresponding colour labels in that room. Genius.

An idea I had last time I moved was to number each box, and keep a separate list and a photo of what was in the box rather than write the contents on the box itself. I had a small whiteboard, and when I finished loading the box up I wrote the number on the box, wrote the contents and the box number on the whiteboard, and took a photo of the whiteboard on top of the open box. Then I sealed the box up, labelled it and put it to one side. The next box then has the next number, and so on. This worked really  well, as I didn’t have to search through piles of boxes to find the one I wanted – I just looked on my phone until I found the right box number. I organised the photos of boxes into a separate folder on my phone for easy access.

My method for recording the contents of my moving boxes

(patent pending )

When packing up the TV or any complicated electronics, take a photo of the wires and connections before disconnecting any of them. Saves a lot of messing around and trial and error when you’re setting them up in the new place!

When you’re packing up clothes on hangers, you can keep them on the hangers, and put them into large black bags, with the hangers at the top (outside the bag). This protects them during the move.

Finding a removals service

You can ‘DIY’ your house move and rent a van, but I really wouldn’t recommend it unless you are moving out of your parents home for the first time (and therefore have very little in the way of ‘stuff’). It takes an awful lot of strength and energy to move the contents of a home, and there is a lot of skill involved, in wrapping up your precious belongings and making sure they arrive at the other end with no damage. When looking for a removal firm personal recommendation is best but if you need to, look at reviews. They will want to come round and look at your contents to see how long it will take, how many vans will be used and therefore how much to quote. You won’t be able to book them (without potentially losing your deposit) unless you have a firm date for moving. They might also provide a packing service at additional cost, which may be of use to you.

Organising the services

Next steps – you will need to organise the utilities at your next place (gas, electricity, broadband, phone line, TV provider, water) as well as home insurance and changing the address on your car insurance. You’re responsible for insuring the new property from the date of exchange of contracts! You’ll also need to let your current providers know that you’re moving. Organise for your post to be redirected to your new address by filling in the online Royal Mail form.

Take your meter readings on the final day (take a photo of the meters) and remember to take a reading of your new meters on your first day (again, a photo).

Find out from the estate agent how you will get the keys to the property on moving day (and from your own agent how the new owners of your old home will get theirs!).

Handing over to the new owners

Prepare a handover list for the new owners – you could ask the owners of the new home to do a similar list for you. This should include useful information such as where the meters are, what day the bins are collected, the names of the neighbours, any particular maintenance arrangements for equipment you’re leaving behind, and so on. I’ve created a checklist for a handover list that you can download for free here.

If you’ve had a good relationship with your buyers, it’s nice to leave them a ‘welcome’ gift like a bottle of prosecco (with a couple of glasses) together with your handover list. And of course you should clean your home so it’s ready for the new owners (and hope that the owners of your new home have done the same for you!).

Moving day essentials

Prepare your moving day essentials box and overnight bag in the week before you move. The box should include toilet roll, kitchen roll, some cutlery, plate, mugs/paper cups, coffee and so on.

Have any valuables (jewellery, passports, important documents, laptop) with you in your car.

Your overnight bag should include phone charger, medicine, toiletries and clothes for overnight.

Pack up your duvets and pillows into large bags and they can then be unpacked in your new place once your beds have been put in place. These bags from Amazon come highly recommended.

Unpacking at your new home

It will probably be chaos, with people moving boxes and possessions in! Be on hand for any questions from your removals people about which furniture goes where.

First priority should be to get  your kitchen unpacked with the basics and make sure everyone in your home has a bed to sleep in by bedtime – quilts, pillows, sheets etc.

Remember to take photos of your gas and electricity meters for your first reading.

If you’re working, make sure (if you can) that you book a few days off after the move, to try and get yourself unpacked as much as possible. In the first few days, do your address change notifications; for businesses, many of these can be done online, or you may need to call. Remember to tell your friends and family your new address.

Some key tips:

• If you live with others, spread the load. It shouldn’t be down to one person in the household to get everything packed up, and all the admin done
• If friends offer to help pack (or unpack, at the other end) boxes – do not, under any circumstances, say no!!
• Start to prepare for the move earlier than you think you need to. There is an awful lot to get done, and you need to fit this around your current life and commitments
• In particular, declutter early, and before you start packing!
• Planning is key – have lists, add to them, cross things off – just use them! They will help the whole process get out of your head, and onto paper
• Keep in touch with your solicitor, and the estate agents involved, throughout. Dates can change, people can do strange things, curveballs can be thrown. Keep yourself informed.

Finally, remember to take some time for yourself after the move – it will probably have been highly stressful, potentially emotionally draining, and almost certainly physically exhausting! Don’t try and get everything unpacked and pictures up in the first week – prioritise the essentials like your kitchen and bathroom, and somewhere to relax each evening. And enjoy your new home

The post How to move to a new home with less stress! appeared first on Who moved my coffee?.

Location and budget

You may have already decided on the area you want to look in, and you should also have a budget in mind. Think carefully about whether you really need to spend more money than you currently do on a home – there might be one in a ‘less desirable’ area, or an up and coming area that will cost way less than one where prices are at a premium. For example, I sold a house that was in a good location, and was also relatively new (less than 25 years old), and moved to a 100 year old house in a cheaper location that cost £60k less (which actually had more square footage, and more character). This enabled me to pay a big chunk off my mortgage, reduce the term by a couple of years, and still have money left over to make some significant improvements to the new house. And I love it – I’ve put my own stamp on it by making structural changes that I couldn’t afford to do in my previous home (although it did need it). Many property experts will say location is the most important thing – and it is important; I wouldn’t buy a house next to an industrial site for example, BUT don’t write off ‘cheaper’ areas without visiting them and looking at what they have to offer – you could find a new home that is perfect for you!

You might also be looking at buying somewhere that needs renovating – if you are handy, and don’t mind living in potential chaos for a few months while the work is going on, this can be a good way of buying a home lower priced, but in a premium area. It also has the advantage that you can design it how you’d like it, so this could be an option for you.

What do you need in a new home?

Think about how big your house needs to be – if you’re a growing family, then space is going to be very important. If you’re single, or it’s just you and one other person, less space is probably fine. Don’t make the mistake of looking for somewhere bigger because you have a lot of stuff – sort your stuff out first and declutter, and you might find you have enough space where you are! Plenty of resources are available to help you to declutter – try How to GYST here on YouTube – loads of decluttering inspiration!

If you are sure you want to move, think about what you are looking for in a new property – number of bedrooms, location, parking arrangements, space for a home office etc. I found it helped me to have a note of these (the Notes app is good for this) so I could keep them top of mind when looking.

Get yourself onto mailing lists and set up alerts on the major house sites like Rightmove and Zoopla. Put in the area you are looking in, the type of house/flat and price range and you’ll receive alerts as new properties come onto the market.

Have a look round the area – is there a particular agent with a lot of properties for sale? If so, get yourself on their mailing list or better still, develop a relationship with one of their staff so they think of you and give you a call when a property comes onto the market.

Viewing properties – what to look for

When you see a house that you might be interested in, look at it with your head and not your heart! It can be easy to get carried away and dream of living in a property that looks fantastic in the photos before you’ve even visited it (I know – I’ve done this!). However, and this may come as a big shock to you – the photos can be very deceptive. They are (usually – if the owner has done their job properly with preparing it for sale – see my previous post about this ) designed to show the property in its best possible light. Photos may be taken at ridiculous angles to make rooms look bigger, the room may not have much furniture in it – again to make it look bigger. Space is the name of the game – as well as location.

Look carefully at Estate Agent photos, descriptions, room plans and measurements. I once viewed a house that had an awful kitchen that clearly needed to be upgraded, and it was only whilst viewing that I remembered there had been no photos of the kitchen on the agent’s website. If there had been, it would have put me off – clearly a trick by the Agent to get people through the door. I have also viewed houses where the size of the kitchen looked deceptive on the floor plan, and in reality was tiny and unworkable. If you can, try and check the measurements beforehand against your own home’s measurements – seeing that a kitchen is 10ft by 8ft on a floor plan may not flag up an issue to you, but if you compare it to your own kitchen which is a similar size and you think is too small for you, it could stop you wasting your time viewing a house that wouldn’t be right for you.

If good schools in the area are important for you, make sure you check out the latest Ofsted reports for the schools in that catchment area. However, take care not just to rely on these reports – they can be several years old, and are only ever a snapshot in time. Head teachers and Senior Leaders that were responsible for that particular rating (whether positive or not), may have moved on since then and things changed drastically. Try and visit the school, and talk to parents whose children are there. Asking for opinions on Facebook is an option, although be prepared to receive wildly differing views!

Is it important to be near to shops, or green spaces in your new home? Go around the area and check it out.

When you are viewing, take someone along with you. If you are buying with someone else, then obviously take them – but if you’re buying on your own, take along a friend. Preferably one that is willing to give you the honest truth about their view. However, remember the things that are important to them may not be to you – they might not like somewhere as it has terrible wallpaper – but you know you will be redecorating anyway so that doesn’t matter so much. However, they might pick up things that you miss, so it’s definitely worth having a second opinion.

Ask questions about the neighbours, the parking etc. I knew the house I was interested in was near a local primary school so I asked about parking. The owner said (truthfully, in her defence) that she didn’t know if it was an issue as she was out at work. It turned out it can be a problem, as it gets very busy and people don’t care where they park, including across my drive! I had to suck it up, and realise it didn’t matter to me so much, as the chances of me needing access to my drive at school pickup or dropoff times was minimal.

If you’re buying an older home, look carefully at things like the electric sockets and light switches – upgrading the electrics is an extremely messy job that will cost a lot of money. Look at the roof from the outside – does it look in good condition? Have neighbours upgraded theirs – this could be a sign that yours will need doing at some point. Having a decent, functioning roof is very important – especially in the UK where it rains a lot!

Are the windows double glazed? How old is the glazing?

Is the kitchen suitable for your needs? You can replace a kitchen, but again, it’s an expensive job. Same with bathrooms. That’s fine if it’s factored into the price and you’re happy to do the work – but if not, then you need to think carefully about taking the property on!

It might be important to you to be within a certain travelling distance to work – if so, then try your commute one day – at the time you’d normally travel, obviously!

Also, visit the house at different times – for example at the start and end of the day; also during the day if you are going to be at home a lot.

Look at the house(s) that are neighbouring the one you’re interested in. Are they well looked after? I found a lovely house that I would definitely have offered on, except the neighbouring house was in a terrible state, with decaying window frames, and an unkempt garden. With that, you don’t know what sort of neighbour you will have – and if they aren’t taking care of their home, that sends out the wrong signal.

The ’C’ word…..Compromise!

We all start off with a wishlist of our perfect home, and somewhere along the line we have to compromise.

No ‘new to you’ home will ever have every single thing that is on your wish list. For me, having a drive, three bedrooms and some outside space was very important. I had to compromise by buying a terraced house (with neighbours both sides) rather than my preferred semi-detached (neighbour only on one side). This meant that I don’t have easy access to my back garden (e.g. bringing in new plants, or having the bins there) as I have to use a side entry that is next to my neighbours house. It also means it’s more noisy than only having a neighbour on one side – but that was the compromise I was prepared to make, and I’m still happy with it.

It helps if, before you start looking, you have an idea of what you are prepared to compromise on – it’s been said that you should only compromise on the things you can change – for example, décor, kitchen or bathroom style. You can’t pick a house up and move it to a different area, so maybe location is one area that you aren’t prepared to compromise on. It helps if you have an idea of this at the start of your search.

Hopefully this has given you some helpful guidance to find a new home that’s perfect for you – comment below if you have any tips of your own!

The post How to find a new home that’s perfect for you! appeared first on Who moved my coffee?.

First things first – buckle up – this is probably going to be a tough journey! Many things can go wrong, many people or organisations will probably frustrate you so it’s important to go into it with a calm head, and accept that things will probably go wrong at some point. Managing your house sale is essential, and good friends can help out here by being a sounding board, or by offering you practical advice and support!

Legal representation

You can actually take on the legal responsibilities of selling your house yourself, but you will need a lot of time, be the sort of person who thrives on detail, and be really persistent. It’s not something I would ever do, having sold three properties and had a solicitor each time – it’s well worth the money.  You can use a solicitor, or a firm of conveyancers to deal with your sale (and purchase, if you’re buying somewhere new). It’s highly recommended to use the same firm (I would say essential) to manage the sale and purchase. The buyer will of course also have a solicitor, and the two firms should be in contact with each other regularly through the process.

If you use a solicitor, it’s really important to ensure you use one who is experienced in conveyancing. Again, personal recommendation is best – if you can’t get that, then do your research online by looking at reviews, post a question to your friends on social media, ask work colleagues. This decision is another one which is one of the most important to get right! And unlike estate agents, it is not easy to change solicitor once you are in the process, and there may well be fees to pay if you do change – a new solicitor will probably want to conduct new searches rather than use any searches from the first one. Fees can vary enormously; there will be statutory fees such as searches etc, but the firm will also make a charge for their services.

There can be lots of things that go wrong, or go slowly with solicitors, whether that’s using local firms or using online specialist conveyancers. Not processing things as quickly as they should, not being contactable or replying to emails, and in some instances not actually knowing the right thing to do! I think this is one area where your research will be invaluable – but not foolproof. I think there is a lot to be said about using a local firm – if only because if things get really bad you can at least turn up on their doorstep to speak to them – and of course going into the office is easier to sign documents, etc.

What does the solicitor do?

In a nutshell, the solicitor (or conveyancer) does the legal work to transfer ownership of your property. When you are selling, this includes dealing with your buyer’s solicitor and fielding any enquiries from them, checking how your buyer is funding their purchase, send you forms to complete about your home (fixtures and fittings list, property information form) and so on. They will also liaise with your mortgage provider to obtain a redemption statement, if you currently have a mortgage on your home. This will state how much is owed on your mortgage (the redemption figure) as that will need to be paid to the mortgage provider once the home is sold. Your solicitor will transfer those funds once they have received the money from your buyer’s solicitor.

You can prepare for the sale process by getting your important house documents together – e.g. installation certificates for double glazing, certificates for electrical work, any paperwork if you have had an extension or building work done, as these will probably be requested by the buyer’s solicitor.

The fixtures and fittings form lists all the items associated with the house (garden shed, kitchen cabinets, light fittings etc) and you will go through it and indicate which ones you are leaving and which ones are not included. The property information form asks about what work you’ve had done to the house, whether it’s ever been flooded and so on.

When you are buying a new home, the solicitor will conduct the required searches (such as check a mining report, a water company search which checks if you are in danger of being flooded etc), check the title on your new property (e.g. that the person selling is actually the person who owns it!), ensure you receive the fixtures and fittings and property information forms, forward on any queries you may have and identify queries of their own; e.g. if there have been alterations to the property, making sure these were all done legally and with the appropriate checks.

They will be liaising with your mortgage provider (if you’re having a mortgage), or they will check with you about your source of funding – to ensure they are complying with money laundering legislation. The solicitor will also arrange for the deposit to be paid at exchange stage (which usually comes from your mortgage deposit) and will arrange for the funds to be transferred to the seller and the mortgage provider on completion of the transaction. They will manage the risk if there is an issue such as a sewer under your property (which happened to me!). This may involve you purchasing indemnity insurance or asking the seller to buy this. They will ultimately make sure you actually own the correct property!

A key piece of advice is to get to know the person managing your account, and build a relationship with them if you can. In fact this applies to the whole process – building and maintaining relationships is key.

Keeping on top of things

From my experience, the really important thing to do is to keep on top of your solicitor and your estate agent. Although their job is to follow the process through and deal with things in a timely manner, in reality they will be managing many other transactions at the same time, and yours won’t rise to the top of the priority list until you are near to exchange or completion. Your sale or purchase is not as important to anyone else as it is to you. A regular call (fortnightly/weekly) to the estate agent, and the same to your solicitor, makes sure that things are progressing as they should. Once you are further through the process, a weekly (and potentially daily!) call may be needed to make sure everything is moving along. Keeping a short record of the calls/emails is very useful, just jotting down the date and brief details of what was discussed/agreed. If you need to do anything, make sure you do it as quickly as possible – for example if you need to find a copy of an invoice you had for some work done on the house, or if you need to speak to your solicitor about a query that your buyer has raised.

I learned this the hard way, when during the first few weeks of my own house sale/purchase, I assumed my solicitor was conducting the searches because I’d transferred the money to them. What had happened was that the transfer had one digit missing from the reference and so the funds hadn’t been applied to my account. The solicitor hadn’t chased me up or identified that these funds belonged to me, and therefore did nothing. It was only when I checked in two weeks later that I found nothing had happened. Lesson learned!

Exchange and Completion

Once all the forms have been returned, the searches are in and the queries from each solicitor dealt with, the legal forms should be drawn up ready for exchange of contracts – once you have signed a contract and this has been exchanged with the buyer they’ve paid the deposit, both sides are legally committed to go through with the transaction. If the buyer pulls out, you can keep their deposit. If you pull out you may be sued.  Completion of the sale happens at a point to be agreed between both parties – this can either be the same day as exchange (very stressful!) or between 7 and 28 days after exchange. The day the property sale completes is the day your buyer owns your house, and obviously this means you must leave it. You are legally obliged to comply with the information you gave to your solicitor about what fixtures and fittings you are leaving and which you are taking with you – don’t suddenly decide to take all the light fittings if you said you were leaving them behind!

Managing the sale process can be a very stressful time, as well as the potential emotional impact of leaving somewhere you have lived, possibly for a number of years. I hope the information I’ve included has given you some helpful advice to make it a smoother process overall!

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My preferred order of doing things is selling your house before buying somewhere new – looking at what’s on the market while mine is being marketed, of course. This is because until I’ve sold, I won’t know how much money I can spend on my new home – especially in a fast-moving market. And even if the market is slow, selling before looking for somewhere to buy makes sense, because you don’t know how long yours will take to be sold. So, the first step is to find out how much you can market your house for.

How much is it worth?

If you’re in the UK you can use a website called Zoopla to have a look at what your house value might be. It’s (at the time of writing) free to review and uses data from various places including the Land Registry; it has different sections such as homes for sale or for rent, and also usually gives a history of the previous sales (this is especially useful when you’re looking to buy somewhere). Find the section ‘House Prices’ and put your postcode in to select your home and it will give you an estimated value range. You may need to register with them (free of charge at the time of writing – July 2022) to get the exact price, but you can see the range without registering. You may also have some local knowledge, for example if a house was sold recently (within the last few months), the price may not yet be on Zoopla but you might know what it was marketed at and have a guess at the sale price. Knowing a rough sale price will help with selling your house, and also to manage the discussions with your estate agent.

Marketing the house

Next, you need to find an estate agent. I would always say personal recommendation (preferably from more than one person) is the best way to go. I have always found that agent commissions are round about the same percentage, but the way they work and their efficiency can vary hugely. You need to consider aspects such as whether to go online only (can be cheaper but less personal), whether you want the agent to manage the viewings or whether you’re happy to show people round, and the sort of package on offer. Check out their website and see how easy it is to navigate – what are the quality of the photos, and of the written description. This is the way your potential buyers will see your house so it’s important that it looks professional. Make sure the agent lists their properties on a popular house selling website to ensure greater market reach – in the UK that’s probably Rightmove, and also Zoopla.

Do you think they’ll do a good job of marketing your home? Many will have varying levels of marketing – for example they may include a virtual tour on their website, there may be a physical brochure etc.

Check whether you have a minimum contract period – if things aren’t working between you, it’s good to know you can get out of the contract fairly quickly (6 weeks is usually the minimum).

Getting the right agent is one of the most important things to do in the sale process – if they are working properly for you, the whole process becomes much, much simpler!

Choosing an estate agent

Once you’ve got a list of two or three agents to speak to, make an appointment for them to come and value your home and tell you what services they offer. They will look round your home and ask you questions but should also have done some research before that point on local sales prices. Ask questions of them such as what is included in their fee, why they’ve valued your home at that price, have they any knowledge of your area, whether you can approve the photos, whether their admin team follow up with potential buyers after viewings for feedback etc.

You don’t have to make a decision on the spot – take time after you’ve seen all the agents to consider what they offer and then make your decision. Make sure you go back to the agents you decide not to use to give them your decision – it’s polite to do so and anyway they will only chase you up if you don’t! And if things don’t work out with the one you choose you might decide to go back to one of them.

The agents’ role is obviously selling your house, but as part of that there are many things they will do. They should have knowledge of the local area, and may even already have some potential buyers on their database that would be interested in your house. They can advise you on what, if anything, you need to do to prepare your home for sale (I’ve written a blog post about that – here).

The role of the estate agent

They will market your property, and this will be the biggest part of their job. Photos will be taken (you need to make sure these present your house as well as possible whilst being accurate), and they may do a video so that a virtual tour can be done. This is useful for buyers who may be moving into the area but currently live some distance away. Some produce leaflets with your details on (called ‘particulars’), and all should have a website on which your home is presented.

Once they’ve prepared all these details, you should check them and make sure they are correct before they are published. They can also arrange for an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to be issued (at a cost), but you can also arrange this yourself independently, which may be cheaper. EPCs are valid for 10 years, so you may already have an existing one, which you can check here.

One of the key things that the agent will do is check out any potential buyers. They need to make sure they are serious potential buyers; have they got a property to sell? Is it on the market/sold? Are they first time buyers? What is their source of funds to pay for the house? Do they have a mortgage agreement in place (‘in principle’)? This is to ensure you don’t get any time wasters – some agents won’t even let you view a house unless you have sold your own house already or are a first-time buyer with a mortgage agreement in principle.

Most agents will offer to show prospective buyers around your house as part of the service. Where possible, I ask the agent to show buyers round the first time they view, but for any second viewings I prefer to show buyers myself. This is because at second viewing stage, they are more serious (and there’s fewer of them!), and they will often have questions the agent can’t answer – what are the neighbours like, is parking an issue, how old is the boiler etc. It’s important to say at this point you should give honest answers! Don’t say your neighbours are fantastic if you have had disputes with them, for example. You are legally obliged to tell your buyer if you have had a dispute with your neighbour – once you have sold, you have to complete a property information form and one of the questions is about whether you’ve had any disputes.

What else will the agent do?

The agent should be following up with people who’ve viewed your home to get feedback, and to check if they want to put an offer in. This is a vital part of the process, as it can give you objective feedback on what people think about your home – which may not be what you expect them to say!

The agent will also negotiate the best price for your home. You should already have had the conversation about likely sale price (which may not be the same as your asking price). Depending on the current overall market and in particular your local area, this may be below asking price, at asking price or above asking price. It’s true that ‘a house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it’!

Once an offer has been made and the sale agreed, your agents’ admin team will spring into action. They will be in contact with the buyer to find out their solicitors’ details, who their mortgage firm is, what their position is in the ‘chain’ and making contact with them regularly to chase things up. A ‘memorandum of sale’ will be issued which outlines the sale price, and the buyer and seller details, plus the solicitor’s details for both sides. The agent will also be in contact with your solicitors, chasing them up when necessary.  

The estate agent plays such an important role in the process – they are the ones who can be in contact with everyone in the chain – from your buyers and solicitors, to the agents of other properties in the chain. Making things happen smoothly and quickly is key to getting to the different stages such as exchange of contract, and completion, and the agent keeps the ball rolling on this. It’s in the agents’ interests to work as hard as possible as they receive a fee based on what the house sells for (usually – rather than a fixed fee) and they only get paid if the house sells.

Selling your home can be a stressful experience, but having the right estate agent will make it much smoother for you.

The information in this post applies to England and Wales and is correct at the time of posting (July 2022)

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The whole experience can be stressful, but if you prepare well there are ways to make the process more manageable by being organised and having a practical approach.

The first tip I’ll give is an emotional rather than practical one, and that is to try and keep the process business-like, removing as much of your emotional connection as possible. Once I had made the decision to move, I tried to view my house as someone else’s – I also tried to keep in mind that the house I was moving to was ‘only a house’ until we had completed on it, and actually moved in. This helps to ensure you are dealing with the transaction on a business level, rather than getting emotionally involved. This is important so that you don’t feel attached to your home, which may then cloud your decision-making. If you’ve decided to sell, for whatever reason, it’s best to think of the house as a product that you are selling that you want to get the best price for!

So, when preparing your home for sale, there are several key areas to tackle:

Decluttering

Depending on your general attitude to ‘stuff’ this can be a huge beast to tackle! I try and keep on top of clutter day to day by having a box ready to throw things in for charity as and when I come across them. However, putting your house on the market requires more than tinkering around the edges. One good tip is to go round your house and take photos of each room from different angles; it’s surprising how a room that we look at every day can look totally different in a photo – and you can more easily see the problem areas, and have an idea of what you might need to get rid of. And don’t forget any less-used areas such as lofts and garages, garden sheds! Before you make a start, make sure you have an ‘exit plan’ of how you will be getting rid of stuff – for example, book in at the local tip (dump), make sure there is a charity shop willing to accept your donations (both of these were tricky during lockdown), and identify friends and family who may be interested (e.g. in furniture or books etc). I was fortunate enough to know someone who would be moving home, so there was a fair amount of stuff put to one side for her! You could also ask a kind friend to help you with this – getting rid of clutter can be an emotional minefield, and it can be difficult to let go of items. Someone who can kindly but firmly prise that childhood sports trophy out of your hands will be hugely beneficial (they really will!).

Prioritise what you have identified as needing to be decluttered into the big stuff that will make a difference (e.g. getting rid of some old exercise equipment that is taking up space), and the stuff that is good to do but won’t make a huge difference (emptying drawers). And then make a start on getting rid of the priority items! If you do it over several days, make sure you are moving stuff on every couple of days or so – that way you can really see the benefit of what you are clearing as you go through the process, which should help keep you motivated.

If you need a bit more motivation, I can highly recommend my friend Laura’s YouTube channel How To Get Your Shit Together, where there are so many really helpful videos about decluttering; it’s an absolute goldmine.

One of the key things that people want from a new home is somewhere to store their ‘stuff’ – and if yours is overflowing, they will think there isn’t enough room.

Repairs and cleaning

Once you have cleared your clutter, you can see the basis of your house. It’s a good idea to then do a room-by-room ‘snagging list’ which is a list of all the maintenance tasks that need to be done to bring your house up to scratch. For example, I had a dent in a wall where a door handle had gone into it, and also some loose plaster where I had a radiator fitted. Both of these were tackled with some filler, then repainted. There was also some paintwork which needed to be refreshed, and the outside paintwork needed a good clean. Before you start, go round each room and look at it with a critical eye, trying to see it as a potential buyer would – take more photos if needed. What are the things that you would spot, if this wasn’t your home? Is there peeling paintwork? Are there chips in the woodwork? Remember the garden too, or any outside areas you have – does anything need to be fixed? You may need to get a professional in, and you need to weigh up the cost of doing this against whether you would get the benefit of it in the house price.  For example, if your house needs a fair bit of modernisation (new kitchen or bathroom for example), then the estate agent may market it as ‘in need of modernisation’’ and price it accordingly. This can help to ensure that you don’t get potential buyers who will be disappointed at the scale of work needed.  On the other hand if they are relatively minor (repainting your kitchen from the blue colour that you love to a more neutral cream), then you can do them yourself. You need to weigh up at the end of the day which changes will make it easier to sell your house. I have seen so many houses where clearly the owners have not bothered to even tidy up before having the photos done, and whilst the house may be lovely, and perfect for someone, if they can’t see past that untidiness then it will take longer to sell. On the other hand, don’t (as my ex-husband once wanted to do) plan to rip up your garden and re-lay the path with stepping stones because it looks nicer, if what you already have is perfectly serviceable. There are many ways you can update your house at a very low cost, even the kitchen and bathroom, if you put in the effort. Have a look on YouTube at ‘kitchen or bathroom renovations’ either ‘low cost’ or ‘rental properties’ for ideas. There are absolutely tons of them on there, all you need is some imagination. Pinterest is also a great source of information.

Then you need to go round and clean your house from top to bottom. Even if you already have a good cleaning routine, you need to up your game! Look up; are there any stray cobwebs? Do your skirting boards need a good clean? When was the last time you cleaned your windows? All of these things will make a difference, and you’d be surprised what buyers notice! A beautiful house can be ruined if it looks dirty, and the time you put in will be well worth it.

Kerb appeal

How your house looks when buyers arrive is really important – it’s said that buyers make a decision within a few minutes of arriving and walking through the door whether they will buy. Tidy up the front of the house – get rid of any weeds, sand down and re-paint any peeling paintwork on any fences or gates; depending on the time of year some seasonal pots or hanging baskets will help – cut your grass if you have a lawn. Clean your windows, take down any stickers that your kids may have stuck on. Make space in your hall so that buyers aren’t fighting through a pile of coats or shoes to even get into the property. Make sure there are no unpleasant smells – I wouldn’t recommend spraying air freshener everywhere as it can put people off and also be very cloying on your lungs, but some pleasant scented candles, or some strategically placed essential oils can help. Having fresh air circulating is really important – make sure your windows are open for a few minutes at least every day to get fresh air in. If you have any pets, there may be pet smells that you need to deal with – a (kind) friend will be able to tell you if your house smells even slightly ‘pet-like’, as you may be used to it. If you have carpets it would be worth looking into getting them cleaned – you can hire carpet cleaners and do this yourself to keep the cost down. Make sure pet food isn’t sitting around uneaten and causing a smell, and wash pet blankets and beds. Not everyone will love your pets as much as you do!

Finishing touches

Before you get the estate agent photos done, it’s time for the finishing touches. Go through your house room by room and de-personalise it; remove any photos of the family, any knick knacks that might have been made by the kids at school, any stray leaflets or letters from school that are stuck on the fridge door. This can be a really difficult thing for people to do, because they are still seeing the house as their home, and quite rightly in your home you want to have personal items that bring you pleasure. What you need to remember is, not to think of it as your home when it is on the market. View it (if you can!) without emotion because if you still think of it as your home, it will be difficult for other people to imagine themselves living there – and they can’t easily do that if your house has photos of your family everywhere. Finally, if you don’t already have them, some nice plump cushions on the sofa, some throws draped over the end of the beds, and lovely fluffy towels in the bathroom (along with fresh soap and toothbrushes tidied away!) are really good finishing touches. I even bought shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in a complementary colour to my bathroom tiles when I was selling my house (it worked )!

At this point, you’re ready to get your estate agent in for photos, and to write a complimentary, factual description of your house ready to present it for sale. Hopefully by now, you are seeing your house presented in a way that will appeal to buyers, and will enable you to achieve the best possible sale price that will help you move on to your next home.

You will need to keep it tidy once it’s on the market, for when you have viewings – but decluttering will help you keep on top of this enormously. This all seems like a lot of work, and at times you will wonder whether it’s all worth it. Remember your end goal – you want to be able to move on to your next home, and for the house that you’ve lived in to be presented beautifully to enable you to achieve the best possible price. Be positive; remember the good times you’ve had, appreciate what your house has done for you, and prepare to move on!

I’ve put together a checklist of the key areas for preparing your home for sale –  it can be downloaded free here.

Good luck with selling! Let me know below if you found these tips helpful, and please add any of your own!

The post Preparing your home for sale appeared first on Who moved my coffee?.

First things first – set a budget!

Firstly, you need to know what you are managing – so set yourself a budget, or if you don’t like the idea of a budget, call it a spending plan – it’s the same thing! A way of planning what money you have coming in, and what money you have going out. It’s your baseline – until you know what your current position is, you can’t manage it.  There are many apps you can use for this purpose – previously I’ve used You Need A Budget (YNAB) which is American. It’s always been a ‘paid for’ app but it’s got much more expensive just recently ($98.99 annually) and so I’m looking around for alternatives. If you want to give YNAB a go, it’s free for the first 34 days, or if you’re a college (UK – university) student it’s free for a year, after you’ve provided proof of enrolment from your university. It’s certainly been well worth it for me in the past as it has helped me to see where I’m spending my money, and to see how my savings for different categories have built up.  There are other ways to manage your money though, and before I discovered YNAB I just used an Excel spreadsheet. The important thing is that it has to be a system you can and will work with, or it just won’t do the job. Work out what money you have coming in, then detail your fixed expenses – mortgage/rent, utility bills, loans, credit card payments. Go through your bank statements or check your account online and make sure you have listed everything. You then need to add in your essential costs – like groceries, fuel, insurance payments, etc. Hopefully you then have some money left over . Next, decide what your discretionary spend is – so the ‘walking around’ money, beauty treatments, birthday and Christmas fund. If after all of this you have some money left over, congratulations (put some savings aside )! But I bet you could still save money on your budget if you haven’t looked at it before. If you don’t have any money left over, you will need to either increase your income or reduce your costs. We’re going to look at ways of reducing your costs.

The big impact areas

Shopping around on the ‘big ticket’ items is the first thing to do – things like your mortgage, utilities, insurance. There are many sites that will help you do this – one of my favourites is MoneySavingExpert (MSE) – they have tools and links to other sites that will do comparisons for you. With your mortgage, if you’re on your provider’s standard rate, you can more than likely save some money. I would recommend using the Best Buys tool on MSE to check what deals are out there. Switching is usually quite straightforward; you will normally have to be tied in to a deal for a period of time. Some people like to tie themselves in for 5 – 10 years; personally I always go for a 2 – 2.5 year deal. It depends how much you want to fix your outgoings so you know what your costs are.

Utility bills such as electricity and gas are normally another way that you can shop around and save money – but at the moment (March 2022) the market is in huge flux because of various external factors, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What I’d advise is to keep an eye on MoneySavingExpert’s website and sign up for the weekly email. This will give you the most up to date advice on this fast-moving situation. And sadly, I am not being sponsored by MoneySavingExpert

Household essential bills

Shopping around on your TV/broadband/phone contract is another way to save money. The first question to ask yourself is whether you actually use all of your current services – e.g. the sport package, the movie package. Start at the basics and ask yourself if you could live without your Sky/Virgin/BT subscription and just have Freeview. Use a PVR (personal video recorder) box and you can often get many of the same sort of functions as the big providers, such as pausing live TV, recording multiple shows etc. It’s worth thinking about it – but if you decide you do need the extra services then shop around. If for example you are with Sky, and you have been a customer for years, you are probably paying top price for your package. Check their website or look at a comparison site (Money Supermarket is a good one)  to see what package deals new customers get, and call them up and ask for the same deal. They can only say no – and the chances are they will say yes, in order to keep you. If they don’t or if you see that another provider has a much better offer, there is nothing to stop you switching. Broadband is a hugely competitive area, and there are lots of different providers fighting for your business. With many of us now working at least a part of the week from home, speed and quality of service is high on our priorities, but you can still get a good quality service at a reasonable cost by shopping around. You may need to tie your broadband in with your TV package as that’s often the most cost-efficient way of doing things. Some providers also include a home phone line – which, even if you don’t use it, could save you money on your deal! I recently negotiated a better broadband and TV package with Virgin Media and had to take a home phone line as part of the deal – but I don’t even have a home phone plugged in!

You could also cut costs on your mobile phone contract. Many people remain on their standard contract long after the minimum contract term has passed (I’ve been guilty of this myself!). If you are out of your contract, and your phone is still working (and you don’t necessarily need the latest version of your phone…a two year old model will still be just fine!) you can shop around for a SIM only deal which will likely save you some money.

Home and car insurance is another opportunity to save money – again, there are sites where you can do a comparison when your insurance is due for renewal – whether that’s home or car insurance. Money Supermarket as mentioned previously is a good one, and also Compare the Market. There is nothing to lose and absolutely everything to gain by simply shopping around. And your no claims discount will go with you for your insurance so don’t worry about that!

Make sure you make a diary or calendar note of when the deal you are on expires, so about a month or two weeks beforehand you can start shopping around.

Groceries

Once you’ve looked at those big ticket items, it’s time to look at your other essential spends – and the biggest one of those is normally groceries. The amount that families spend on groceries varies hugely, as it depends on whether there are children, family members with a dietary requirement, meat-eaters as opposed to vegetarians and vegans, whether there are pets in the family etc. I like to think of this as a balancing act between not overspending, but making sure that we eat well (and keep to within our budget). The first thing to look at is whether you are spending too much on branded food. We tend to stick to what we know, and if we were brought up on Heinz beans, wearing clothes washed in Ariel washing powder, then that may well be what we go for when we shop for ourselves. The difference in prices between brands and own brands can be astounding. Many shops have different tiers of own brands – it could be their ‘high end’ version (Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference), mid-range (‘by Sainsburys’) and budget (‘Sainsbury’s Basics’). The best thing to do is to start by going down a level – so if you use Heinz beans, try buying ‘by Sainsbury’s’ brand next time you shop. If you find they are ok, you may want to try taking it down even further – by shopping their ‘Sainsbury’s Basics’ brand next time. Find the level you are comfortable with and go for it. And put your prejudices aside! I find it hilarious when TV programmes like ‘Eat well for less’ give families the own-brand version of something branded the family swear they cannot do without, and would definitely be able to tell the difference, and they blind-taste it and are convinced it’s their favourite. The thing is, we are conditioned into thinking it has to be a brand if that is what we are used to. If you really wanted to mix it up you could change your supermarket entirely – so if you normally shop at Sainsbury’s try Aldi or Lidl. There are so many of these ‘budget’ supermarkets across England now, as competition is hotting up, which is good news for us customers! Aldi’s business model is to reduce the amount of variants of products – so you won’t find 5 different versions or brands of e.g. tinned tomatoes. They will have one, or maybe two. In this way, they can keep their prices low as they don’t need to find store space to display all these different brands. They have started to introduce certain branded items, so you may find for example Kenco or Nescafe coffee – but the vast majority of their stores have Aldi branded products – which are very good quality as well as low cost. Just keep yourself in check when it comes to the notorious middle aisle of bargains!

There is an app called Too Good To Go which I’ve used a couple of times – you buy discounted food from local shops and restaurants, so it doesn’t go to waste. You can’t choose what you get – it’s called a ‘Magic Bag’ – but you can end up with some bargains. It’s food on or close to it’s use by date, so it could be bread, fruit, veg, ready meals and so on. I’ve used it a couple of times with my local Co-op and had some great stuff! Other ways of buying food at knock-down prices are keeping an eye on ‘yellow sticker’ bargains at local supermarkets – where food is reduced at the end of the day. Some food has to be used on the day but others you could freeze – even veg can be frozen for use later on.

Discretionary spend

Looking at your discretionary spend, there are opportunities to save money there too. For example, do you spend on gym membership – and if you do, what is the cost per visit? Work out how many times you go per month as opposed to what it costs you. So if your membership is £50 a month, and you visit twice a week, your cost per visit is (on average)  £6.25. Is that worth it for you? If each time you go, you do a class, followed by a session in the gym, a sauna and then a swim, maybe it is. But if you just go to the gym and then straight home, is it worth it? Only you can answer that – if you have the money to cover this, and if going to the gym is the only things that gets you to exercise, then it will be worth it to you. However, if you could just as easily do a Youtube workout at home, then it’s not. It’s about considering the options available to you.

It’s often said that you can save money by not buying coffee and food when you’re out and about – and this is also true. Being prepared can save you money – for example if you’re on a day out with the kids, packing up some lunch and a few drinks can save you an absolute fortune. However, it’s also true that if you don’t have something that often, when you do have it, it feels even better! This is true for me on my weekly walk with my best friend – we used to have a Starbucks latte and a pastry every time. When we started doing Slimming World, we decided we would do it much less often – but blimey, that latte tastes even better when it’s only an occasional treat!

There are so many ways to save money without even feeling like you are losing out – here are a few more:

• Use your local library instead of buying books
• Go for a walk with a friend instead of having lunch or drinks out
• Don’t throw away leftovers – use them up the following day
• Freeze food you aren’t going to use before the ‘use by’ date
• Look on local group apps to see if you can borrow something rather than buy
• Use Olio for free food and items
• Buy secondhand instead of brand new fast fashion
• Check your bank statement regularly and cancel unwanted direct debits and subscriptions
• When shopping online, give yourself a breathing space before buying to think whether you really need something (leave it in your basket)

I hope you’ve found some information here that will be useful for you, and help you to cut your costs without reducing your standard of living. I’d love to hear your tips for saving money in the comments!

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