Finance Friday | What is wealth?
Where does wealth come from? What is wealth? Most people think of wealth as money, but what can the money buy? It buys goods and it buys services. The goods are made out of raw materials that are mostly found on earth, the planet we live on. The petrol we put in our cars comes form oil from the earth.
Thrifty | Spend less on VAT?
A lot of what we spend goes on VAT and even more on various duties on tobacco, fuel and alcohol. I read somewhere that some of the worst drivers in the UK are here, where I live in the West Midlands. We eat while we drive, drive without shoes and have other weird driving habits it seems. I read this morning of the worst speeding offending areas and we weren’t even in the top ten. I drive now to save on fuel and that means driving smoothly in the highest gear that is appropriate. It seems a speeding conviction can also cost around £200 when you have paid the fine, costs and your insurance has been increased. (more…)
How to save on petrol
Driving technique
I was watching Top Gear on TV not long ago and Jeremy Clarkson was making fun of advanced drivers. Advanced drivers do know how to drive and save fuel though. I suspect there were few advanced drivers queuing for petrol this week but plenty of petrol heads. You can get twice as many miles from a litre of petrol if you develop a driving technique that saves fuel. You don’t have to go slower; no! (more…)
Thrifty Thursday 11
Microwave
I mentioned last week that I was buying a microwave. I ended up with the stainless steel one from Comet, but it’s not stainless inside. I paid £49.99 in the end for that, so not a great disaster if it doesn’t last. (more…)
Thrifty Thursday 10
Shopping
I’ve give a link to Tesco Direct before I forget, on the page there are money off codes for when you shop online with Tesco Direct. You can save £5 when you spend £50 or £10 when you spend £75; good savings but I might shop there more if they just lowered prices… I wish I had seen those codes before I bought my TV from Tesco, I would have got Mutual Points, Tesco Club card points, a money off code and a Tesco voucher! Mutual Points are OK, I saved 15,000 can cashed them in for £100.00
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Frugal Friday | Motoring
Car repairs
When I had the last MOT (annual safety test) done on my car, the mechanic advised I have the cam belt changed. I had that done this week and it needed a new water pump too. I also had the cigar lighter wired up so it’s on all the time. I intend to plug a solar panel in there to charge the battery in daylight hours. The bill for all that was £240; ouch! It is worth it though to keep it well maintained and the mechanic says it’s in excellent condition. It pays to use a small local garage that you trust and have a relationship with. They collect my car and do the work and return it the same day and so I get excellent service. (more…)
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