insideKENT Magazine Issue 82 - January 2019 | Page 95

FINANCE
Meal plan ahead
Avoid the ridiculous amount of food wastage and umpteen trips to the shops by
planning your meals for the week. Mix it up with family favourites and new recipes
and create your shopping list based on ingredients needed, and don’t double up on
stock cupboard items. Aim to use up leftovers from previous dinners the next day’s
meals. Not only is it stress free not having to decide daily what to cook, it’s even better
knowing the ingredients are to hand and that the pennies are stacking up from your
carefully planned shopping trip. Start the £1 savings plan
This is a really simple savings plan where you start saving £1 in week one
building up another £1 every week for the whole year, so by week 52 you’ll
be stashing £52. By the end of the year you will have saved an amazing
£1,378. You can do the same with £10 a week if your budget allows or
ideal for small children the 1p a day challenge which based on the daily
increments starting at 1p right up to £3.65 would lead to £667.95 saved
by day 365!
Take a packed lunch
Not only do we spend a small fortune grabbing lunch on the go at work, we often
choose less healthy options; even with good intentions some prepackaged salads have
more calories than a Big Mac. So pack that in and pack it up – aim to take a packed
lunch a minimum of three days a week. Choose healthier meals, use up leftovers and
stock up on snacks that will be good to your wallet as well as your waistline. Banish the frivolous spend
For (at least!) one week a month, only purchase and pay for essentials. So
long coffee on the go, lunch out, takeaways, that ‘bargain’ item that you
simply do not need and every other impulse purchase that causes mayhem
to your bank balance. If you can, keep a tally of all the purchases you turned
down and put your saved ££ straight in your savings account.
KEEP A TALLY OF ALL THE
PURCHASES YOU TURNED DOWN
AND PUT YOUR SAVED ££ STRAIGHT
INTO YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT
95