Under normal circumstances, I am not one to recommend people reducing their expenditure lightly (well, not expenditure that they actually want or need anyway). You see, I want people to have a great lifestyle. Having nearly died, I have seen how important it can be to live for the here and now because you don’t know how many tomorrows you will have.

As such, I would usually recommend that if people want to begin saving, investing or paying off debt, the best thing to do is to try and...

During times like these, a lot of people will be considering upping their budgeting game.

Budgeting has so many benefits not just for your finances but for your mental health as well. From feeling more in control of your money, feeling more comfortable with spending on things you want and sleeping better at night, there are so many reasons why you might want to start budgeting – read more here.

So, if you are going to begin keeping a monthly / weekly budget, then the next thing to...

Times like these can be really tough. It seems that every single day at the moment there is a new story in the news about how the cost of something is going up or how supply chains are being disrupted.

Already, there are reports of families who were previously only just making ends meet now having to make choices between ‘heating and eating’. These are scary times and it can seem a little hopeless.

In my conversations with clients in the Financial Planning business, it is clear...

I wrote last month about the current inflation problem we have here in the UK, in the US and in pretty much every other country in the world.

Inflation is simply a way to describe rising prices. If a loaf of bread cost £1 last year and now costs £1.05 – we have 5% inflation – the cost has gone up by 5%.

If an iPhone cost £1,000 last year and now costs £1,100, we have 10% inflation etc.

The inflation we are experiencing at the moment is really dangerous....

A lot has been written in recent months about rising inflation and the impact that this is having on living standards.

I often write about ‘lifestyle inflation’. This is where someone’s lifestyle or spending often increases as fast as (or even faster) than their earnings as they earn more or receive bonuses or pay rises.

Lifestyle inflation is very dangerous as it prevents you from ever reaching financial freedom. If your expenses are increasing at the same (or a higher)...

I know the headline above will have a lot of people wondering what the heck I am on about. Improve my finances in a crisis? Doesn’t he know what the word crisis means? My finances are in the toilet right now! 

Rest assured, I do understand the pain that some people are going through right now - emotionally, spiritually, physically, socially. The pandemic, unlike some crises before it, has had an impact on all of these areas. Pretty much every part of human life has been touched by...

Welcome to the final instalment in this series on extreme budgeting.

Last time out, we looked at ways to reduce your expenditure to match your current level of income, even if your income has been reduced. But what if that’s not enough? What if, despite your efforts, you still find yourself in a bind. That’s where special measures are required.

This is the final, and most extreme step in our 4-step lockdown financial survival guide which looks like this:

Phase 1 - Check Your Past...

Welcome back to this series on extreme budgeting for extreme times.

Last time, we looked at some of the enforced reductions to your spending that lockdown has caused. Things like eating out, holidays and the like which are simply not happening or perhaps are not happening as much (depending on where you live).

Today, we move onto phase 3 in our 4 step extreme budgeting plan, which looks like this:

Phase 1 - Check Your Past Spending

Phase 2 - Your New Reality

Phase 3 - Cutting Back

Phase...

Today we have a guest post from Kathryn Rucker, the founder of the personal finance website CashforKat. Take it away Kat...

We are currently experiencing a period of time where many of us are unsure of what our lives will look like a few months down the road. With talks of a recession happening in almost every country due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, there is much concern over the future of various industries as they attempt to weather the storm.

One thing that we all know for...

Welcome back.

Yesterday, we looked at how to create a budget based on what you have been spending over the past 12 months. This will act as your baseline - your starting point.

In these unusual times, a lot of people will need to cut back. Yesterday a record 6.6 million people registered jobless claims in the US and we have had just under 1 million people register for unemployment benefit in the UK. This crisis is hurting and a lot of people will need to cut back.

If you missed yesterdays...