Magical Penny

Moving house can be a costly experience, eating into any profits you could have made from the sale, but regardless of whether you’re moving for a profit or moving for pleasure, no one wants to spend more than they have to. So here are 6 ways to save money on your move. 

1. Use a solicitor

   Although solicitors are often given a bad name within the moving process they actually perform a very valuable role in handling a lot of legal documents and liaising with both your buyer and the seller of your future home. You may be tempted to try and undertake some of these responsibilities yourself but this can actually leave you worse off in the long run as you will not be insured against any mistakes you may make which could lead to you being sued. To make sure things run smoothly, find a reliable and experienced solicitor such as Slater Heelis to handle things for you.

2. Negotiate the sale price

   House prices are there to be negotiated so don’t ever take them at face value. Have a survey conducted on your prospective property and use any negative comments work in your favour by using them to knock a little off the sale price. An old roof, outdated wiring, poor plumbing and dubious boundaries are all reasons to negotiate a sale price into your favour.

3. Do some of the move yourself

   When it comes to moving costs you could spend thousands on a removal company when really you could do the vast majority of the moving yourself. Weigh up the cost of hiring a van for larger items and add this to the cost of your time to decide whether a removal company is worth your while or not. Remember to also enlist the help of friends or relatives, you may be surprised at how many people will offer to help you and many hands make light work.

4. Get a removal survey

   If you do decide to go with a removal company then always get a removal survey. A removal survey allows the removal company to come to your property to decide the size of van or lorry they need to move your belongings and to put a price on their service. Although a removal survey may seem like a waste of time it helps to prevent an under-estimate, leading to lost time and additional costs.

5. Find second-hand packing boxes

   Packing boxes are surprisingly expensive and you may also be shocked at how many you need. To save yourself money while helping the environment at the same time, look for second hand moving boxes on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Freecycle. When you’re done with them, if they’re in good condition then pass them along so that someone else can reap the benefit.

6. Consider changing your energy providers

   Before your move-in date try to find out who provides your gas, electric and water so that you can decide whether to stick with the same providers or whether to switch to a better deal, this not only ensures that on move-in day all of your utilities are ready to roll but could also save you a lot over the course of a year’s energy bills. 

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Planning a household can be a dramatically enjoyable yet sometimes confusing endeavour.

We do so because we know that there’s nothing more important than enjoying a worthwhile home life with our families, and we’d like for everyone to be provided for. However, it can sometimes be stressful making ends meet, or contributing to all of the varied costs necessary as a household develops.

Realistically budgeting a household needn’t be a horrific chore, however. It can be something that unlocks the door to your financial potential, as you deign to find further affordability, to plan your payments around your income, and to ensure that your priorities are met. It can help you stop second-guessing, spending more than you should be, as well as feel like you never have enough to go around.

Realistically budgeting a household can also give you the impetus to strive for further income, be that in your day job or by taking up a side hustle. No matter who you are, do not feel ashamed about having to make ends meet through creative means, as most families experience something like this at one point or another. Please, consider the following advice to this end:

Planning For Emergency Costs

Planning for emergency costs can be a great place to start. We never know when our vehicle might break down, or when intense weather conditions could lead to the annoyance of immediate home repairs. A basic emergency buffer of funds, be that created through diverse saving strategies or the sale of old items you no longer need, can help emergency costs bite you a little less when they come to visit. That in itself can be a positive approach worthy of consideration because we all know how costs can snowball into further costs (such as going into our overdrafts) should we fail to plan accordingly. The more you can prepare for the financial worst, the more confident you can feel.

Practical Mortgage Planning

A mortgage can be a weight around your shoulders if it’s not planned appropriately, but many times in can unlock the chance to settle down and to do so feasibly given your current and projected financial situation. This 10 years calculator can help you consider your mortgage contributions and how that may be felt in the ongoing pursuit of your family arrangements, career, and home development. It’s best to keep measures like this in mind, because you never know just how thoroughly they could hold their worth for you.

Additionally, measures such as refinancing a home could give you that essential affordability boost should you need to, or perhaps even planning these mortgage calculations around the potential resale value of your home can be important. When you are more able to predict the future contributions you’re signing yourself up to now, you can avoid misinformed commitments of all kinds.

Quality Of Life & What Holds Value

The budgeting of a household is a set of value judgements that describe by their presence the kind of life you wish to lead, and what kind of experience you hope to build for your family. What holds value can be a hard question to answer, but it’s important that you ask it every single day. For example, perhaps you can do without the insurance savings that come with a renovated and locked garage while you ensure that renovating your children’s bedroom is top priority.

Understanding that not everything can be achieved at once, or that in certain aspects your quality of life may need to build can offer you freedom in planning worth keeping in mind. This also allows you to consider:

Income Feasibility

It’s important to ensure you know how your income feasibility may manifest itself on your ability to stay within a certain home. For example, if you’re planning to have three children before the first ten years of your mortgage contributions are paid off, are you sure that a loss in one income source (due to the inevitable need for a stay at home parent) will help you live the current quality of life you are used to? If not, how might you adapt, and what might the risks be when it comes to curating your own home environment? These questions are worth asking because they are so timely and pracitcal, and above all realistic. They should also help you avoid diving into an arrangement you are less than equipped to handle.

With this approach, we hope you can realistically budget a household.

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While we may not consider ourselves to be merchants in any capacity, from time to time, we will begin the process of selling some of our belongings. No matter if you’re hoping to sell your home or something smaller such as a collector’s item, it’s important to go about the process in the most careful manner you can. Your conduct and connection with potential buyers during this time will have a marked increase or decrease on the final price you can acquire. Not only this, but in order to add a value assessment to your time, it’s likely that you need to follow best practice and stay realistic to even achieve the sale in the first place.

But selling a personal item is relatively simple to follow, as evidenced by sales platforms such as eBay, Shpock, Depop, and the Facebook marketplace. What’s more important is learning how to navigate these platforms or to connect outside of them, for the primary goal of getting the most from any particular sale. In the interest of maximizing your potential profitability, we believe the following advice could help:

Know Your Item’s Worth

Before you are able to adequately promote and market your item, it’s important you know its worth. Concepts such as depreciation might be in strong effect when it comes to assets such as vehicles, and depending on the age, condition, utility, rarity and handling considerations, your item might raise or fall in value. As such, finding comparable items on the marketplace can be a worthwhile use of your time.

Sometimes, it will be hard to value your item adequately, particularly if you have little knowledge of that library of products. This is where experts, collectors or hobbyists might find that you’re unaware of how valuable an item is as they try to undersell you on it. This is often the case in art sales or the sales of first edition books, as those untrained in a certain complex field may not know the value they are letting slip through their fingers. However, knowing your item’s worth needn’t be some arcane practice you can only come across once in a blue moon. There are many worthwhile appraisers out there who will be happy to inspect your item and give you a more conclusive valuation. However – as per our prior example, beware of accepting a sales offer from an appraiser, as they’ll usually have a vested interest in cutting your price down.

Attractively Market Your Item

Learning how to attractively market your item can be one of the best means in which to increase its value to begin with. It will certainly help you drum up interest in potential buyers, and from there you can manage the best offers. Learning to photograph an item can be important. For example, instead of photographing your vehicle on your rain-soaked, slightly cracked driveway, driving to a nice local car park overlooking a nature reserve can help you show the vehicle in all its glory.

This might sound like a simple and deceptive trick, but it’s more than that. Sometimes, your item needs to shine in order to stand out among the others. However, a good practice is simply taking a photo of smaller items in a neutral space, be that a table, a shelf, or against a white wall. This way the product’s presence can speak for itself.

When creating your listing, be sure you know how to operate the certain platform publishing options. For example, eBay will show an exhaustive list of optional categories you can use to further explain the condition of an item. Ensure that your personal description of the item is clear, brief, and hits on all the points. If it’s an item priced higher or lower than others in its category, explain why. Perhaps you’re signing up for active military service and you no longer need that $2,000 coffee maker collecting dust in your accommodation. Perhaps you’re tired of sitting around playing video games and so are selling your computer components as soon as possible. A little personality can’t hurt.

Know Your Audience

Know who you’re selling to. A collector may be much easier to negotiate with than someone expecting a fair price for a fair item. A simple possession may fly off the shelf, or a niche item may be at auction for a good number of weeks. Know who you may sell to, and that in itself can help you tailor the listing or package the item in the right context.

Understand ‘Side Value’

Side value can be a great means in which to ensure that even if you do not hit the full value of your sale, you gain in additional ways. For example, it might be that someone is willing to drive over 400 miles to come and pick up your vehicle, and so with that the cost of having it delivered somewhere through specialized vehicle delivery is much less pronounced. Perhaps someone is willing to ship your item halfway across the world. Maybe they’re happy to purchase two or more of your other listed items as part of a collection, and cutting a deal with them could help you with the convenience of selling right now.

Side value might also come in the form of a trade, or perhaps a swap for a similar item. While this may not be viable in all circumstances, once in a while it may be. Be sure to measure that based on the outcome you’re looking for and the most realistic result. If you stay persistent in your selling, continue to meet those interested with affability, and exercise the most advantageous wisdom surrounding negotiations, odds are you’ll find selling to be a pleasurable and largely positive experience. This will give you further confidence as you go to sell more belongings, and it may even help you increase your profitability in the long term.

With this advice, we hope you can get the most out of any particular sale.

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Many entrepreneurs are interested in the idea of setting up companies that provide educational services.

It is not hard to see why. Gone are the days when firms in western countries needed vast hordes of unskilled labour. Now companies rely on people with extensive skill sets, able to deliver complex projects.

Employees, however, rarely come with all the skills that companies need. Most require help from their employers to develop them to the point where they can maximise their potential.

eLearning entrepreneurs are often the people who step in at this point. More often than not, they are the ones who provide the services to develop employee skills, not in-house training.

Grabbing attention in the eLearning industry can, however, be a challenge. It’s hard for those in the online education space to convince other businesses to buy their services through traditional marketing channels.

Here’s where the humble webinar comes into play. Because eLearning companies operate B2B, they need marketing tools that allow them to communicate directly with key decision-makers in the organizations they target. For this reason, webinars are ideal. As the following infographic reports, more than 16 percent of webinar attendees are C-level executives, and a further 20 percent are managers and supervisors.

Relatively speaking, webinars are far more popular among the people who will actually make the decisions than practically any other form of digital marketing. Thus, eLearning entrepreneurs know that if they launch a webinar, it is likely that executives will ultimately wind up seeing it. Find out more from the following infographic:

Check out The Complete Webinar Marketing Infographic For eLearning Companies

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Life is very expensive, and money is something that seems to escape through our hands so often. Often, we hit brick walls with our current salaries. It may be that after several years of working in one job you have reached a level that you cannot really get much higher up from. Progress can be slow, and the pay rises stop happening. But yet the cost of living always carries on relentlessly. 

There is a solution to this problem, and that would be to get yourself a side hustle that pays well and can be managed easily within your spare time. Here are a few suggestions of ways that you can earn some extra money without having to find a completely new job. 

Let Out Your Spare Room

If you have a spare bedroom in your home you could let this out. You could either find a lodger who will be able to provide you with a regular passive income. Or, alternatively, you could let the room out using Airbnb. Have a look at this Airbnb management company that can help you let out your spaces. 

Of course, when you have a string of guests coming through your doors you will lose some of your privacy. You may decide to separate off some of the home to allow some personal space for yourself away from your visitors.

If you live in a popular area, you could achieve quite a high rental income. And, because it would be short term lets, the charge by day would work out considerably more than if you were letting to a permanent tenant. 

Take Up Writing

If you have a way with words and you enjoy a challenge, then blogging or content writing may well be for you. There are plenty of different websites such as Freelancer, and Upwork where you can find small, short term jobs that will add to your income. The beauty of that kind of work is that it is extremely flexible, you can do it wherever and whenever you like. Often the projects that you will get will be small enough that you can complete them in half an hour to an hour, and most jobs pay very promptly. There really is no fuss. 

Dabble In Cryptocurrencies

If you would like to earn some money for doing very little, why not speculate a little in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin? You will need to do some research to make sure you understand how the system works, as it is not like conventional money, or even like handling stocks and shares. You should also have a look at how the market has been doing and whether you are buying them at the right time or not. 

Paid Surveys

A great way of earning a little bit of extra money is to do paid surveys. These online surveys can be done when you are sat watching TV in an evening and don’t really require much thought, and many will take just a few minutes. 

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Ensuring that your staff are performing to their full capabilities at all times is something that every business owner strives to do, but there are such a wealth of other responsibilities that require your attention meaning that often some employees can slip under the radar.

Productivity has a massive impact upon your overall profit, and the amount of work that gets done and to what standard should be one of your main concerns. Gaining back control and motivating your workforce to achieve respectable goals doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might think, as there are some simple steps to follow that can aid you in boosting focus and effort in no time at all. So, if you want to know more about what you can do to increase productivity and experience the benefits of a committed staff, then read on to uncover some of the best tips and tricks to help you get started today!

Set An Example & Lead The Way

You as a business owner or manager are supposed to be the complete embodiment of your companies ethos and style. All staff will see you as the head of the organisation, therefore meaning they will watch your actions and follow suit. Whatever you do will have an impact on the way that they work, as each day you set an example whether you are aware of it or not. Leading the way in the most beneficial and encouraging manner possible will help to ensure that your staff do not fall at the very first hurdle, and you must always assess your own behaviour to become a positive and inspiring role model. If you are not committed to your job or do not complete tasks to the highest possible standard, then why should your employees? Show them that you know what it means to work hard, and give them the tools them need to achieve their best. If you’re not sure how to create the perfect work schedule or how you can properly delegate tasks amongst managerial responsibilities, then it is vital that you take some time to get trained up and know each of your individual jobs inside and out. 

Use Goals & Rewards As Encouragement

One of the best things that you can do to encourage your staff to commit themselves to their role and really work hard is to set a goal which when reached will provide them with some kind of reward. Having something to work towards can help you to keep track of your progress, and it will also give your staff some much needed direction to ensure that they are always heading the right way. These goals do not have to be outlandish and unachievable as this will have the complete opposite effect, making them miserable and unmotivated as they repeatedly miss their target. Of course there still needs to be some form of challenge within the goal, but with a bit of hard work they should be able to succeed. Rewards can be a range of different things, but you cannot just hand them out to every person that turns up to their shift. Only those who show particular determination and effort should receive a commendation, as this will not only motivate that specific individual but also everybody else around them too. Whether you opt for something materialistic like a delicious food hamper or tickets to a local performance or show, or maybe just offer a monetary reward such as a pay rise or an end of year bonus, even the smallest recognition for hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. 

Get Rid Of All Distractions

Getting distracted or losing focus is one of the biggest killers of productivity, so by removing anything that might steal your employees attention you are creating the perfect environment for work to thrive. Distractions come in so many different forms which makes it difficult to control completely, but removing major productivity killers such as the use of mobile phones during shifts and removing access to social media on computers can help your staff stay as focused as possible. Keep shouting to a minimum and adopt a calm and respectful atmosphere within all of your workspaces to ensure each individual can focus on getting the job done. 

Increasing staff productivity can be so much easier than you might think when you implement the hints and hacks above. Lead the way and show your employees how its done, whilst setting goals and offering rewards for those who shine. 

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It is something of a dream that many people consider at some point, but most of us would not expect to be able to make it a reality. Having a holiday home is a very exciting idea, and one which is likely to indicate that you are doing pretty well. If you are thinking about doing this some time soon, then you might need to look at what is actually involved in the process. There might be more to it than you think, and you will need to try and be prepared for it all if you hope to get what you want out of the experience. Let’s take a look at some of the things you might want to consider.

Be Sure On Location

We all know that location is always important when you buy any property, but it might be especially true for a holiday home. You do, after all, want to make sure that you are actually going to enjoy that place as a holiday, so that means knowing that you are really happy with the location itself first. It is a good idea to either go for somewhere that you know well and that you love, or at least try to spend a lot of time somewhere first before thinking about buying a property there. If you are not sure of the location, then you might find that you need to look around a little first. It’s no use just rushing into somewhere for no good reason.

Find A Good Mortgage

As with any kind of property, you need to make sure that you get hold of a decent mortgage. This is as true as ever, and the better the mortgage the more likely it is that you are going to be happy with the whole process as it is. In fact, the good news here is that there are plenty of opportunities for mortgages specifically designed for buying a holiday home. Going for one of those will certainly be a good way to go. Whether it’s with the likes of Holiday Cottage Mortgages or whatever else it might be, you will find that having a good mortgage ensures you are much more ready for the purchase itself, and that you are going to have a brighter financial future with regard to it too.

Consider It For Investment

It might be that you want to just have somewhere you can go away from home, but there are other reasons to buy a holiday home too, and they are worth considering. In particular, you should remember that your holiday home is always going to be a decent investment too, so that is absolutely a great reason to want to get hold of such a property. Of course, that will also influence how you approach the topic, so for that reason it’s something to be aware of from the start. Consider the property for investment, and you might find that it influences which properties you look at.

Be Aware Of The Law

One of the potential difficulties with buying a home abroad is that you don’t necessarily know all of the laws surrounding the situation. You need to try and get to the bottom of this before you make any big decisions, as the last thing you want is to be trapped in a situation that you are struggling with. Spend some time becoming aware of the law in the land that you are considering, so that you are much less likely to have any nasty surprises. Alternatively, of course, you could think about buying a holiday home in your home country, which could be a lot easier.

Stocking Up On Essentials

It’s important to remember that it’s not just the home you need to worry about, but what goes in it too. You are going to have to stock up on essentials, and that is probably something that you will need to do before going there for the first time, rather than trying to move many of your own belongings over there. The other side of this is that you need to make sure you put enough money aside to be able to afford all of those things – furniture and so on does cost a lot, after all. The more ready you are for that, the better.

If you can consider these things, you should find that you can buy yourself a holiday home in no time, and make it a real success.

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We all want to save more money.

These days, it seems like we’re constantly haemorrhaging cash. Whether you’re dealing with substantial energy bills, or you’re trying to make ends meet when you’re going to the supermarket for your weekly bits. By the time you’ve paid for everything that you need, it’s hard to find anything left over for the things that you might want later on.

Fortunately, not all hope is lost. With the new year just around the corner, now’s the perfect time to make a change to your routine and update your money-saving habits. If you’ve been struggling to save cash recently, we’ve got some tips that could change all of that.

1.    Make the Most of Apps

We’re living in the digital world – so why not make the most of it? These days there are apps available to help with everything from tracking your daily budget, to making sure that you don’t forget to pay your bills on time.

While filling your smartphone with extra tech might complicate your life, finding one or two tools you can use to simplify things can be a great way to transform your budget. Try testing out an automated app that tracks your bank statements, or a tool for applying voucher codes to your purchases and see how it affects your spending.

2.    Prep for your Supermarket Shop

The next time you’re going shopping at your local supermarket, make sure you know what you want to buy. There are plenty of times when people go out shopping at the supermarket just to find that they end up bringing home products that they already have in their pantry or fridge. Checking out what you have at home will help you to ensure you’re not purchasing extra items that you don’t really need.

You can also think about what kind of meals you want to make for the week and buy larger amounts of each product in bulk when possible too. This will help you to save some cash on extra ingredients as you’ll be able to make multiple meals out of a large bag of salad or a couple of pieces of chicken.

3.    Spread out the cost of big purchases

Sometimes we all need to buy items that are a little bigger than usual. For instance, you might need to replace your washing machine with a new and more energy-efficient model. On the other hand, you might decide that you need to buy a car and that you’d like to make sure that you’re buying a decent model that uses less fuel than your previous purchase.

A loan will help you to spread out the costs of those big expenses so that you can reduce the impact that they have on your finances over time. There are even plenty of specific loan products you can choose from.

4.    Order smaller servings

When you go out to eat at a café or restaurant, think about whether you can get by with ordering smaller servings. This could be a great way to keep costs low if you’re worried about the cost of keeping up with your friends or coworkers. You can have a small meal or starter when you go to the restaurant, then have some cheaper snacks when you get back home.

Remember that ordering water with your meals is a great way to keep the cost of eating out as low as possible too, as water helps to fill your stomach and reduce your appetite. You could also check before you go to a restaurant whether they have any special deals on at the time to help you save extra cash. A lot of eateries offer money off for students.

5.    Restrict your Online Shopping

Finally, it’s getting way too easy for most of us to buy items online these days. Within a couple of seconds and clicks, you can add endless products to your basket and go through the checkout with them in no time. You’ll also be able to create online accounts that let you check out even faster. To help reduce your temptation to buy extra items online, consider deleting your payment information.

If you don’t already have your payment information entered into your accounts online, then you’ll have to go and find your bank details before you can check out. You’ll still be able to buy items and services this way if you decide that you want to. However, the extra time that it takes to go and find your credit card will give you more time to think about your purchase.

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Buying a house is a huge decision.

Although many people would like to own a home at some point, money can be an issue. Being a homeowner is cheaper than renting in the long-run, but buying a house is anything but cheap. Whatever property you buy, there are many costs to pay. What’s more, the process is complicated and takes quite long, which can create a very stressful situation. To make your home-ownership dreams less costly, here are six ways to save money. 

Work On That Score

A poor credit score makes it unlikely that your mortgage loan application will be accepted. However, even if it is, the interest rate and lenders fees will be quite high. This means that you’ll have to pay out more when paying off the property. Because of this, you must improve your credit score. There are many steps you can take, but paying off existing debts is a good start. 

Save A Large Deposit

Most people put down between five and twenty percent of the property value as a deposit. By offering up a larger sum, you can slash costs significantly. After all, paying more money now means that you’ll have less to pay later. This will keep you from being charged interest on top of the sum. What’s more, many lenders give better interest rates for larger down payments too. 

Look Into Various Home

Before falling for any property, you should look into various houses. Choosing the right home to buy will make a cheaper buying process. Investing in house and land packages, for example, would leave you with less stamp duty to pay. This is because you would only have stamp duty for the land. A fixer-upper property would be cheaper too, because you’d have to renovate the home. 

Get Multiple Loan Quotes

Once you’ve found your dream home, get loan quotes from multiple lenders. Different lenders charge various interest rates, along with other charges, like loan application fees. Make sure that you compare the costs of at least three different lenders before filling out an application. Even after being given a quote you’re happy with, you can negotiate with lenders for even lower costs. 

House Hunt In Winter

With milder weather and fewer financial commitments, spring and summer are popular seasons for the housing market. The downside is that properties are typically more expensive during these months. Because of this, you should try to buy your home in winter. Although there are fewer properties up for sale at this time of year, those that are tend to be much cheaper. 

Use An Estate Agent

Many first-time buyers avoid working with real estate agents when buying property. While you might assume that this would save you money, the opposite is more often true. The support and advice an estate agent can offer is truly invaluable. Even if you were charged for their services, which buyers typically aren’t, the money and time a real estate agent can save is worth it. 

Buying property is an expensive process, but with the advice above, you can make it a cheaper one. 

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