healthy bank balance

May 13 2016

The Utility Guy’s 5 Top (and easy) tips for saving you money

In the first of my monthly “Ask the Expert” posts, I wanted something that I know could affect your bottom line – quickly and easily!

I’d like to introduce you to Rob Barnes who I’ve known for some time. Rob helps individuals and companies save money on their utility bills and everyday shopping. Thank you, Rob for your top tips!

Utility Guy’s 5 Top Tips for Switching your Utilities

If you’re over 40 (like me), you’ll remember the advertising slogan from the first sell-off of British Gas shares – “If you see Sid, tell him” – and yet, a generation after the UK’s utilities were opened up to the free market, there are still millions of people who have never switched suppliers.

I’ll be frank with you. If you’ve never switched, you’re almost certainly paying too much.

Here are my Top 5 Tips to help you take the plunge…

1: Switching suppliers used to be a long-drawn-out, problematic affair. No more. You can usually do the switch online, and you don’t even have to contact your old supplier. The whole exercise is usually finished within 3-4 weeks.

2: Remember that the comparison sites – even MoneySavingExpert – only include the companies who are willing to pay to be there. Instead, use independent reviews, such as ‘Which?’ Magazine (www.which.co.uk) and MoneyWise (www.moneywise.co.uk).

3: Pick a provider who actually helps you to reduce your future consumption. For instance, there are sometimes offers to subsidise your insulation, and one very good company actually offers to replace all your lightbulbs for free, giving you LED bulbs which are brighter and use much less electricity.

4: Remember that the smaller companies tend to give a better deal than the Big Six. Again, consult ‘Which?’ or MoneyWise to help you avoid any problems, and look for a company with permanently low prices rather than picking a supplier just for its introductory offer.

5: Take advantage of a useful piece of legal information. If you’re in the last 7 weeks of a fixed-price gas or electricity deal, your current supplier does not have the right to charge you to leave – even if there’s an Early Termination Fee in your contract, it does not apply in the last 49 days of the contract.

Go for it – make the switch!

And feel free to contact me at any time on 01646 40 50 90 and rob@barnesutility.co.uk

Rob Barnes

Robert Barnes MBA

P.s Just a quick disclaimer from me (Caroline) I use these guys but this blog post does not constitute a recommendation or advice to do the same.

Nov 09 2015

Why we find it difficult to do it alone……(and how to use a simple brain trick to solve that)

tomorrow money

I’ll go to the gym tomorrow…………..the diet starts on Monday………………..I’ll start really paying attention to my money once this month is out of the way……

Sound familiar?

I don’t think there is anyone who hasn’t thought like that at some point, or eek, quite often, in their lives.

The trouble is we all have a sense of what are hopes and dreams are. We can sense the feeling of being a stone lighter, or hitting that six figure income, or feeling we are on the right track with money and life, but somehow the actually doing eludes us.

Forming new habits, and making change is a toughy. Our brains are wired to work by referencing back to past experiences, and behaviours. We have carved out pathways in our brains by doing this and our brains love to use the path of least resistance. No hacking your its way through the rainforest for your brain, it wants that wide open well trodden path thank you very much.

So how can we change? Is it just sheer willpower? Or can we harness something else to help us on our way?

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Jul 08 2015

How to get your focus back & say goodbye to the overwhelm

We have the power to choose our response. Where we want to focus.

And it is that space that allows us to create and choose that response. Choose our focus.

But what if you are not sure where that space is right now? Do you ever feel that your running around, from here to there, and there is no space to even consider that response?

I’m guilty for taking on too much (what can I say I just love being out there with you guys….) and eek…I realise that I’m on autopilot (ever driven somewhere and don’t quite remember how?….Or is that just me). Remember that studies have found that only 2% of people are truly effective multitaskers.

But sometimes I realise that I have stopped taking a considered view of what would be most powerful for me to working on right now.

That sometimes is usually when I find myself snapping at my hubby, and hiding myself away – urgh…

One of the quick ways I assess how focused I am and where I need to focus my energy is to use this 3 question approach. It helps me put a number on where I am now, and measures the gap to where I want to be.

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Apr 22 2015

De-clutter your spending & THROW OUT the budget plan

I’m just hearing you saying to your screen – “Hang on a sec, did you just say throw out the budget planner?” Surely Caroline as a money coach, you must live, breathe and eat budgets.

Would it surprise you to know I don’t?

Have a Budget plan….. (There I’ve said it)

The problem is when we try to budget we feel too constricted and the rebel in us surfaces. Sticking to a budget takes willpower. And that’s an issue.

There have been many studies done that show that willpower is a finite resource. Take a typical day and just look at the number of times we have to use our willpower, simply getting up in the morning, resisting the urge to have a sneaky look at Facebook and concentrating on your work instead, being nice to the boss you don’t like, eating a healthy dinner rather than take away. The list is pretty endless and we have to work hard at it, and it wears us out. A bit like our muscles tire out when your forced to do too many push ups (come on I’m sure one or two of you do exercise!)

Why I have thrown out the budget plan

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Feb 25 2015

Your Super Smoothie Recipe for a Healthy Bank Balance

Super Smoothie with words

Having a healthy bank balance. It is a niggle. Something that you know you should be doing. It’s that nagging doubt at that back of your mind.

Something you keep meaning to get sorted but eek, I booked that holiday, argh, there were loads of birthdays to buy for this month, and shoot; the car service was due….

Don’t get me wrong, the bank balance gets healthy for a while, it happens now and again. But it doesn’t really stick.

Worse than that you are scared that creating “it” (a healthy bank balance) will stop you living your life

You keep up with your life, living for the now, without talking to anyone about the things you would really like to do, the future you would really like to create. You wish other people would understand that you would like to balance these priorities (in fact you secretly think they might think the same) but you never tell each other.

And even worse you are also scared that it wouldn’t take much to blow down your house of cards

The thing is you are not wrong, it wouldn’t take much. But life does get in the way. Having fun does need to happen. What if you could find a way to create your healthy bank balance whilst still living a life you love?

(If you not yet living a life you love, then stay tuned, we will be working on that too!)

So what about you? Let’s talk boldly for a moment…

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