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4 Tips to Help You Survive Financially When You’re Out of Work

October 14th, 2021 Posted in Jobs and Careers, Money Tips
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Being unemployed can be extremely stressful in many ways, but it is fair to say that money worries are at the top of the list.

If you are out of work right now, or you simply want to plan should you ever experience unemployment in the future, here are a few tips that can help you to survive (and be less stressed) financially:

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1. Check if you’re entitled to any help

Depending on where you are located, you may be entitled to various government unemployment benefits that will help to keep you afloat when you are out of work. Local government sites are usually the best places to find information about this kind of thing, so be sure to check them and apply for any financial assistance you may be able to access.

If you are out of work because you have been injured, if it was not your fault, you may also be able to claim compensation, and finding an injury lawyer with the qualities you need to make your case would be sensible. If you are entitled to money, then right now you need to do everything you can to access it.

2. Draw up a budget

When you’re out of work and your income has dropped, it is even more important than ever that you draw up a budget that clearly outlines all of your incomings and outgoings. Once you know what you have coming in and going out each month, go through everything to see if there are any areas you can cut down on. Ending subscriptions you don’t need or use, switching to a cheaper utility provider, and shopping at a cheaper grocery store are all simple changes you can make that will help to keep you afloat, but there are many more to consider too.

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3. Look for temporary work

It’s not always easy to find, but if you can try to look for a part-time role, temporary contract or even a few freelancing gigs, this will really help to take the pressure off. Sure, it might not be a secure job in your chosen industry, but it will help you tide you over. The gig economy is pretty strong right now, so it could be the ideal solution while you apply for something more permanent.

4. Declutter your home

If, like most people, you have accumulated a lot of stuff. Much of which you do not need, over the years, then selling some of it to tide you over is sensible. Just don’t sell anything that is actually useful to you because you will just end up having to buy it back eventually and the temporary cash injection will not be as beneficial. Selling locally is typically a better idea than using sites like eBay because you can shit stuff faster and you don’t have to pay any fees, but eBay is fine if you don’t have an easier way.

Surviving unemployment can be tricky, but hopefully, these ideas will make it, at least, a little easier for you.

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5 Sneaky Ideas For Cutting Car Insurance Costs

September 4th, 2021 Posted in Money Tips, motoring
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Car insurance is one of those things you hate to pay but can’t avoid. You need to have car insurance to drive your car on the road, but it can be painfully expensive. Certain factors influence the costs that can’t be changed by you at all. For instance, your age and gender will play a huge role in how costly your premiums are. Younger drivers tend to have higher premiums because they present larger risks, as do men. 

Having said that, there are plenty of other factors that can be influenced by you. Here are some sneaky ideas for cutting car insurance costs:

5 Sneaky Ideas For Cutting Car Insurance Costs - couple driving an old car
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Become a more cautious driver

Does this mean you have to drive everywhere at a snail’s pace? No, it means you start driving with a bit more caution and sense. Avoid speeding all the time, don’t get distracted while you drive, and certainly, never drive while under the influence. Cautious drivers have cheaper insurance premiums because, guess what, they get into fewer car accidents. Car insurance providers see this squeaky clean record, recognize the driver is not a risk, and provide a cheaper premium. 

Avoid making insurance claims

Speaking of insurance providers and car accidents, the number of claims you make will impact your premium. Claiming compensation will mean your premium increases. This is simply because car insurance providers don’t actually want to provide you with compensation. It’s money out of their pocket, so they’d rather not give it to you. To compensate for this, they will charge a higher premium for people that keep on making claims. In their mind, if they have to keep forking out cash, so should you!

Furthermore, insurance providers often give people a no claims bonus. Effectively, for every year you’re with the provider and don’t make a claim, you get a bonus, lowering the cost of your premium. So, what should you do if you get into an accident? Instead of claiming through your insurance, it is better to find compassionate car accident attorneys that can handle things for you. By making a legal case, they can help you get compensation while protecting your no claims bonus!

Drive less

The more you drive, the more expensive your car insurance will be. Yes, this sounds ridiculous, and it’s another insight into the crazy psyche of the insurance provider. In their heads, people who spend more time driving will have more opportunities to be involved in accidents. It kind of makes sense, but it’s yet another reminder that car insurance providers really aren’t your friends. 

So, if you drive less, you present yourself as a lower-risk driver. Therefore, insurance providers will give you a lower premium. The more miles you have on your clock every year, the more your premium will increase. If you work on decreasing these miles, the opposite will happen. 

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Change your car

Some cars are much cheaper to insure than others. This is down to a series of factors, such as how expensive the cars are to repair or replace. Sports cars are also very expensive to insure because they’re really fast and therefore more dangerous. The larger the engine, the more costly the vehicle tends to be to insure. 

On the other hand, smaller cars with less powerful engines are the cheapest cars to insure. This is because it doesn’t cost too much to repair or replace the parts, and they are generally lower-risk vehicles. 

Add another driver to your policy

This one is for the younger people out there who have just passed their test and started driving. You’re probably comparing insurance quotes and wondering how on earth you can afford anything. As a young and new driver, your premium will be expensive. 

To counter this, you can add another named driver to your policy if they are going to use the car as well. A more experienced driver will be able to lower your policy as the insurer goes oh, okay, there’s someone responsible driving this car as well. You can only do this if the other person is going to drive the car as well as you. It is a form of fraud to name someone else on your insurance policy if they aren’t driving your car. 

To sum it all up; drive sensibly, avoid making insurance claims, spend less time driving, choose a more suitable car to insure, and add another driver to your policy. Do all of these things, plus the obvious tip of comparing quotes from different providers, and you will cut car insurance costs. 

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How to Save Money when Upgrading Your Home

August 23rd, 2021 Posted in Money Tips, Property Investment
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Every once in a while, your house will need upgrading. However, renovations can set you back, as we all know. If you want to upgrade your home but can’t afford the most expensive of anything, that does not mean you cannot make a perfectly beautiful home. All it takes is a well organised plan with a little extra thought and consideration. By planning and choosing wisely, you will be able to do everything you want without breaking the bank. What’s more, it will look as if you spent a whole load more than you did. 

How to Save Money when Upgrading Your Home - paintbrush and paint image
Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

The Budget

Set an honest budget that you know you can stick to that won’t see you struggling for the foreseeable future. Also, it makes sense you make this budget out of the money you already have saved. Getting into debt for your project is perhaps not the wisest of choices. So, save for a while, see what you have at the end, and create an all-inclusive budget.

Time is Money

And to be honest, we mean it in reverse here. Don’t jump in and make any rash decisions. If you have a strict budget, you will want to be doing a lot of hunting about finding great deals. Think about doing a room at a time rather than gutting the entire house and going mad trying to do it up. This means you will need to set a list of priorities, for example, which aspect of the project is the most intensive. That will need to be done first. Also, taking your time, looking for recommendations as well as thinking about costs will avoid you getting a cowboy builder. Remember things such as electric need things such as an eicr report cost, which would be needed if you wanted to sell your home at some point.

DIY

A lot of smaller projects can be done by yourself. If you are lucky you may have a family member or friend to call on to help you. If you are not exactly up to scratch on all things DIY, then YouTube is an absolute must. You will be able to find almost anything you need to do on there. However, be honest about your skills. Sometimes you may end up wasting more money and time than it would have done to get someone in to do the job in the first place. So, yes DIY is a great way to save money, but don’t over-estimate your abilities.

Reuse and Reupholster

A great money-saving tip is to upcycle some of your existing materials. Everything does not need to be brand new. You can easily make furniture and even kitchen cabinets look new by giving them a makeover. Think sanding down and painting or varnishing. You can actually find a very unique style this way. Also, think about the second-hard market. Sometimes you really can pick up an absolute bargain that looks way better than anything in the brand new catalogues anyway. 

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What You Need To Know About Civil Partnerships

August 4th, 2021 Posted in family finance, Money Tips
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In recent years, civil partnerships have become a popular option for couples who may not want to get married. The civil partnership is a legal agreement that offers partners the same rights and responsibilities as marriage, without having to go through all of the formalities. This article will discuss civil partnerships from start to finish: what they are, how they work, civil partnership solicitors, and any implications you should be aware of before making this commitment.

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What is a civil partnership?

– Civil partnerships are legal agreements between two people. They are not the same as marriage but offer rights and responsibilities akin to those of being married. A civil partner cannot be exactly defined because it differs depending on where you live. In general, though civil partners enjoy similar rights to spouses including full ownership of the property; shared responsibility for children; joint parental responsibility for any children they have together regardless of their biological relationship and entitlement to statutory bereavement leave if one civil partner dies.

– Unlike many other forms of partnership civil partnerships do not provide automatic inheritance rights upon death unless specified otherwise by law. This means that civil partners have to be very clear about any wishes they may want to be carried out in the event of death.

– In certain countries, civil partnerships offer no automatic entitlement to spousal benefits from employers; however you can take steps before entering a civil partnership and make sure that your partner will receive this benefit by making an election for them or asking their employer if it’s possible through changes in insurance arrangements. 

– Partnerships are created simply by signing a document with solicitors that sets out what rights should arise between both parties. This means there is no need for a celebrant but civil partners do still have to register with one another as being legally civil partners.

– In civil partnerships, there is no requirement for cohabitation but if civil partners live together and one partner dies, the other automatically inherits their property without any financial repercussions. If civil partnerships are dissolved it can be difficult to get back what you have contributed financially or concerning assets that were jointly owned unless they are finalised in a court of law.

When should I consider a civil partnership?

– Civil partnerships offer couples rights equivalent to those given by marriage however this comes at an initial cost: as civil partners do not enjoy automatic inheritance rights upon death new wills must be made before entering into such a commitment; additionally adding your partner’s name on bank accounts, insurance policies etc will mean more work too! With civil partnerships, there is more responsibility for both parties as well.

– Civil partnership can be a good option if you do not want to have the huge ceremony that often accompanies marriage and would prefer something low key, informal and affordable but without losing any of the rights or benefits afforded by civil partnerships. It’s also worth considering civil partnerships if you are in an open relationship where sexual exclusivity isn’t important – it allows your partner to enjoy their freedom whilst still having some security in place should things go wrong!

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How Do You Know If You’re Entitled To Compensation?

July 22nd, 2021 Posted in Money Tips
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It’s not uncommon for half-hearted fliers and spam emails to promise you the world in terms of the vague compensation you might be owed. This means that many people can tune out when told that they might be able to acquire compensation from a wrong they had experienced, or if managed outside of the realms of a binding contract.

But what if you actually are entitled to legal compensation following a wrongful dismissal, or when experiencing a minor car accident that wasn’t your fault? How do you know just how much money you need to claim for, how your insurance might work, or when you haven’t been given the service you were promised?

It’s a good idea to do that research, if only to make sure you don’t have to pursue this possibility any longer. But it may also be that with a little diligence, you realize that actually, yes, you do have a competent claim here.

But how do you get to that point? Let’s explore this topic, together:

How Do You Know If You're Entitled To Compensation? - person holding a fan of hundred dollar bills image
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Pore Through Your Contracts

It’s a good idea to pore through your contract if you think that an agreement has been breached. You might find, for example, that your landlord is supposed to give you a month (or perhaps even longer) to move out should they wish to renovate the space and rent it for more money. Yet thanks to poring through your contact, you realize the time allocation they gave you was more like ten days. That’s not acceptable. 

From reading through your contract, you may also realize that your landlord was supposed to put your apartment deposit into a protection scheme. Of course, they may have neglected this duty, too. Reading through those terms is how you might come to realize that your current landlord could owe you three times the cost of that deposit in damage. Make sure you’re always reading through everything you sign – it not only protects the person you do business with, but you’re also featured in that content, and some of the legalese is there to protect you, as well.

Collect Evidence

The moment you think that your rights or contractual freedoms are being infringed upon, it’s important to collect evidence immediately. This doesn’t mean you have to install spy ware in every room around you, and it doesn’t mean you have to start spreading office rumors or trying to catch someone in the act.

It does mean, however, slowly collecting everything that could be related to your case. Perhaps your boss is becoming a little too familiar in the emails he sends you. Perhaps you believe that you’re being mistreated at work, and wish to record this kind of questionable treatment. If you believe yourself in danger, seek immediate assistance, and quick referral to legal help could be justified. The quickest approach you can take in addition to that is to curate evidence. This can also help you ensure your suspicions are actually justified, and if not, you can refer to a proper authority to help you understand that.

Contact Professional Aid

It’s important to lay out your case thoroughly in front of a legal professional, who can then decide if your case is worth taking or not. But don’t worry, pro car accident attorneys are extremely adept at helping you feel calm, asking questions that help you reveal more of the story than the documents may show, and if they decide to take you on, they’ll be positively supportive in helping you acquire evidence.

Contacting professional aid can not only help you understand the right process of where to go now and how to put forth a claim that’s important to you, but this will also give you the peace of mind knowing that you’re not the only person considering what compensation you’re owed. Having experienced legal help in your corner can be the first bit of reassurance you may have had in a long while, particularly if they agree you should be entitled to compensation.

Read Through The Necessary Law

While legal help is profound in aiding you, some people wish to know if their compensation pursuits aren’t frivolous and what to do about them. Reading through the necessary laws, such as understanding what employment law might say about being let go in the manner you were, can help you understand with a little more nuance just where you stand in this tale.

With this advice, we hope you can more easily identify just how entitled to compensation you could be.

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