Beefing up the money saving tips

Aye up me ducks, I hope you don't mind but I haven't had time to prepare a post for today. I have been busy re writing the list of money saving tips which were down the right hand side. So many people were asking me questions about them, because some were a bit vague due to the width of the column restricting how many words I could use. They have now been relocated, and have their own page, with a link at the top of here. This means I have more space for them and I can go into more detail. By putting them up in the Gods, I can add to the list as I discover more, and share them with you.

There has never been a more important time to be careful with our money. Maybe people of my age are more savvy, many of us grew up in a frugal household, we learnt our skills from our parents. But younger families who are struggling to make ends meet will be finding it difficult to cut back, they haven't had role models in their lives, to pick up all the tricks which we were shown.

I worry about people becoming depressed because they haven't got much money. I want to tell them it isn't as bad as they think, it just means they have to make a bit more effort to work out their finances. They have to decide what their priority is, who to pay first, what to spend their money on to get the best value. My first priority has been to always pay my mortgage, I have never missed in 35 years. Second priority is services, gas, electric, water. Third priority is food, you can't live without it, though you can cut down on it to pay priority 1 and 2. Everything else is a luxury.

How many people think sky tv is a priority, new clothes an essential, and going out is non negotiable because they will do it any way whether they can afford it or not. I'm afraid some young people of today will get depressed over their lack of money, and fall into the debt trap, because they have their priorities wrong.

It's a shame that Super Scrimpers has gone off in a different direction, now it's all about make do and mend, which is only a small part of money saving. The cookery slots are ok, as long as they don't start using expensive branded foods, they need to stick to the basics. Most of the people I know who make things don't do it because they are skint, they do it because it's an enjoyable hobby. SS shouldn't lose sight of the fact that people don't have enough money to live on. They won't be wanting to make cushion covers if they haven't got enough food in the cupboards.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Take a look at the new money saving tips, you won't find everything covered there, but it's a start. Toodle pip.