Although now it may feel as though we are still deep in the throes of summer (as teacher I am acutely aware of this), autumn is not too far away.  This may seem like a negative but autumn is a magical time of year and it also presents the perfect opportunity to save some money.  Take a look at my ways to save money in autumn:   Can’t read it now?  Pin for later!      Long walks Spend your time enjoying the changing seasons.  Autumn is a great time to watch the changes in the trees and plants.  It is also a good time of year to catch the sunrise and sunset as the two draw closer together, meaning that you don’t have to get up early or stay up late to witness them.  Walking is free and good for you, so do a lot of it!   School’s open…

The kitchen is the heart of the home.  There are some rooms in my house that go virtually untouched from day to day, but no other room gets quite as much use as my kitchen.  We eat in it, play in it, organise in it, talk in it, socialise in it, cook in it and store all manner of things in it.  Therefore, it makes sense to turn your kitchen from normal kitchen to eco-friendly kitchen first.   For us the journey to becoming environmentally conscious was both sudden and gradual.  One day (not long after my first child was born) I realised that I needed to do more to protect the planet and to create a healthy world for my children to grow up in.  However, making the change remains an ongoing process where I slowly learn new things and make informed and intelligent switches.   It may seem…

The Sun is shining, my front lawn has dried to a crisp, and we’ve just had the Summer Solstice so I am asking you this question: “are you financially prepared for Christmas?”  Yes I’m being serious!   The big day is less than six months away and with only five pay days (or less) to go it is important to start making plans.  Christmas is a big financial event and for many people it is a time when they find themselves going into debt or even further into to debt.  For the sake of one day!  That happens every year!   Luckily there are some steps you can take now to soften the blow and stop December from becoming overly stressful and overly expensive.   Work out the total cost of Christmas Your first step is work out exactly what Christmas is going to cost.  This means the whole of…

When it comes to money many of us are a closed book.  We either make vague statements, change the subject or suggest that things are actually better or worse than they are.  However, we are quite happy to show off our new TV, new car or new phone but won’t disclose the contents of our latest paycheck.  So why don’t we talk about money?   Society wants us to believe that wanting money is a bad thing.  If you want money you are greedy, selfish and obsessed.  Therefore, we naturally shy away from disclosing our financial successes for fear of people believing that it is all we care about.  Alternatively, we may worry that our own success stories may make others feel bad.  As though your success may diminish their successes or even emphasise their shortcomings.   Even worse is when we suffer a financial setback or make a mistake. …

I might have a mild obsession with books that promise to be life changing.  I believe every one of them.  I get sucked in.  I do all the things they tell me, then convince other people that they need to read them too.  I’m always slightly disappointed when other people don’t experience the same earth-shattering revelations that I do. They should!   When I reflect on some of these books, I realise that not all them were maybe sensible.  With many of them I did not need my life changed in that way.  It was actually fine already.  Most of these sorts of books are not even good.  Some of them are short, poorly-written and with little substance.   One book is different though.  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo did actually change my life.  Well at least it changed how I view things (and I mean all…