How to protect yourself from “swine flu” on a budget

May 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Concerns about swine flu are gaining in pace as more and more cases are diagnosed across the world. At present, many people have recovered from their symptoms but there have been a significant number of fatalities.

During this aftermath of the credit crunch, many people are financially challenged and some may be unable to afford the anti-viral drugs that could reduce symptoms and save lives should they be unfortunate enough to contract “swine flu”.

So what can be done, with minimal financial outlay, to protect you and your family from this threatened pandemic?

Flu viruses are spread by tiny particles that are pread through moisture in the atmosphere caused by sneezing or coughing. Personal hygiene is essential in protecting yourself and others from catching swine flu in this way:

• using tissues to catch coughs and sneezes then putting the tissue in the bin as soon as possible after use will help to contain virus particles and prevent them from being scattered where others may touch. Cheap toilet tissue can be used in just the same way to save money on the more expensive tissues. 
• Wash your hands after blowing your nose or touching doors, elevator buttons, grocery trollies etc in public places will help to stop germs being passed around.
• A bottle of antibacterial hand cleanser (available from many pharmacies and food stores) may be useful to carry with you when out and about and may be unable to wash your hands.
• Always wash hands before eating to avoid ingesting virus particles.
• Face masks are not considered a good defence against catching swine flu but may reduce the spreading of the virus by catching particles before a sneeze or cough releases them into the atmosphere.
• Eating a good healthy diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables will help to boost your immune system as well. This should improve your body’s ability to fight off the virus should you catch it.
• Food supplements may also help in fighting swine flu symptoms. Viratrol is a highly effective immune system booster that, whilst not a guarantee that you will not catch viruses, will greatly assist your body’s fight against any symptoms of swine flu should they occur.

By clicking on this Viratrol link today, I can guaruntee you a special credit crunch offer on Viratrol by Micronutra of 3 for the price of 2 bottles for a limited time only. ….enabling you to protect the entire family’s immune systems at a fraction of the cost.

Making money buying at garage sales

February 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Garage sales and charity shops can be great places to pick up bargains that will earn you extra money by reselling them on Ebay. Practice will give you confidence as to which types of item have the best resale value….toys, gaming items, designer clothing etc all sell well in my experience.

Garage sales and charity shops can also be a great place to obtain high quality fashion items that can either be re-modelled and re-sold or save you money on fashion. Look out for garage sales in more affluent neighbourhoods as there will often be great items to be bought there at cheap prices!

A great way to save money through buying at garage sales can be purchasing like new goods that are still with labels and  using them as part of a gift basket for birthdays, thanksgiving and Christmas.

Buying at garage sales and yard sales

February 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment

• If you haven’t found the item you were hoping for – ask the seller if they have it. You would be surprised how many sellers, once hyped up and in the mood for selling, will go and look in the house for that item then sell it to you. If you don’t ask you don’t get!
• There are often treasures in other peoples’ trash…but only buy what you need or want…otherwise you are simply wasting money rather than saving money.
• When it comes to foodstuffs being sold at garage sales be wary unless the evidence suggests they have been paying attention to hygiene when preparing the food and not going past sell by dates.
• If a yard sale is going on over several days, the last day is a good one to visit it on as the buyer is highly motivated to sell and will often give fantastic discounts.
• When looking for items with a good reslae value, look first for items made of silver, copper or brass. Old china also sells well. Designer clothing can also be gained frugally….if not for you to wear then to resell at a profit.

Garage sales advice

February 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

In these cash strapped times, a garage sale can be a great way to get rid of all of that unwanted household clutter and make money whilst doing so.

What deters a lot of people from holding a garage sale is a fear of a poor outcome. What if nobody comes? What if I hardly earn any money for all that effort? Today we will look at some of the steps that you can take to ensure a successful garage sale.

• Getting the kids involved in a garage sale can teach them some valuable lessons that they will retain into adulthood. They learn: how important it is to de-clutter, the value of second hand goods compared to new goods (which may influence them not to impulse buy as much); and how to organise a display, price up items, add up totals to charge for several items and how to do good customer service. Who knows….you may be training up the entrepreneurs of tomorrow!
• It is worth keeping several boxes in the garage all the time with the intention of holding a future garage sale. One for toys, one for books, one for clothes etc. When cleaning the house you can price up and store the items you want to sell at the time. This means that when you need to raise some cash you are ready to roll straight away without a huge clear out and pricing activity beforehand.
• Save even more time by purchasing colour dot stickers for your items. Each colour dot then has a known price value. You can then display the colour code prices to your customers and save hours of writing out individual price tags.
• You may also be able to pick up some bargains from other people’s garage sales to include in your own. Visiting a few garage sales will help you to get any idea of realistic prices that you can charge for your own items.

Beating the January Blues during the credit crunch

January 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Happy New Year to all our readers!

It’s that time of year again. All the Christmas festivities are over and the New Year parties and good wishes for the new year a not too distant memory. That’s what we all want – isn’t it? A happy new year. And whilst our friends and well-wishers all say the words, we all know that while some of that happiness may come down to good fortune (or luck if you prefer to call it that), those new year’s resolutions are part of working towards making our own happiness come about in the next twelve months. The January Blues are starting to set in as we start to wonder where the financial resources will come from to meet these resolutions.

How do we make that Happy New Year more likely?

In the midst of a credit crunch it is harder to do those traditional new year activities like joining the gym if financial resources are challenged. However, it is essential to make sure that our health and well-being are taken care of before we can have any realistic chances of tacking limited financial resources and making the cash part of our new year happier.

Physical and emotional well-being boosts on a shoestring

Here are Credit Crunch Helpdesk’s ideas on how toward away January Blues during the credit crunch.

• Invest in home equipment for health and fitness that will meet your needs throughout the year. A trampoline, Wii Fitness programme, weights etc will continue to be there for you to return to regardless of whether your enthusiasm wanes by February and can be used by the entire household. By contrast, a new year gym membership is dead money with nothing left to show except a lower bank balance if your enthusiasm wanes.
• Home made foods tend to contain less fat, are lower calorie and more nutritious than fast foods and takeaways. Taking your lunch to work and eating breakfast before you go will save money during the year and probably do more for your overall nutrition and health.
• Hobbies are great for an overall sense of well-being. It is a great stress reliever to have 30 – 60 minutes per day totally focused on something that you enjoy doing and is life giving. Whether it be craft activities, gardening or even doing jigsaws, the rest time from  a busy schedule will make you more able to cope with stress during the week.
• Spend time with friends…even if you just meet for a chat / to play silly board games. Laughter and fun boosts out emotional well-being and small intimate gatherings make us feel well supported.
• Get more active. Walking to places costs nothing more than wear and tear on shoes. Fresh air and exercise helps to promote our immune systems and metabolism…all helping us to achieve a healthier new year.

All of the above ideas keep costs very low during these financially challenging times. Look out for our next post examining how we can achieve improved finances whilst avoiding the scams that are out there.

Saving money on heating

January 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Heating bills are a huge source of anxiety for many in the current financial climate amidst rising fuel costs adding to the pressure.

Here are some tips to help get those heating bills under control:

• Only heat the parts of the house that you are using. Keep the central heating to key times of the day when everyone is around then use radient heaters in the the rooms that you are using dring the day. This will make significant savings on heating.
• Ceiling fans can be useful in winter as they will blow back down the warm air from your heating as it rises. Obviously they need to be set to run very slow otherwise they will make an unwelcome cold breeze.
• Ensure that your home is well insulated and draught proofed to avoid heating the birds in the trees outside instead of yourselves. Lagging in the roof space, cladding, secondary glazing or plastic sheets at the windows etc can all help to reduce heating costs.
• Check that you have the most efficient heating system possible. If changing your system is not viable, the above tips should help.

Saving money on electricity (Part 3)

December 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Here are some final ideas for saving money on electricity. Please feel free to post other ideas for saving on electricity to share with other readers.

• If your electricity bills seem excessively high, an energy audit may be in order to check if there is some form of leakage or theft of electricity from you.
• A programmable thermostat plus thermal linings to shoes and slippers will both reduce the temptation to nudge the heating up and this will save electricity.
• Shutting down the water heater at night may not help to reduce electricity used as you have to heat the water you use whenever you use it. A good insulating jacket / tying old duvets to your water tank may me a more helpful way to save on electricity by keeping the heat in the water for longer.

Saving money on electricity (Part 2)

December 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

As energy costs continue to rise, finding ways to save money on electricity can help to release funds for the more fun things in life.

Here are a few tips for saving money on electricity:

• Using small kitchen appliances such as microwaves, slow cookers and toaster etc can use up to 75%  less electricity than turning on the large electric oven will.
• Using lids on pans will save cooking time resulting in saving money on electricity. Likewise, using the small hob on your cooker rather than the large one for small pans will save electricity too.
• Turning off all appliances when they are not in use will save electicity…televisions, dvd players, computers etc all draw small amounts of electricity just to operate that little light that tells you it is plugged in. Every little helps when saving money on electricity.
• Replacing old incandescent bulbs with new energy saving light bulbs can save up to 25% of your lighting costs for those rooms.
• Turning your thermostat for the furnace down to 68 or lower will save money on electricity.
• When you have finished baking, prop open the oven door to allow the remaining heat from the oven to warm the room (only do this if there are no young ones in the house).
• If using a tumble dryer, dry one load after another to avoid the machine needing to re-heat. This will save some electricity.
• On the same principle, if your hot water tank allows it, take showers one after the other in the household to avoid wasting as much warm water sitting in the pipes after a shower finishes.

 Remember…..little amounts do matter….50 cents per day saving amounts to $15 per month and $180 per year…so it’s worth doing!

Saving money on electricity (Part 1)

December 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment

With rising utility bills and generally tighter budgets for many, it is important to consider how to cut back on the quantities of fuel that we use – especially when securing cheaper prices as a way to save money on electricity is becoming harder to do.

How can I save money on electricity?

Over the coming days, Credit Crunch Helpdesk is going to examine some ways of saving money on electricity that may work for you. Give them a try….its the only way to find out what will work for your home…

• One of the most common ways of wasting electricity in most homes is the failure to turn off lights when they are not in use. Turning off unused lights may seem obvious – but, just reflect how many times you walk back into a room after dark to find a light on and nobody using the room. This can be a particular issue with young children leaving lights on everywhere they go. Encouraging new habits will save a lot of money on electricity. The only exception to this would be some light bulbs that have been designed to be more efficient when left on in spaces where people are coming and going a lot. Check your manufacturer’s instructions for details on this.
• If you are in the habit of leaving an external light switched on for when you return home, changing this light fitting to a movement sensor will save money on electricity as the bulb will only be switched on when needed.
• If using electricity for heating a room, ensuring windows are well covered and draught proofed in winter will help to prevent the cold coming into a room off the glass. This will mean that you save money on electricity by not having your heaters on so high / so long. This technique will also save for other forms of heating as well.
• If your hot water is heated by electricity in an immersion tank, heating water on a timer saves money on electricity in comparison to leaving the water heater on all the time. A morning and evening slot for water heating will normally suffice day to day needs and a well insulated tank should hold the heat in the water for several hours.
• It is worth contacting your electricity carrier and checking prices for electricity consumption during off-peak hours. There are lots of things you can plan to do at these time such as charging batteries, using the tumbler dryer or washing machine etc. Every little action helps to save money on electrcity.
• On a similar theme, you can  save a lot of money by hanging your clothes out to dry instead of using the tumble dryer to completely dry them. Just 10 minutes on a timer in the dryer once they are dried through will be enough to soften most items and get superficial creases out.         

Santa to blame for the credit crunch?

December 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Netmums.com surveyed 1,000 parents this year and found that around 40% are saying that Santa has had to tighten his belt too this year. Around 5% were planning to have a frank conversation with their kids and shattering the myth of Santa so that their kids don’t build false expectations.

However, nearly half of respondants claimed they would do whatever it took to ensure that their children still has a good Christmas and would deal with the consequences later. It is precisely this attitude that has caused hundreds of thousands of people to ratchet up inappropriate levels of debt in order to live out some form of ideal of being able to instantly buy the things they and their family want perceiving is as a need. “I need to get my child present X or Y (or even X and Y) for Christmas” is the refrain whilst putting the cost onto the plastic and facing the mounting debts later. Dare I suggest that the most valuable gift that we can give out children this Christmas is love, quality time and humble gifts teaching them the true value of the season as well as the importance of being financially responsible?

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