“Some 2.6 million UK householders have the mortgages but the Financial Conduct Authority said estimates suggested that nearly half would not have savings or other funds to cover the final bill. The average shortfall is £71,000, according to FCA research.” The FCA is new name for the Financial Services Authority.

At first glace, this is a massive and scary problem and the end result could cost hundreds of thousands of people having to either sell their house or having to take out a new 25 years mortgage to pay off the mortgage they have already been paying for 25 years, crazy right? Yes, but for the vast majority that won’t happen and for others if you act now you can stop a lot of pain in the future.

What is an endowment mortgage?

There are basically there types of mortgages:

1. A repayment mortgage – A normal loan, e.g. each month you payback part of the total amount plus interest.
2. An interest-only mortgage – You only pay-off the interest part, none of the capital is paid back. So at the end end of the term the orginal amount is still left to pay, e.g if you took out a 25 year interest-only mortgage on £150,000 you would still have £150,000 to pay back at the end of the 25 years.
3. An endownment mortgage – An interest-only mortgage, but to be able to repay to capital at the end of the term, a separate endowment policy is arranged. Basically an endowment policy is an investment. The idea is that investment grows over the mortgage to be big enough to cover the repayment at the end.

Why there’s going to be a shortfall

The reason people take out an endowment mortgage is because it should be cheaper than a repayment mortgage. In a rising market, the money you invest will grow to cover your house, but it’s a gamble. As we all should know, investments can go up, down or remain flat. The whole world has been gone through a massive financial crisis and therefore the majority of the endownment policies won’t grow big enough to cover the cost of the house.

Why the problem is not as big as it first sounds

Firstly, the numbers are smaller than they first sound, so don’t get too alarmed – yet

• 2,600,000 have endowment mortgages due to mature in the next 30 years
• Of which 50% are forecasted not to have enough to cover the full capital cost of their home – that’s 1,300,000
• 600,000 are classed as the “most pressing cases” – with loans maturing between now and 2020.
• 100,000 which face a shortfall of £50,000 between now and 2020.

So of the 2.6m, 100k have a shortfall of £50,000 and have up to 17 years to repay that. Which means the vast majority have 17 years or more to repay amounts ranging from a few thousand to £50,000.

What do if you have an endowment policy

It must be sickening to think you might have to find thousands and thousands to pay off your house, after paying into a mortgage for up to 25 years, but there is a some good news. Firstly, for those 25 years you’ve probably been paying less than someone with a repayment mortgage and therefore you’ve been feeling the benefit of that for years. Also, the chances are, you’ve years until your mortgage ends and the capital is required, this gives you a lot of time to save and plan. If your mortgage lender said to you today, “You need to give me £25000, otherwise you need to sell your house,” very few people could pay. But if you have 10 years to plan, that would mean putting £50 a week into a savings account or taking out a 10 year mortgage, not nice, but certainly a lot more achievable. Plus, you if you put the money in a bank you get the benefit of compound interest.

Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” Albert Einstein

Finally, mortgage rates are extremely low. In fact, interest rates aren’t just low, they’re 1.5% below the prior lowest in its 316 year history!

What action to take to deal with a short-fall:

1. Find out your situation – Is your endowment currently forecasted to pay off your house or not? When is capital due? Even if your endowment is forecasted to cover your capital, I would still plan for a short-fall because your investment could decline even more. 
2. Make a plan to pay off the short-fall – Once you know what the shortfall will be and when the money is due, you can make a plan to get the money from elsewhere.
3. Start the plan today! (or asap) – The sooner you act, the easier it will be in the long-term.

How to find the missing money

Let’s say, in 10 years, the forecasted shortfall will be £25,000. Firstly, lets add 10% onto that as a contingency, giving us a target of £27,500 in ten years. Below are few ways to pay this off, and you can use a combinations of these ideas:

1. Saving cash in a bank – This is the safest way, plus you get the benefit of compound interest. Simply divide the total required by the number of months until the repayment is due, e.g. 10 years x 12 months = 120 months. £27,500 divided by 120 months = £229.17. But due to compound interest you won’t need that much, based on interest of 2.6% from Virgin Money. You would need to put £203 into the savings account each month, I used this compound interest calculator. It might be still a lot of money to find but remember two things, a) there are always more ways to save, here are about 50 ideas that could save you thousands each year, b) you’ve been underpaying on your house, so don’t think of it as needing to find extra money, but instead as you’re repaying the true cost of your house. I would set-up a standard order from your current account to a high interest bank account, to ensure that money is saved every month without fail.
2. Take out a second mortgage now – Mortgage rates are at an all time low, so now is a good time to take out a fixed repayment mortgage for the short-fall. You should be able to fix the interest for the whole term so there is no nasty shocks in the future.
3. Sell your house at the end and downsize – At the end of your mortgage term you might have been planning to retire, at which point, lots of people downsize because the kids have flown the nest and you don’t need such a large house to maintain. You might be able to sell your house, pay off the short-fall and still afford to buy a smaller property outright. But you need to investigate this, there are certainly no guarantees.
4. Downsize now / move to a cheaper area – the reason you were advised to take out an endowment mortgage was probably because you couldn’t afford a repayment mortgage. Now that it’s becoming clear that the endowment won’t cover you, why not consider moving to cheaper house on which you can afford a repayment mortgage. It’s not a nice thought, but by moving to cheaper area you can save tens of thounsands of pounds.
5. Take a new repayment mortgage at the end of the term – If you are young enough (typically under 65 years old at end of your current term, but up to 75 years with some lenders), you could take a new mortgage.
6. Win the lottery – Unfortunately, this will be the repyment strategy for some. Bury their heads in the sand and hope a miracle will happen. Good luck on that one.

It’s a horrible situation to be in, I do feel for you. But with a bit of planning, saving and hard work, you can overcome this problem. Good luck.

What other ways would you add to this list of strategies to protect from a short-fall? I and the Happier community would love to read your comments, please add below.

The post Endownment Mortgage shortfall not as bad as it first appear, if you act now! appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

I heard a discussion on the radio today about a conversation between Diogenes of Sinope (a greek philosopher who lived 400 before Christ) and Alexander the Great. I know what your’re thinking…what the f**k has this got to do with money saving. Well bear with, Diogenes was a clever old chap.

According to legend, Alexander the Great came to visit the Greek philosopher and Diogenes asked him “what are your plans?” Alexander answered that he planned to conquer and subjugate the world. Diogenes then asked “What next?” Alexander the Great said “After I have conquered the whole world, I am going to relax, just like you.”. Diogenes responded: “Why not save yourself a lot of trouble by relaxing and enjoying yourself now?”.

I said he was a clever old chap.

My take on this is two fold:

1. If are working hard just to get a payoff at the end, when you might not be able to enjoy it, you are making the wrong choice, try and enjoy it now.
2. If you are working hard because you enjoy it, then take your time and enjoy the journey. Once you have achieve your goal you might get frustred because you can no longer do what you enjoyed doing in the first place.

How do this apply to being savvier and living a happier and financial secure life? Well, think about what you will do when you achieve your goals, then consider do you really need to achieve the goal to enjoy yourself? For example, some people say to themselves “I need to work for 45 years to be able to save for my retirement, so I can play golf everyday”. Well if that’s your goal when not play more golf now? You might not live to retiirement age or you might not be physically able to play golf when you retire, so don’t put things off.

Tim Ferris, author of the Four Hour Work Week, is keen on the principle of “Mini-retirements”, e.g. instead working for 45 years, and retire at 65, take mini-retirements throughout your working life to do the things you really want to do. Sounds expensive, he claims to save money living this way. This is well worth a read, How to Take a Mini-Retirement: Tips and Tricks from Timothy Ferriss – a conversation with JD Roth of Getrichslowly fame.

Do the thing you want to do now!

The post What are you going to do after you’ve conquered the world? appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

And when you resent where you are, you’re not likely to stick to it – causing a further spiral downward – financially.

So how can you survive on a tight budget and still be happier?

This is how to be happier living on a tight budget

1) Change your mind. The first step in any transformation is changing the underlying thoughts and behaviors. Address why you hate your budget. And make the necessary adjustments. Warning: This isn’t easy. It takes some serious soul-searching and often painful answers. And on top of that, it takes a while to dig in and change.

Try this now:

• Sit with yourself and your thoughts and think about the feelings and emotions that arise when you think about your budget and “not spending”.
• Jot down the things that you say to yourself.
• Think about where they’ve come from and try to put a new angle on them.

For example: If you hate your budget because you feel like it renders you powerless. Change that around to “I am empowered because I choose to save instead of throw away.” Change all negative self-talk into positive affirmations and record them. Practice repeating them over and over to yourself.

2) Teach Finance 101. In order to teach, you must first master. And when you master a subject that you’re teaching to others (your own little ones or students), you feel an ethical pull to fulfill your teachings.

Try this now:

• Start a Youtube channel where you tutor on Personal Budgets 101.
• Volunteer at senior citizen facilities or community centers to help people overcome the stigma that you are overcoming around living on a tight budget.
• Take a side gig with a tutor service where you help students master “Living on a Budget” during your sessions.
• Become a self-employed tutor.

The best part about the latter options is you can even earn a side income from your tutoring.

3) Pare down. Take the term “minimalist” to a new level in your life. Getting rid of your stuff doesn’t just clean up your place, and possibly earn you a little something on the side, but it frees your mind. When you have less stuff and need less, you don’t find yourself buying just to buy. It’s a liberating experience that liberates your mind and your checking account.

Try this now: 

• Choose a room in your home to go through a little each week. Doing a room at a time, a little each day, makes an overwhelming task more digestible and lets you hack away at the mountain in front of you.
• Separate the things you need from the things you want. If you haven’t used it in 6 months or more, then get rid of it.
• Keep a side a box for sentimental stuff and tell yourself once the box is full, you can’t keep more.

4) Make Ebay your best friend. All that stuff you’re going through? Separate out the stuff that’s in good enough condition to sell (because if your t-shirts have holes in them and you try to sell them…um…you won’t be able to get rid of the rest of your stuff.

Try this now: 

• Set up a store on Ebay.
• Take naturally lit and attractive pictures of your individual items.
• Post them.
• Advertise your virtual yard sale online with a link to your Ebay store.
• Post the link on your social networks.
• Start becoming an active member of forums and add your link to your signature, so when you post your link is out there with every response.

5) Layer it on. If you’re used to walking around the house in shorts and a tee – even in 20 degree weather, chances are lots of your budget is eaten up by your power bill, especially if you spend more than the US average of $163 per month.

Try this now: 

• Lower your thermostat temperature by 1 – 2 degrees to save 1% for every 8 hour period that your thermostat is lowered.
• Try it 4 degrees cooler to make a significant impact on your budget.
• Add another layer of clothing to stay as warm as you were with little on.

6) Become a Power Ninja. Don’t ignore lights and laptops that are left on, but not being used. And there are a multitude of gadgets that you probably have plugged in when they’re not in use. Some power suckers raise your power bill by 5 – 10% each year – even if they are off, but plugged in.

Try this now: 

• Try unplugging entertainment hubs like Wi-Fi, Wii’s and the like, your laptop, cell phone chargers, modems, cable boxes, stereos and radios, coffee makers, toasters, and gadgets like iPads, etc. to save that 5 – 10% on your power bill.

7) Eat on the Cheap. While it isn’t always possible or desirable to eat at home for every meal, it’s still possible to eat out and not go broke. If you know where your money goes when you eat out, it’s easier to cut out the expensive costs and still get what you want – an enjoyable dining experience that you don’t have to orchestrate yourself.

Try this now: 

• Eat out during lunch and order the specials. The portion won’t be a big as your dinner meal, but you’re not just going out to eat, you’re going out to be seated and treated. It’s the experience, not the size of the meal that counts.
• Skip the drinks. Order water with lemon instead.
• Check out apps like Groupon that let you download coupons for restaurants in your area.
• Check your weekly circular for specials and coupons, too.

Living on a tight budget may feel like you’re living in survival mode, but with a shift in mindset and taking a proactive stance to the active drains in your current budget, you can live a savvier, happier life – even on a tight budget.

The post 7 Ways to Survive a Tight Budget appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

As more and more people leave the iOS platform in favour of sleeker, cheaper phones running Android, mobile developers are taking note, and focusing on app development for the next wave of Android devices hitting the market in 2013.

What does that mean for you? Even more awesome productivity apps that can help make your life easier, remember important information, free up your time, and even save you money. Here are 17 of the best apps on the market right now…

1. Evernote Hello

Remembering people is hard. Evernote Hello makes it easy.

Keep track of people you meet with this cool app that allows you to create a browserable history of individuals, and encounters you have day-to-day.

The Android app is soon to get an update on with an inbuilt business card scanner, that automatically detects key information on your contacts card, including phone numbers, email address, name and more, and adds it all to the new Hello Contact.
wid
Of course it will have social features baked in – If you connect your Linkedin and Facebook accounts to the app, Evernote Hello will also look the person up by their email address and import even more information from their online profiles.

2. The Best Android Market App

The Best Android Market App focuses on one thing and one thing only: recommending you the best free apps on the Android play store.

The App team test drive all the apps before adding them to their database – adding only the best apps of each category. This means you’ll only see one “weather” app or the best antivirus for Android, or the best camera app, not a never ending list of similar apps to download.

Another cool feature of the app, is it’s ability to generate personalized recommendations based on apps you have installed on your phone.

The devs have also just released an improved app discovery tool, Fetch. It has a sleek, beautiful interface and uses advanced search algorithms. Even more Win!

3. Google Drive

Google Drive allows you to upload, store, and synchronise all of your files in the cloud and access them from anywhere. Great for teams to collaborate and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Cool features of the Android version is offline viewing (awesome for when working truly remote, like in the mountains, not in a coffee shop), and the ability to print files stored in Google Drive on the go using Google Cloud Print.

4. LastPass

One password to rule them all. The average web user maintains 25 separate accounts using 6 passwords. Lastpass removes the need to remember all of your passwords and manages them from one central location – your lastpass vault.

As well as removing the headache of managing passwords for multiple sites, it’s also a nifty form filler that makes your web browsing easier (i.e no need to retype your billing address the 53rd time when booking a flight!).

This app is free for 14-days, requires $1/month LastPass Premium subscription afterwards.

5. Ovo Timer

Boil the perfect egg; brush your teeth for two minutes and not a second more; have an exact ten-minute run. Live your life with the precision of a samurai.
Easy to use, super small.

Live your life with the precision of a Samurai. This is an app for the Quantified Self geeks. Ovo is a nifty timer with a minimalist interface, and as of the last update – now enables you to set an alarm with your voice. If you’re looking for a simple timer without bloat – Ovo is the tool for you. Simplicity always wins.

6. Prey

Lose it, Track it, Find it – Prey is a cross-platform anti-theft tracker that can help you locate your lost/stolen android device.

Simply install the app and add your phone to Prey’s control centre. Once all hooked up – you now have GPS tracking of your phone, as well as access to network and session data. Track down your thief like an eagle.

The app also gives you the ability to detect SIM changes, as well as locking the phone/tablet for privacy remotely.

Word of caution – if your phone ever does go missing and you track it down – don’t be this guy.

7. DropBox

More than likely you’ve already got Dropbox installed on your main machine. With Dropbox for Android, you get more of the same awesome sharing and synchronisation features – giving you the ability to watch movies, and access your library in the cloud.

8. Catch

Never miss an idea again with Catch a free note-taking app that lets you capture ideas and discoveries across all your devices, and on the web at Catch.com.

The Android version enables you to record your ideas with voice, photo, and text notes. You can track private tasks with checklists, share and collaborate on to-do lists, and set reminders so you never miss something important ever again.

9. Flipboard

Flipboard is your personal magazine. The app brings together world news and social news (Facebook/Twitter) in a beautiful magazine format. The 2.0 update (iOS only at the time of writing, hitting the Android store this month) now allows you to save and collect the things you love into your own magazines like “Trips I want to take” or “Dream Homes” (Yes – just like Pinterest).

To get started – select a few topics of interest and Flipboard will generate your very ow personal news reader. Supercharge it by adding your social accounts, and see everything from posts and photos shared by friends on Facebook and Instagram to videos from Vimeo and curated trending news on Reddit.

10. Asana

Just released on the Android platform – Asana is in early stage development. For now this is an app to watch. Included in this list as the web app is simply the best collaborative task management tool available on the web today.

The app enables you to create, prioritize, and assign tasks on-the-go and stay up-to-date with mobile inbox.

The app is available for free – for teams of 30 teammates or below.

If you’re looking for push notifications and the ability to add tasks offline. You’ll have to wait for a for an upcoming update.

11. Pocket

This app will change the way you read articles on the web!

When you find something on the web that you want to view later, simply put it in Pocket. The service syncs to your android phone/tablet so you can view it any time, even without an internet connection.

Not only can you save blog posts, and articles to read later – you can also also save Youtube videos to watch later.

Pocket was named Best of 2012 by Google Play, Apple’s App Store, and publications like Wired, USA Today and TechCrunch.

Pocket it.

12. WhatsApp

Inflated phone and SMS bills will be a thing of the past as more and more people use messaging apps like WhatsApp to communicate with friends, family, and work colleagues.

WhatsApp Messenger is a mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. The app works by using your internet data plan to send and receive messages (text, photos, videos). No need for pins and usernames – the app works with your phone number, just like SMS would, and integrates flawlessly with your existing phone address book.

First year free! ($0.99/year after)

13. Google Gesture Search

A must have apps for users who have more a lot of apps installed on their device. Google Gesture Search lets you quickly access your applications, as well as your music, contacts, and bookmarks by drawing letters or numbers.

In true Google style – the app continuously refines search results as you add each gesture, and becomes better as it learns from your search history.

No need for ugly shortcuts on your homescreen anymore – install gesture search and draw the first letter of what you need to open.

14. BaconReader for Reddit

Should making reading Reddit easier really be added to this list? You want apps that will increase your productivity not cause you to procrastinate and look at cats all day long right?

BaconReader is the easiest way to Reddit on your android device. The app boasts an intuitive, beautiful user interface. Making reddit so simple to use with instant access to links, pics, and comments.

15. Highlight

Highlight uses Facebook and LinkedIn to help you find mutual friends and shared interests.

As you go about your day, the app runs quietly in the background, notifying you when friends and other interesting people you have things in common with are in the local vicinity.

Google+ connectivity is in the pipeline. The app will only get better as the network effect expands (with more potential users in your area).

16. Expensify

Expensify is a simple, easy to use, cloud base, expenses tracking platform. The Android app connects to your account, and lets you log expenses, capture receipt images and manage reports on the go.

The app features a smartscan tool that enables you to read your receipt images, fill out the expense details, and create a new expense (or attach to an automatically imported bank/card transaction).

Organize expenses with custom categories, tags, comments, and consolidate everything into reports (how much did I spend on coffee this month? ouch!).

Track everything from mileage expenses via GPS to coffee receipts and add time or other billable expenses.

17. Longevity – Battery Saver

Downloading and using all of these awesome apps is going to cause your battery to drain quickly. Use this battery management app by Trend Micro to extend battery life and stretch the time between device recharges.

With this app get:

• One-click Optimisition
• Power Hog pie chart and App lists
• Full Charge Counter
• Just-a-Phone Mode

If you don’t need WiFi or network data on all the time this app will add an extra day to each charge.

That’s a wrap – 17 of the best free Android Apps available on the Google Play Store right now, that will help optimise and automate your day-to-day tasks. Did I miss an essential app? Love to hear your opinion in the comments below…

The post 17 Of The Best Free Android Apps That Will Make Your Life So Much Easier appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

Being a student usually means being broke. It’s no fun. But, the hard part isn’t not having money to do the things you want, it’s having the credit to do them – and avoid using it so you don’t pay more than you should in the end.

But you don’t have to rack up debt just because you’re a student. This is an excellent time in your life to put away cash for the things you’ll want later. And your spending habits now will help give you a good footing for later in life.

33 Creative Ways to Save Money as a Student

Split your housing with flatmates – Housing isn’t cheap, but if you can work out a plan with some friends, you can reduce the costs dramatically – putting more pounds where it counts. Try using Accommodations for Students to find housemates.

Cook at home – No, you didn’t want to hear that, I know. But it’s proven to be the best way to save on your food bill. Limit your grocery bill and buy nutrition dense foods that will keep you full and focused like lentils, eggs, and chicken and you’ll spend less on groceries than most.

Carry your NUS card  - Your NUS card is your best friend. Invest in it and carry it everywhere you go. You’ll reap discounts on purchases, food, and entertainment – meaning the card will more than pay for itself quickly.

Learn how to haggle – Haggling isn’t only for cars. If you’re a Happier consumer, you’ll know how to talk down your data and phone bills, too. And if you’re good at it, you can get prices dropped as much as 50% on many products and services you buy and use!

Take a job at the places you love to shop – Love the styles at H&M? Then work there! You’ll get discounts on new fashions and deeper discounts on sale items.

Load up before you go out – Sound boring? Play a few drinking games at home before you hit the pubs to continue your night of fun out.

Look for cheap entertainment – The UK is wrought with history and has loads of places for free entertainment like museums and galleries to save you money and get you out of your house.

Shop for the best bank rates on overdraft – The biggest banks don’t always have the cheapest overdraft rates. Shop around for 0% on your overdraft and you could literally save hundreds of pounds.

Don’t use your overdraft – After you’ve shopped for the best rates, don’t use your overdraft. Learn how to live with what you have. And ask yourself if what you’re about to use your overdraft is worth the debt you’ll rack.

Budget like a boss – Budgets are the best way to know what you have and what you need. Learn how to keep tabs of what monies you have and what you need to spend and have spent.

Use earn as you shop sites like TopCashback  – Cashback sites loads of ways to earn: from buying groceries to internet. Use it for everything you buy and rack up the pounds.

Limit your non-essential spending – Yes, that means booze, too. If you can live without it, don’t spend on it.

Shop thrift shops – Shop second hand, vintage, and thrift stores for finds that will help you look your best without breaking the bank.Check out these top flea market, antiques and thrift stores from Tripadvisor.

Use used textbooks – Textbooks are outrageous. It’s almost a crime how expensive they’ve gotten! But you’re savvier, so you’re going to hit these websites and get them cheaper – may be even free! (Talk about saving!) These three sites offer used textbooks: Abe Books, Js Campus, Sell Student Stuff. And these two offer free textbooks: Bookmooch or ReadItSwapIt.

Hook up with Freecycle  – If you don’t Freecycle, you’re filling the dumps with goods people can use plus you can find free things like laptops and more!

Drop the temperature – Sounds silly, right? But you can save as much as £40 per year or more on your power bill if you lower your temperature by one degree.

Take up insurance on the things your parents’ policy doesn’t cover – With the theft rate in University, you’ll save on replacing your expensive gear like your laptop or computer if you spend a little on insurance for the things your parents don’t cover. For example, instead of paying thousands of dollars for a replacement laptop, you could spend as little as  £200 – if you have the right policy in place.

Take a job that will cover your education or get an apprenticeship - Apply for positions within your field with companies that will cover the cost of your University studies or take a paid apprenticeship to help pay for them yourself.

Apply for a Maintenance Grant - For families with incomes under  £42,600 may be eligible – If your family qualifies, you could earn a Maintenance Grant to cover much of the costs of your education.

Get a National Rail card  – You’re a student; you’re going to want to travel. Invest in a travel card and you can save as much as 1/3 off of your train tickets to go see friends.

Search for other scholarships - Look for scholarships that will pay for all or part of your education for you.

Use coupons and vouchers  – Who can forget coupons and vouchers? You know you have a smartphone that you don’t yet need, so at least use it to hep you pay for it. Put voucher apps on there to help you save on the things you buy while you’re out and you don’t have to worry about keeping up with printed ones. Don’t have a smartphone? Then, use traditional coupons.

Forego the smartphone – Okay, you don’t have to have a smartphone for coupons and vouchers. You don’t technically have to have a smartphone at all. So if you can’t economically justify it, skip it in favor of saving for the future.

Invest in a good printer – In University, you’re going to spend wasted time and money having your own printer. But, you’ll still have to buy ink, so invest in a printer that is the cheapest, like a Kodak.

Get fit at home – Skip the gym…unless you’re going to the Uni gym for free. Otherwise, get fit at home and save the monthly membership, the expensive sneakers, and the special gym clothes. Zuzka Light is an inspiring trainer who will keep you motivated to get her workouts done at home…and they’re not just for girls!

Sooqini – A marriage of eBay and Gumtree, allowing you to sell your time and your services to earn money. Have time to walk pets and earn extra money? Who knows, you may even end running up a business that makes enough money to fund more than your weekend parties.

Turn your car in to an advert – Earn up to £60 per month by letting Uni Car place ads on and remove ads from your car to help you pay for things you have to have as a student or to help you stash more pounds for the future.

Become a Mystery Shopper  – If you love shopping, why not get paid to do it? Use the money you earn to pad your savings account or use the perks to help you get things you already need while you mystery shop.

Skip the TV – You’re a busy student, do you really need to foot the bill for TV, too? With the internet and sites like Hulu, you can save that extra bill every month, without missing out on the latest flicks.

Skip the branded grocery goods – Love the taste of Hovis’ Classic White bread? What about switching to Tesco’s brand? Dropping down from the branded items has been proven to save £1000s on your groceries each year.

Plan your meals before you shop – Yeah, yeah. I know you’re too buy for that! It’s okay! There’s an app for it. If you’re hopping on the No Smartphone bandwagon, there’s a website for it, too. These tools will help you plan your meals and shop for the ingredients so you buy what you need and no more – and that equals savings.

Split your train ticket  – You remember that travel card you invested in? Use it to buy split tickets to maximize your savings on your trips throughout UK.

Use the Wi-Fi at Uni or elsewhere – Why pay for your own Wi-Fi? Sip your favorite latte at your favorite cafe or sit in the student lounges and use the Wi-Fi at your Uni. If you’ve had to pay for data or an internet plan, you know how much this can save already!

There you go…take all these tips, put them into play as soon as possible and watch your bank account grow. But more importantly, set yourself up for a lifetime of success when establish these good saving habits now.

What are your best money saving tips for students?

The post 33 Creative Ways for Students to Save Money appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

Surprise, surprise! The 32gb iPhone 5 is 22% more expensive in the UK. There are many reasons for the markup, but the main one would be VAT (currently 20% in the UK), but there is a sales tax in the USA, which is similar to VAT in the sense it’s added to the cost of lots of goods. Sales tax varies across the USA, for example California has a base sales tax of 7.50%, and can total up to 10.00% with local sales tax included depending on the city in which the purchase is made.

To get around this I checked out the price of a comparable product the Samsung Galaxy S3 (I’m referring to comparable product in terms of sales tax, not spec). Guess what. The UK markup is -7%. Yes, minus 7%. So why is the iPhone so much more expensive in the UK? Is it just a one off? So I thought I would check a few more countries and found the average iPhone markup was 29.5% and the Samsung S3 is actually -17.5%. See table below:

What is going on? At first, I thought the price might be low in America because that’s where the iPhone comes from, but it doesn’t. It’s actually made in China, so the shipping cost to Australia would be lower than to the USA. Where’s the issue? Is Apple milking the rest of the world to enable them to keep prices low in the USA? Or is that the fact that Apple closely controls the price of the iPhone and the lack of the competition means a higher price?

Is there way around paying the higher price for an iPhone 5?

1. You could order the phone from the USA but the chances are that Apple will refer you back to the UK version of its site, if you could buy it and get it shipped from the USA, you may well incur an import tax as it arrives in the UK.
2. You can buy an alternative to the “price controlled” iPhone, e.g. the Samsung S3, the Samsung S4 (due to be launched 15th March), or the highly rated new HTC One (due sometime in March).
3. Or you could do what a few friends have done, buy the previous iPhone model, e.g. 4S on ebay about £300, instead of £599 for a 5 for a 50% discount.

Here is the full data (Source of all Apple prices, Apple official country site):

The post Is Apple ripping off everyone in the World apart from Americans? Average iPhone 5 mark-up 29.5%, Samsung S3 -17.5% appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

Frugal living is the art of making do with less. Now, living with less doesn’t mean that you never buy anything for yourself or that you give all your money away…no – being fugal means that you spend your money wisely — on something you want, experiences (no – watching Dancing on Ice with a takeaway doesn’t count), and most importantly on things you need – not on what you think others expect you to have.

Living frugally is not easy – we’re always on the lookout for insights, tips, and strategies from savvy bloggers. From frugal fashionistas to frugal travel hackers – we scour the web daily for the best of the frugal blogosphere to share with you…

With that – we’re launching our annual Frugal 100 Awards – the frugal blogs we love, and read daily.

Here are the categories:

• Best UK Frugal Blogs
• Best International Frugal Blogs
• Best Frugal App
• Best Frugal Family Blogs
• Best Frugal Fashion Blogs
• Best Up and Coming Frugal Blogs
• Best Frugal London Blogger
• Best Frugal Travel Blogs
• Best Frugal Green Blogs
• Best Frugal Food Blogs

You’ll find a host of well known blogs alongside new emerging bloggers – bringing frugal tips and frugal shopping advice daily…

Best UK Frugal Blog:

1. Frugalfamily.co.uk – 82.5
2. Themoneyprinciple.co.uk – 79.1
3. Savvyscot.com – 78.9
4. Pennygolightly.com – 76.1
5. Miss-thrifty.co.uk – 74.2
6. Athriftymrs.com – 70.8
7. Helpmetosave.com – 70.2
8. Money-watch.co.uk – 68.5
9. Notesfromthefrugaltrenches.com – 63.5
10. Frugalfinance.co.uk – 61
11. Fivepencepiece.com – 58.7
12. Frugalincornwall.blogspot.co.uk – 57.8
13. Littlemissmoneybags.com – 54.5
14. Happier.co.uk – 47.4
15. Frugalityuk.blogspot.co.uk – 47.4

Best International Frugal Blogs:

1. Moneysavingmom.com – 92.2
2. Budgetsaresexy.com – 79.5
3. Ptmoney.com – 77.6
4. Fabulesslyfrugal.com – 75.2
5. Frugaldad.com – 74.2
6. Freefrombroke.com – 70.4
7. Threethriftyguys.com – 67.3
8. Thefrugalgirl.com – 63.6
9. Thenonconsumeradvocate.com – 60.8
10. Suddenlyfrugal.com – 59.7
11. Frugalconfessions.com – 58.2
12. Thecentsiblelife.com – 57.3
13. Yesiamcheap.com – 56.5
14. Frugalbabe.com – 54.9
15. Frugal-mama.com – 53.3

Best Frugal Apps:

1. Get.ziplist.com – 82.7
2. Quidco.com – 81.3
3. Viber.com – 81.6
4. Shopkick.com – 69.1
5. Frugalflyer.com – 52
6. Expensify.com – 43.7
7. Thecouponsapp.com – 43.5
8. Vouchercloud.com – 28.8
9. Noseyparkerapp.com – 28.9
10. Ihandysoft.com – 21.3

Best Frugal Family Blogs:

1. Babybudgeting.co.uk – 63.7
2. Aresidence.co.uk – 63.4
3. Redtedart.com – 62.9
4. Frugalfamily.co.uk – 62.5
5. Family-budgeting.co.uk – 60.9
6. Theanamumdiary.co.uk – 58.4
7. Mrspriss.com – 55.4
8. Athriftymum.com – 53
9. Pennilessparenting.com – 51.6
10. Fabmums.com – 47.8

Best Frugal Fashion Blogs :

1. Collegefashion.net – 80.0
2. Thebudgetbabe.com – 71.7
3. Thebudgetfashionista.com – 71.5
4. Thefashionablehousewife.com – 62.9
5. Pennychic.com – 60.2
6. What-the-frock.com – 59.7
7. Therecessionista.com – 59.2
8. Frugalbeautiful.com – 59
9. Pennypincherfashion.com – 58
10. Missbudgetbeauty.co.uk – 50.5

Best Up and Coming Frugal Blogs:

1. Livingafrugallife.com – 72.5
2. Thefrugalfind.com – 70.5
3. FrugalZeitgeist.com – 67
4. Letsstartsavingnow.com – 66.5
5. Rainydaysaver.net – 57
6. Thepennywisefamily.com – 54
7. Thefrugalhousewife.com – 52
8. Simplyrebekah.com – 51
9. Frugalapolis – 47
10. Gotitatgoodwill.com – 29

Best Frugal London Blogger:

1. The-frugality.com – 66.5
2. Piperterrett.wordpress.com – 58.5
3. Frugalcitygirl.com – 54
4. Highstreetsmarts.blogspot.co.uk – 20
5. Rustiquepearls.wordpress.com – 10

Best Frugal Travel Blogs:

1. Nomadicmatt.com – 88.4
2. Budgettravel.com – 84.3
3. Landlopers.com – 79.1
4. Frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com – 73.7
5. Eurocheapo.com/ – 70.8
6. Frugaltravelguy.com – 66.5
7. Theprofessionalhobo.com – 63.9
8. Budgettraveller.org – 59.1
9. Johnnyvagabond.com – 57.8
10. Europebudgetguide.com – 56.4

Best Frugal Green Blogs:

1. Frugallysustainable.com – 69.2
2. Retrohousewifegoesgreen.com  - 60.4
3. Liverenewed.com – 56.2
4. Greenphonebooth.com – 53.2
5. 1greengeneration – 52.7

Best Frugal Food Blogs:

1. Lovefoodhatewaste.com – 84.5
2. 5dollardinners.com – 77.5
3. CheapEats.ie – 72
4. Frugalfeeding.com – 68
5. Utterlyscrummy.blogspot.co.uk – 64.5
6. Thefrugalfoodiemama.com – 59.5
7. Choosy-beggars.com – 57
8. Frugalfoods.co.uk – 54
9. Frugalfoodiefamily.com – 52
10. Thecheapgourmet.com – 48

Now if you made the list – Congratulations! For those who want to know how we calculated the list here is the math behind it all…

Link Popularity

For calculating link popularity we used MozRank. It reflects the importance of any given web page on the Internet. Pages earn MozRank by the number and quality of other pages that link to them. The higher the quality of the incoming links, the higher the MozRank.

Web Traffic

Web traffic was ranked by Alexa. Alexa computes traffic rankings by analyzing the Web usage of millions of Alexa Toolbar users and data obtained from other, diverse traffic data sources. For the Frugal 100 categories we used US ranking for International categories and UK for local.

Social Influence

We used Klout scores to measure bloggers influence across their connected social networks. Klout Score incorporates more than 400 signals from seven different networks.

Combining the 3 metrics above – we we’re able to generate the top ranked blogs for each respective category. If you don’t agree with the rankings, or have a suggestion for a site we missed? Drop a comment below – and we’ll make sure to track that blog in our RSS readers throughout the year – maybe you’ll be in the 2014 edition?

Congratulations again – to all the Finalists. Thanks for sharing your stories, insights and frugal strategies! Keep spreading the word – I’ll leave you all with the words of Elise Boulding:

“Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.”

Peace.

The post The Frugal 100 Awards: 2013 Edition appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

How do you compare?

Want this Infographic on your site? Copy and paste the HTML below:

<a href="http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/average-uk-person-spend-per-year-2501"><img src="http://www.happier.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/average-uk-spend-happier1.png" alt="what does the average UK citizen spend their money on per year" width="650" /></a><a href="http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/average-uk-person-spend-per-year-2501">What does the average person in the UK spend their money on?</a> by <a href="http://www.happier.co.uk">Happier.co.uk</a>
Sources

1. HS2 High Speed Train Cost (MSN)
2. Liability for supporting the eurozone (UKpublicspending.co.uk)
3. The NHS (UKpublicspending.co.uk)
4. The Royal Monachry (Republic)
5. London Transport System (UKpublicspending.co.uk)
6. The running of UK Prisons (UKpublicspending.co.uk)
7. Foreign military aid (UKpublicspending.co.uk)
8. Foreign economic aid (UKpublicspending.co.uk)
9. Annual cost of Education (UKpublicspending.co.uk)
10. UK Bank Bailout (RBS/Lloyds) (The Financer)
11. Grocery Shopping (Daily Mail)
12. Council Tax (AFF)
13. Christmas Gifts (Daily Mail)
14. Holidaying abroad (Visa Europe)
15. Coffee (Watch my Wallet)
16. Saving for Old age (This is Money)
17. Internet Shopping (BBC)
18. Household Blls (electricity, gas, water) (This is Money)
19. Takeaways (Daily Mail)
20. Work related expenses (This is Money)
21. Mobile phone expenses (BBC)
22. Gym Membership (This is Money)
23. Average annual comprehensive car insurance (This is Money)
24. The Apple lifestyle (Apple)
25. Little bits and bobs (Money on Toast)
26. Taxis (Money on Toast)

The post What Does the Average Person in the UK Spend their Money on? appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

]]> http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/average-uk-person-spend-per-year-2501/feed 1 http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/the-uk-economy-a-billion-here-a-billion-there-1530?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-uk-economy-a-billion-here-a-billion-there http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/the-uk-economy-a-billion-here-a-billion-there-1530#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:39:36 +0000 Sean McColgan http://www.happier.co.uk/?p=1530 If you had a billion pounds to spend, what would you spend it on? A high-speed train line that would

The post A Snapshot of the UK Economy: A Billion Here, A Billion There (Infographic) appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

]]> If you had a billion pounds to spend, what would you spend it on?

A high-speed train line that would save commuters 23 minutes of their journey time? (you’d need 32 billion pounds for that), or maybe invest it in an NHS computer scheme? (only for it to be scrapped, and come in at the tune of £12 Billion).

A billion pounds doesn’t go a long way in the UK (unless that’s Government tax on petrol and alcohol) – in today’s post we wanted to take a snapshot view of the UK economy in 2011/2012 and answer the question – What do we spend our money on?



Want this Infographic on your site? Copy and paste the HTML below:

<a href="http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/the-uk-economy-a-billion-here-a-billion-there-1530"><img src="http://www.happier.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Happier-co-uk-A-Billion-Here-A-Billion-There-UK-Economy.png" alt="a Billion here, a Billion there - Happier Infographic" width="650" /></a><a href="http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/the-uk-economy-a-billion-here-a-billion-there-1530">A Snapshot of the UK Economy (Infographic)</a> by <a href="http://www.happier.co.uk">Happier.co.uk</a>

Sources

1. HS2 High Speed Train Cost (MSN)
2. UK Online Gambling (Yahoo Finance)
3. Cost of the Olympics (The Guardian)
4. Olympics Revenue – (Wolverhampton University)
5. Last Minute Christmas Shopping (Metro)
6. London Transport Costs (BBC)
7. Greece Bailout – UK’s total liability for supporting the eurozone (This is Money)
8. Alcohol UK Tax Revenue (The Guardian)
9. Alcohol Abuse Costs (Full Fact)
10. Centre for Economics and Business Research (Taxpayers Alliance)
11. Welfare Costs (UK Public Spending)
12. Welfare Benefit Fraud (The Guardian)
13. Cost of sick days to the UK Economy (Price Water Coopers)
14. Cost of Cybercrime to the UK Economy (BBC)
15. Mobile Commerce (Kelkoo)
16. Google Tax Avoidance UK (Independent)
17. Car Parking Fees (Telegraph)
18. Domestic Tourism Industry (Visit England)
19. UK Consumer petrol costs (Talk Talk)
20. Petrol Tax (IEA)
21. NHS Spending (National Audit Office)
22. UK Defence (Nato Watch)
23. U.K Debt Interest (Economics Help)
24. U.K’s Richest Person (The Rich List)
25. The Queen’s Wealth (Telegraph)
26. Education (UK Public Spending)
27. Unemployment (UK Public Spending)
28. Donations to UK Charities (Vol Resource)
29. Limited Capacity at Heathrow (Bloomberg)
30. Tesco Revenue & Profit (Tesco PLC Annual Report)
31. Pensions (UK Public Spending)
32. Council Pensions Black Hole (Taxpayers Alliance)
33. Creative Economy – UK Design & Innovation (Enterprise-Education)
34. Potential UK Tax from Illegal Drugs (Independent Drugs Monitoring Unit)
35. Climate Change Aid to tackle Developing Countries (Daily Mail)
36. PPI Scam (Which.co.uk)

A snapshot of the UK Economy. What is your take?

The post A Snapshot of the UK Economy: A Billion Here, A Billion There (Infographic) appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

]]> http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/the-uk-economy-a-billion-here-a-billion-there-1530/feed 0 http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/spend-less-than-you-make-846?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=spend-less-than-you-make http://www.happier.co.uk/blog/spend-less-than-you-make-846#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:42:11 +0000 Julian Hearn http://www.happier.co.uk/?p=846 To live a financially stable life it’s essential to “Cut your coat according to your cloth“, which means  do whatever you

The post Golden Money Truth #1: “If you spend more than you make you will be poor” appeared first on Happier.co.uk.

]]> To live a financially stable life it’s essential to “Cut your coat according to your cloth“, which means  do whatever you want to do within your ability/available resources. If you can’t afford something ask yourself, “Do I really, really need it?” And, “Do I have to have it now?” The chances are the answers will be “no”, so wait and save up for the things you want, you will appreciate them more, and there is a good chance once you have worked and saved hard you might change you mind because the thing you think your wanted it not important enough to give up your hard earned money for.

Getting into financial trouble usually happens when people spend more than earn. They take on debt to buy things they think they need but probably dont need. If you want to live happier and savvier, debt is your enemy. Avoid it like the plague.

Three reasons to despise debt:

1. Debt allows you to buy stuff you can’t afford
2. Because it’s not your money (you havent worked for it, yet), people often buy stuff they don’t need
3. You will end up paying 20% to 35% extra for every product you buy with a credit or store card due to the super high interest rate

If you cut up all your credit and store cards, and don’t use loans or HP (hire purchase), it will be tough to spend beyond your means, so avoid them at all costs. Once you start using credit it is usually a downward spiral which is difficult to break free of. Repayment of credit each month reduces your disposable income for years to come. The repayments are like taking a pay cut, you simply won’t have as much money at the end of the month, so you may be tempted to buy things you need with more credit – increasing your debt further still. Then, the following month your disposable income will be reduce again, at which point you might find it tough to pay off the repayments and all the necessities in life such as rent, bills, food, etc.

Therefore, if you’re currently in debt, your primary aim should be to pay off your debt. Once the debt is gone you will have more dispoable income, be able to save for a rainy day, feel less stressed, be financially stable and maybe even buy a few things you really want. There are lots of great resources on how to get out of debt:

1. How to get out of debt – JD Roth from Getrichslowly
2. Help yourself to sort out your debts (pdf) – Citizens Advice Bureau
3. Debt-free wannabe (forum) – Moneysavingexpert

Here are some famous sayings that sum up the need to live within your means (and here are more wise quotes about money):

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.” (Basically spend less than you make) Charles Dickens

 

“The art of living easily as to money is to pitch your scale of living one degree below your means.” Sir Henry Taylor

 

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” Will Smith

 

“That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” Henry David Thoreau

 

Just remember that high interest debt is best avoided at all costs if your goal is to live happier, spend less than you earn, pay off debt, and shiny products won’t make you happy. Then, you should be on the road to financial stability before you know it.

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