Something a little... Different.

So it's been a long time since I last posted, and for once this was deliberate.

I had come to a point where I thought I had nothing more to say, and instead of just feeding you forced information I thought I'd take a leave from the blog until I had something to say again.

Well It occurred to me that maybe this blog could be aimed at not just healthy living and life changes. I have parted a lot of my wisdom but it is not infinite.

I realised that recently I've been learning a lot of other aspects of life, not just improvement but things like integration to environments and how to be efficient, and while i don't claim for a second that you the readers do not know most of what I've discovered I will however, like usual, impart this knowledge in the hope  that you might learn at least one thing. 

Since writing this blog I've always wanted to reach out and if only 1 person has learnt only one thing from this entire blog then it has still been as successful as I'd had hoped.

Time to unleash a couple of new topic headers!! Designed to help with the difficult economy we are facing today. 

There are thousands of ways to save cash, but I feel that the most important of them all seems so horribly obvious that it needs re-addressing.

Kikojui Cash Saver rule #1


LEARN TO MONITOR YOUR INCOME VS YOUR EXPENDITURES!!


You're probably shouting at the monitor right now, saying "WE KNOW" well you would be very surprised at how many people do not realise the power of this technique.

Now, to illustrate this easier, I'll tell you how to do this in a simple way, I'll make an example.
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(Example) INCOME PER MONTH:

Wages: £700 (after TAX)

Money owed by friend £50

Total: £750
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(Example) EXPENDITURES:

Rent: £500

Bills: £50

Food: £50

New Clothing / Treats: £50

Meals Out (Takeaway / restaurant): £100
--------------------------------------------------

Total Spent £750

--------------------------------------------------

Money Saved that month £0.00


Sometimes we think to ourselves where did that money go? I thought I had more.

It's the little expenditures where we spend money without thinking about it's impact on the total money earned.  Those few takeaways, or packs of cigarettes (you shouldn't smoke anyway :p) and little treats all cost money and all build up.

Looking at this list, we could say if we only cut back on 50% of the takeaways and meals out you'd be saving £50 a month, that's a massive £600 pounds Saved a year, from one small cut back!!
Stop buying new clothing / treats each month and make it every other month and you'd save another £300.
Pushing the total Yearly saved amount to £900 Saved.


Kikojui Cash Saver rule #2

Save money each month, no matter how small!


Some people have the mindset that it's ok to spend all of your wages just before the month is over because they will soon have money again.
And while this is in fact true it is unwise to assume you might not have a need for a reserve amount of money in case of emergency.

Many things in life can and do pop up, causing a strain on a months wages, be it medical bills, insurance, tax's, bill increases or even quarterly bills, things that are not factored into a normal months wages.

So to be prepared for these events it is ALWAYS wise to have money in reserve that would not be touched unless needed, and if you managed to have a large excess of this money you could use it towards a holiday or other luxuries you might desire.



Kikojui Cash Saver rule #3


Make your money work FOR you!!

Spending money is nice, BUT instead of spending all of you're money you should try to at least INVEST some of your leftover money, be it in stocks and shares or just buying commodities like gold or land that don't really change much in value.

A little well placed investment can double your money or better, so it might be nice to buy that £1000 suit you always wanted but it would feel a lot better if you earned £2000 from a £500 investment. You would be getting that suit from money that your leftover money generated.

Now with all things nothing is certain with stocks and shares, gold's value changes from time to time but it's a safer way to tie up some spare money.
Gambling is not really investing, something worth remembering.

So be wise with the money you have left over and try and make that little money work for you!

I'm currently in the process of working out the mechanics of making our new flat (I move around September time) more economical in the electricity department, and also maximize the available space.

I turned my attention towards our friends in Japan, more so in Tokyo where space in the housing there is very limited indeed! I'll be posting my findings as I discover them.

First thing I've been thinking about is a wall bed for the bedroom, the bed would effectively be stored away during the day using minimal space, this a very effective way to re-gaining the lost space a bed would normally take up while providing storage space with the shelving etc

Ever been on your way back from shopping, and you have some carrier bags and they are cutting your hands off and uncomfortable?

Small but effective fix, take a small object with you (pen knife / pocket metal torch / something cylindrical and small) And when you're carrying plastic bags from a supermarket (I'd suggest bags for life personally as they are stronger and have multiple uses) use the object under the bags handles to save them from cutting into your hand, the longer the object the more bags you can comfortably hold!!


That's all for today's post, no idea if people need to know this information but I like to think somone out there will get some use from this.

Have a great day you beautiful, beautiful readers!!