Monday Money #180 Lots of TV & Radio

The highlights of last week were 100% all of my TV and radio appearances. I have officially got the job as a personal finance expert especially when talking energy costs, saving with the BBC. I say officially got the job, it’s unpaid;-) but it gets me out there in front of millions of people sharing my message about money saving. Making a real difference, the BIG GOAL way back in 2013 when I first launched Mrs Mummypenny. And you never know who is listening!

This week I spoke on BBC Five live, Radio 4 Today Program, BBC Midlands and LBC. Sometimes I do Q&As from listeners, other times it just questions from the presenters. I love it.

These key energy and money saving tips got a lot of focus last week. These 5 small changes will make a big differences to your energy usage and spends :-

• You can save £30 per year by switching off appliances at the wall. Standby mode costs you money!
• Get everyone in the house to spend 1 minute less in the shower saving you energy. If you have a water meter it will save you water costs as well. This will save £80 for a 4-person family.
• Use a washing up bowl rather than using a running tap and save £25 per year.
• Turning down your thermostat by just one degree will save you £80 per year.
• Only fill your kettle with the amount of water you need and save yourself £7 per year.

If you do all 5 things, which are not that difficult, you will save yourself £222 per year. Read loads more ways of making small changes to save more energy in this post.

Holiday Time

For the FIRST time ever I am combatting Jan/Feb blues by going on holiday. We have waited until the last minute to book due to covid worries, but things are improving, covid rates are going down and travelling restrictions have been lifted. I am off to Spain to stay at a friends apartment for a week very soon. Its currently looking sunny at around 18/19 degrees. Pretty good for early February.

Its a bargain cheap holiday where we will spend far more money there on food, drinks, paddle board, bike hire etc. I cannot wait for a week in the sunshine. Flights were mega cheap at £104, this was Ryanair and includes booking on a small bag and reserving seat, plus offsetting the carbon emissions. I have booked airport parking for £42.50 bagging a 15% cash back discount booking via Top Cashback.

So far holiday spends are £150.

Broadband Costs go UP

Finally I have got to the end of my broadband contract and I can switch to Virgin which will hopefully provide better speeds and connectivity. I have managed to get a good cashback deal on a Winter Sale offer. My broadband will cost £27 per month (an increase of £3 per month) plus I will get £105 cashback as I have used Top CashBack to search for the deal. The reported speeds with Virgin are faster, but this never seems to guarantee good connectivity for my house!

It really is this simple to get an extra £105 discount on your broadband. Search for Virgin on the Top Cashback website, click through to Virgin and sign up in the normal way. I get the same deal as I would have got if I had gone to Virgin direct, but with an extra boost of £105 cash back. I can already see this money sitting in my Top Cashback account. I will need to wait for a few weeks for this is turn into pending and then confirmed but then I will be able to transfer direct to my bank account or transfer into gift vouchers for an extra discount!

Cash Back is one of my favourite ways to save online, I have been using Top Cashback since 2013 and my cash back amount earned is up to £6,000, I make that a boost of £667 per year!

Business Costs are increasing a lot

I am taking big steps this year to change the way Mrs Mummypenny operates, this includes doing social media properly, becoming better organised and having other people write brilliant content for my website in the Mrs Mummypenny style.

This week my business costs were £400. All VERY much worth it. I like to see if there is a return on business costs and I can already apportion new works and contracts landed as result of promotion on social media or newsletters. Its important to assess the return on income when you spend business costs, particularly for an accountant like me.

A Week By Myself meant that I ordered in (too much) Food

A thing that I intended to save money on in 2022 had slipped in the past week. I wasn’t good at all at food, getting two deliveries and eating dinner out once and lunch out once. This meant I spent £122 on eating out in one week. This week will be heaps better as I have a Mindful Chef box arriving that will provide incredibly healthy food far tastier than Wagamama’s. Get 25% off your first 4 boxes by using my email address lynn@mrsmummypenny.co.uk as your referral code.

But I did get lots of exercise done with several visits to gym or long walks on the day now at the gym. Healthy living continues.