thrifty londoner

how to live a thriftier life in London, and beyond!

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What is an emergency fund? And how can I save one?

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what-is-an-emergency-fund

At some point or another, all of us will have faced an unexpected bill or expense in our adult lives. For me and my partner, a big one was our 92 year old land lady deciding that she no longer wanted to rent out her flat.

This left us quickly having to pull some money together to put down a deposit, a month’s rent, and associated fees before we got the deposit back from the previous flat- all before pay day.

It was a tough and unexpected change, but we were fortunate enough to have some money stowed away for this eventuality- our emergency fund.

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Easy Vegan Meal Ideas- all under £1 per portion!

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It’s January. We have our resolutions all set out for the year ahead. One of them might be to eat more veg, another might be to reduce your spending, and one might be to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

What’s one thing that could incorporate all of these things? Cooking cheap vegan meals for family (and yourself of course!).

Fresh fruits and veg often have a reputation for being expensive, and therefore a vegan diet can also be considered an expensive lifestyle choice by some. In fact, eating some vegan meals as a family each week is actually likely to reduce your weekly grocery bill.

These recipes will be gobbled down by adults and kids alike, and are perfect twists on a couple of traditionally meat-based meals. You can be sure that the whole family will get on board with these simple but delicious vegan meal ideas.

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Stash cash away for the future with the Chip auto-saving app

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AD- this is a paid post in partnership with Chip

Wow, all of sudden we are in 2020- not only a new year but a brand new decade! No doubt lots of people will be making resolutions this year… go to the gym more often, drink more water, read more. We all know that we go into the new year with the best of intentions, but come January 31st, we are fed up with our resolutions and often slide back into old habits.

Instead of making an insignificant resolution this year, you could instead come up with a powerful money goal that you would like to achieve by the end of the year. Something that could be truly life changing. This could be finally putting enough money together to make that dream trip to the US, putting down a deposit on your first home, or finally paying off your credit card.

But what if you’ve always struggled to put aside any sum of money? You’re not the only one. Enter Chip…

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The Best Charity Shops in South London

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Charity shopping is one of the best ways to save money, and also do your bit for the planet and the people that inhabit it. I love charity shopping and have done so for the last 10 years or more, so there is nothing I like better than exploring new areas of London through their charity shops.

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What are the best cards to use abroad?

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Gone are the days of traveller’s cheques and wads of foreign cash when you travel abroad- there are now lots of new, safer, and efficient ways of exchanging your pounds for a foreign currency.

You no longer have to walk around in panic with £500 worth of money in your backpack, or play the guessing game about how much money you’ll need to load onto a foreign currency card at a travel agent.

The best cards to use abroad are those with greater flexibility- like withdrawing cash, exchanging any unused money back to sterling after your holiday, and increased security….

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How to get a refund on student loan overpayments

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student-loan-overpayments

In December 2018 it was discovered that hundreds of thousands of students had unknowingly been making student loan overpayments- and that they were entitled to receive a refund and get their money back.

I hadn’t been unaware of this until recently, when a friend’s partner was refunded over £900 for overpayments made! NINE HUNDRED great British pounds. Although this refund is at the higher end of what people have received, according to statistics from Money Saving Expert, the average amount claimed back is £330. Still very much worth enquiring about.

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The Best Charity Shops in West London

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best-charity-shops-in-west-london

If you’re looking for a guide to London’s best charity shops, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post I am going to give you the lowdown on the best charity shops in each major neighbourhood of West London so that you are armed with the knowledge to find the most beautiful pre-loved bargains in London.

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THE GUIDE TO A BUDGET WEEKEND IN LONDON

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budget-weekend-in-London

‘London’ and ‘budget’ are two words that you don’t often see put together, but if you are hoping to plan a budget weekend in London, the good news is that it can be done. London is full of cheap things to see and do, and the truth is, by doing London on a budget you will be living like a true Londoner. Let’s face it, not many of us can really afford to swig cocktails in Mayfair and buy shoes from Selfridges (at least, the people I know certainly can’t!) Most of us are trying to find discounts and cheap things to do at every opportunity we can get.

I’m going to share with you my top insider tips on how to live like a local and have a cheap weekend in London- without missing out on any of the good stuff!

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My Saving Journey- how I’m saving for a house deposit in London

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saving-for-a-house-deposit-in-london

Yep, you read that title correctly- my partner and I have taken on the challenge of saving for a house deposit in London, and we are hoping to be able to buy a property by the end of next year.

I’ve ummed and ahhed about going into detail about my savings- particularly sharing the exact numbers behind it all, and more specifically revealing how much I have saved already. This is because I have worried about judgement and the fact that it can be considered tacky or ungainly to speak so openly about the sum of money that is sitting in your savings account.

But then I thought, sod it, if I want to see change- see people talking openly about their finances, their worries and their wins, then I, a money blogger, should be paving the way for such conversations to take place. If I can save enough money for a deposit on a home in London, I’m sure that there are lots of people who can do the same.

My hope is that by sharing these figures, someone might read this and feel that buying a property in London CAN be an attainable goal for millennials- despite many, many, articles online telling us that it can’t be.

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How to find Cheap West End Tickets

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cheap-West-End-tickets

If you’re living in London or visiting London, I’ll bet there’s one thing on your bucket list for your time here- and it’s to see some good old London West End shows. People flock from all over the world to experience London theatre, and with good reason, but all that demand means that the cost of a popular show can reach the heady heights of over £200! I’m a firm believer that the arts should be for everyone, and luckily, there are a few ways to get round the hefty ticket prices. I’m going to let you in on some secrets to getting cheap West End tickets to the BEST shows, so that you can experience the magic without breaking into a sweat at the ticket price.

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