UK Lending Blog

As demands have risen for cheap food over the lats few decades or more, it does mean that a lot of the food that we now have offered to us is poor quality. This could be part of the reason why we are getting less healthy and it means that if we can improve the situation with regards to the quality of food that we are eating, then we could get healthier as well. The main problem is though, that it seems that better quality is more expensive. Although it is possible to have a good diet on a budget, if you want really high quality food then it could be the case that you will have to pay more for it. It is worth remembering that quality does not always indicate healthier though, it still depends on which specific foods you are buying. However, if you do want higher quality, then you will have to come up with a plan of how you will be able to afford it.

Eat less

It might be a case of starting by eating less. For example, if you want quality meat, then maybe pay out what you normally do for meat but have smaller portions and fill up with cheaper vegetables. If you want to eat out at higher quality restaurants then eat out less often. There are some exceptions, but most of us eat more than we need. We will often eat foods which are low in nutrients as well and therefore tend not to nourish our bodies that well. If we can switch to foods that are better quality and more nutritious then we may not feel the need to eat so much. There are some theories that people become overweight because they are not getting enough nutrients in the food that they are eating and therefore tend to crave food because their body needs nutrients but if they do not eat nutritious foods they keep wanting more and more. Reasons for each individual being overweight or obese are extremely complex and there are many possible explanations and for most people there are likely to be many reasons. However, if you do make sure that you are having nutritious food then you are helping your body and hopefully you will not feel the need to eat so much.

Choose cheaper sellers

You may find that you will be able to go to a cheaper place for your food and therefore have a bit more money to spend on more quality items. Most supermarkets, for example, have a big range of different food. If you like certain brands of food, then it is likely that you will be able to save money at a cheaper retailer as they will probably stock that brand for less. It is worth comparing prices and there is a website called mysupermarket.co.uk where you can do this. It will allow you to see if you can switch to a different store and save a significant amount of money. Of course, you might want to switch to a more expensive shop as you feel they will offer better quality and if this is the case then you will need to free up money elsewhere.

Spend less elsewhere

It could therefore be wise to take a look at your spending on other things. You need to think about what you are buying and whether you could perhaps buy cheaper items in other areas that you spend money. Comparing prices is always wise, to see whether you could pay less. Of course, it might be that you will need to buy less instead or possibly as well, depending on what sort of things you are buying.

It can be worth having a look at all of things that you normally buy and working out what you might be prepared to cut down on so that you will be able to afford better quality food. We tend to all buy a few treats and those are the sorts of things that we may need to go without.

Earn More

If going without is not something that you are prepared to do then it might be that you will need to think about how to earn more money instead. This can be a harder prospect, but depending on what you do and how much time you have, it is possible, It is best to start with your current job and seeing if you could get a promotion, pay rise or work more hours to get more money form that. If this is not possible then look into doing an additional job. This could be weekend or evening work, freelancing, contract or even online work. You may think that there is not much opportunity out there, but if you look everywhere and are prepared to try anything then you will find that there is plenty available. You may find if you do online work that it does not pay as well as you will often be working on a freelance basis where minimum wage is not really applicable or you will be working for foreign companies where the standard of living is lower and wages are therefore lower. However, it is all a way to get a bit of extra money so you will need to decide whether your desire for better quality food is high enough for you to want to make the effort.

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There are many people that find it really hard to manage their money. By the time they get paid, they are desperate for the money or they may even have had to borrow to keep them going. This can sometimes be due to their pay just being too low to cover all of their essential but normally it is due to not budgeting well. Budgeting is not easy, but there are things that you can do that will make it easier.

Take stock of your current situation

It is a good place to start to look at what your current financial situation is. This needs to be a thorough investigation where you will be able to see exactly how much money you have coming in and what you pay out. This needs to be looked at across the course of a year at least, as there are some things which we buy yearly, such as gifts, some insurances, car MOT and things like that. This means that we will be prepared for everything that comes along. It is also worth seeing what things money is being spent on and how necessary they are. Separating essentials from luxuries is useful as that can help you to prioritise your spending.

It can be worth making a note of how much you need for essentials each month. This will include your rent or mortgage, loan repayments, contracts, utilities, travel to work, basic food and clothing and things like that. That money will always need to found and their might be expensive essentials that come yearly, such as car tax and MOT that you will have to make allowances for.

You may also find that your income changes across the year as well. This might be due to having to work more hours or overtime at certain times of the year or less at others, perhaps if your work is seasonal or something like that. Make sure that you allow for this in your figures.

Allocate a budget

Allocating a budget is not that simple. Now that you have figures you should have an idea of how much money you have available each month after taking out essentials. It might be that you have some months when you will spend more than you earn and others where you have lots left over. It might be that each month is very similar or that they are very different. It can be worth still looking at it on a monthly basis as there tends to be some more expensive months, such as around Christmas, if you celebrate it or in winter when you pay out more for heating or in the summer if you pay out for a holiday.

It is wise to think about each month and how much money you are likely to have left and set a budget for each month based on that. It is wise to always give yourself less money than you think you will have available. Not only will this allow for any additional costs that you have not accounted for but it will also allow you to save a bit of money. In fact, if you do have months when you have more expenses than income you will have to save some money in those months when you are better off so that you have the money for those. You will need to work this all out.

Then you will be able to allocate your budget. You will need to decide whether you want a monthly or a weekly or a daily budget. This will be a personal thing depending on how you tend to spend money.

Work on sticking to the budget

The hardest part of the plan is sticking to it. It can be really tempting to want to go back to spending as you were before and it can be difficult to go without things that you really want to buy. This is why you need to continuously remind yourself of why you need to stick to this budget. You obviously had a reason for making it n the first place, probably because you were struggling to manage your money. It is not nice worrying about money all of the time and wondering whether you will have enough. With a well planned budget you will not have to do this. You will know how much money you have left after you have paid for all of your essentials that you can spend on yourself and this will enable you to spend carefully. It will mean that you will have to think hard about every purchase and whether you really need it, but this will save you buying things that you do not really want. It can often be easy to buy things and then afterwards wonder whether we really needed them and with a budget you should be able to avoid doing this as often.

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