How to Buy a Car – The Frugal Way!

On December 14, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Finances, Frugality, Optimisation3 Comments

Intro – Miss Way

I had been avoiding the fact that my car was on its last legs for far too long. It had done a respectable 165,000 miles!

A couple of weeks ago I accepted it was no longer safe to drive and the repair costs far outweighed the value of the vehicle (£1,000 on repairs for a car only worth £200!) – I needed to buy a new one – and quick!

I begrudgingly rely on my car for my work. Due to the peripatetic nature of my job, it unfortunately isn’t always possible to cycle to all my work destinations. Over the last month I’ve used the train where possible, but it can be an expensive alternative. Ideally, we would love to be entirely car free, but this is not an option right now.

Continue reading →

Monthly Spending – November 2019

On December 7, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Finances, Monthly Spending2 Comments

Summary

Not a good month for the savings rate!! In fact we’ve spent much more than we earnt this month.

This was almost entirely caused by having to buy a new car – see the Transport section below for more detail.

Ignoring the car for a second, we spent £2,040 which is very close to our target of £2,000 per month.

Continue reading →

A Day in Nairobi, Kenya

On November 9, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Africa, TravelLeave a comment

Africa Series – Part 5

The Journey Begins!

We started our month-long adventure in Nairobi, having completed the 2-leg flight from the UK, via Dubai.

First impressions weren’t great as we stood in the immigration queue for 90 minutes. It was a warm, stuffy place and the queue was a battle! Other passengers didn’t seem to have the same ‘personal space’ values as we do!

Continue reading →

Monthly Spending – October 2019

On November 2, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Finances, Monthly Spending2 Comments

Summary

Our spending was almost spot on our target monthly amount in October! We aim for around £2,000 so this was a good result for us. A very low month in the transport category helped us balance out some big items elsewhere.

We break our main expenses down into broad categories starting with the big 3; housing, food and transport. Everything else falls into the entertainment category, with any large inclusions explained in detail.

Continue reading →

Review of Ultimate East Africa

On October 26, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Africa, TravelLeave a comment

Africa Series – Part 4

As you probably know by now, we spent most of the summer in East Africa! We were away for a month, with the vast majority of our time being spent on the Ultimate East Africa trip by G Adventures.

We wanted to provide a review of our trip in the hope that it helps others when choosing a similar escapade!

Continue reading →

Africa Trip – What We Spent!

On October 12, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Africa, Finances, TravelLeave a comment

Africa Series – Part 3

We gave a rough estimate before we left that the trip would cost us in the region of £5,500 each. Was our estimate right?!

A lot of the costs were already known before we left. We had paid for the flights, the tour with G Adventures and some extra hotel nights at either end of the trip. The tour costs also included a lot of food and transport etc.

Continue reading →

We’re Home! Africa Snaps

On October 6, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Africa, TravelLeave a comment

Africa Series – Part 2

That’s it – we’re back! (Actually, we got back at the end of August but we’ve been kind of busy….)

Over 6 months in the planning, our Africa trip was over in a heartbeat. We saw incredible wildlife, stunning scenery and got to meet some inspirational locals. It was truly a life-changing experience for both of us. We’re so happy we got to make those memories together.

Continue reading →

Monthly Spending – September 2019

On October 5, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Finances, Monthly Spending3 Comments

Summary

Back to reality this month as we tried to settle back into our routine. If you didn’t know, we went to East Africa for all of August and got engaged in July, so it has been all change!!

Continue reading →

How We Cut Our Food Shopping Bill In Half

On September 28, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Finances, Frugality, Optimisation1 Comment

Over the last few years we have gone through the process of optimising almost every aspect of our spending. One of the biggest changes has been to our food shopping bill. We managed to cut our bill by more than half!

Food shopping is one of the biggest items in most people’s budgets. If you can manage to cut this in half like we did, it can have a huge impact on your ability to save more. All of these savings can really add up and help you to retire earlier!

Continue reading →

Frugal Four – Episode 1!

On September 14, 2019January 10, 2020 By A Way to LessIn Finances, Frugal Four, Frugality, Optimisation2 Comments

Welcome to the first in the series we’re going to call the Frugal Four! We wanted a way to share the frugal tips and tricks we’ve picked up over the years. The aim is to provide a brief summary of a few little hacks we’ve enjoyed using in the hope it inspires you to save some money yourselves!

Without further ado, here goes!

Continue reading →