‘I need to boost my earnings’
Blogger and cook Iris Cohen, 25, lives in south London and lives hand-to-mouth MONTHLY INCOME: £930
“I live with my partner in south London, and earn about £400 a month running my healthy lifestyle blog Notetoiris. com thanks to advertising and sponsored posts. I also run a home delivery food business where I make healthy meals and cold press juices for people who don’t have time to cook, earning £250 a month, as well as walking my neighbour’s dog for £10 an hour. I’d love to have my own deli and healthy catering company one day but I struggle to save and shopping at food markets costs me £550 a month. I think it’s a priceless expense as I want to be healthy, so to save money I get my hair cut and coloured by trainee hairdressers for free. I try to save but I like to live in the moment and would rather have memories over the bank interest! I don’t see where I can cut back – is there anything I can do to make sure I have cash left over at the end of every month?”
SARAH’S 3-POINT PLAN
1) Spend less on food! Great ingredients don’t have to cost the earth. Eat what’s in season (it’s cheaper), look for smaller local food markets outside of central London and go later in the day when they’re trying to get rid of produce. Don’t dismiss the supermarket; provided veg hasn’t travelled thousands of miles, there’s no reason not to buy it, and enjoy offers as well as the cheap staples. 2) Diversify to attract new advertisers and earn more. As well as her blog, Iris can promote her business on social media and network with fellow lifestyle bloggers to attract new advertisers, which will then bring new revenue. Iris could also walk a few more dogs or branch out to dog sitting to increase her salary – advertise on Gumtree or in local shops, or sign up with Animal Aunts or Tailster.com. Iris may also want to do some shifts in a deli to get to grips with the business while still earning cash.
TOTAL:
£1,119.50
The Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565) and Startups. co.uk have great advice. 3) Be disciplined and save. Iris should make one of her incomes her saving stream, so for example her dog walking/ sitting money could go into a savings account to get her into the habit of putting some cash away. To avoid temptation, she should use a notice account that won’t allow her to touch her money for a fixed time period.
BREAKING THE BANK
Last year we spent on average £89.38 replacing mendable kettles, phones with smashed screens and clothes with broken zips, according to glue brand Sugru – costing the UK £4.6 billion. Not only can you save but it’s better for the environment to recycle rather than replace. For video tutorials on how to fix things, visit Sugru.com.
SPELL TO SELL
Misspelt products on ebay attract fewer bids (if any) as they don’t come up when people search. Sites such as Bargainchecker and Bay Crazy scan ebay for common spelling errors and alert you, so you don’t miss out.