Ahh Sundays. For some, they’re a day to spend fully horizontal, lounging around and not quite committing to any certain plan or activity. For others, the day is punctuated by meal prepping for the week ahead, leisurely (or not-so leisurely!) walks, 15 separate FaceTime calls just to ‘catch up’, cooking up a full-on Sunday roast (aaall the trimmings!), three piles of washing and only accepting that the day is over when, exhausted, they collapse on the sofa – after writing separate to-do lists for the new week, (paper version and digital too, with a fully synced calendar, just in case!) of course. Regardless of what team you’re on, to end Money Week, we’ve compiled a list of Three Money Hacks to set you up for a better week. Simple tips to maximise your resources – less stress, less admin and, ultimately, more money and time for joy and doing what you love. And now, we could all do with a bit of that, couldn’t we?
If you’re a freelancer – A key part of running your own business and ensuring it succeeds? Accepting you can’t do everything all the time. This particularly applies if you’re juggling homeschooling, a heavier (or lighter!) workload during lockdown and any other committments this crazy time may have thrown at you. Struggling with cashflow? Welsh Government are offering a variety of loans aimed at businesses you may wish to look into (deadlines are as early as July 10th, so hurry!). Finding you’re working more and could do with an extra pair of hands? First of all, well done you (securing work in the current circumstances is not easy!) and secondly, why not contact local Universities and Colleges to see if any students need work-experiences or part-time work? The current situation has made it difficult for students to access opportunities and some support for your business, even on a remote basis, may make a world of a difference.
If you need some inspiration in the kitchen – Finding that waaaay more of your pay-check is spent on groceries than you’d like to admit? We feel you. Granted, it’s not easy to continuously come up with meal ideas and most of us are finding ourselves cooking an awful lot more during lockdown. A few ideas for simple, quick meals may be all it takes, however, to stop wasting our pennies and not end up with the most random of meals come Sunday night. Start by reading how others have saved £6,000 (!!) a year on food here, hop over to The Anna Edit for the most-organised meal prep guide and, if all else fails, take advantage of offers on websites like Hello Fresh for major food inspo you can recreate on a budget. Less time wasted removing mouldy vegetables from the fridge and more money to spend in our beloved indies as lockdown restrictions ease? It’s a win/win really.
Invest….in yourself – It may appear counterintuitive but becoming fixated with the notion of saving money can actually seclude us from the very opportunities that would help us make money in the first place. Bit confused by our play on words? We’re a little mind-blown ourselves but please stick with us. To take your business that extra step further, stop wasting less time on admin and actually enjoy the weekend or, for example, up your photography skills for your freelance work….you may actually have to spend money. Business Wales have plenty of free resources for businesses at different stages, Staff Skills Training have lots of online courses from marketing to sales and finance at very reasonable prices and online publications like our own have countless tools for business/homeschooling and even journaling and self-care at little to no price.
What are your can’t-live-without life hacks at the beginning of each week? For more ideas, we love The Little Book of Life Hacks (pictured above!) by Yumi Sakugawa for anything from kitchen hacks to making our own iced-coffee (a recurring expense on our debit card statements!) to styling our apartments on a budget and making freshly-brought flowers (one of life’s best simple- pleasures!) last longer. Enjoy the week, schedule time for a tête-à-tête with your finances and, most importantly, cut yourself some slack – it is a Sunday after all.
Love always,
The Squiggles Team X
