£1.99 on lunch
£12.57 on beer
£14.99 on Indian food
£29.55 total

£38.52 running total for May

1.99 on lunch
0.60 on vending machine snack
1.59 total

7.38 Running total for May

£1.89 on coffee
£0.60 on vending machine snack
£0.60 on vending machine mints
£1.80 on lunch
£0.90 on vending machine drink
£5.79

So, it’s nearly Easter weekend and I’m getting very excited about spending some time with my family, getting out for some fresh air and generally having some fun.

As ever though, I’ll be looking at keeping costs down this weekend by making sure I’ve got plenty of cheap supplies in (probably and Aldi job I think) for a few family treats and of course . . . lashings of ice cold beer.

We’ve also mapped the weekend out and have got some budget activities lined up:

Friday > Spring clean the house
Saturday > Family walk in the park, trip to the swimming pool
Sunday > Trip to Windermere (I’m sure it will lash it down, but we’ll try it anyhow)
Monday > Relaxation at home

I’ve noticed that my lunch spending is spirraling out of control at them moment as I’m finding myself going for a quite expensive salad option on a daily basis. I reckon I’m looking at a bout £4.00 a day which racks up to a heft £20 a week.

I just wondered if anyone had any budget (and healthy) lunchtime meal tips?

This recessions seems to be taking its toll in many ways. Everywhere I look people are being made redundant, companies are going bust and people are under serious financial pressures.

I thank my lucky stars at times like this that I’ve got a stable job and a few pennies tucked away just incase . . . (not a lot mind).

With this in mind I’ve tried to be even more thrifty than usual and started to use a lot more of the social online shopping resources such as MoneySavingExpert and Paid to Shop. The forums are great and offer some reaaly useful money saving tips including details of online sales, discount codes and other money saving tips.

It’s the discount codes that I really love. They’re everywhere. I’ve seen some offering up to 20% off in some cases.

Anyway – here’s one offer I’ve happily been taking up – the 10% off everything at Zavvi.co.uk

Ohhhhh yes – it’s that time of year again. Birthday time! I love my birthday, it’s always good – even on the occasions that it has been bad, it’s still been pretty good

So I thought I’d make it my mission to keep the spending down to a minimum. I’ll leave you to be the judge of whether I did or not:

Birthday lunch: £6.44 (chips x 4)

Krispy Kreme Donuts: £4.80 (x 4)

Alcofrol (various): £24.00 (included nice wine)

Chinese: £28.60 (including my favourite salt and pepper squid)

Total birthday spends:  £63.84

Whichever newspaper you read and whoever you listen to, it seems that 2009 will be a tough year for Britain’s economy.

With that in mind, it’s important that you take care of your finances and address any debts you may have to ensure that you’re in the best financial shape. Here we take a look at five things that could help you through the recession.

Make a budget

In many cases, you can make a real difference to your financial situation just by noting down where your money is going and making a budget.

Overspending as a result of not budgeting is an easy trap to fall into. You may think you have enough disposable income once your mortgage/rent and bills have been paid, but people often fail to account for nights out, groceries, and any unexpected costs that could crop up.

Nobody can plan their finances 100% accurately, but by putting aside a rough amount for all your main expenses at the start of each month, it’s less likely that you’ll end up overspending.

Speak to your lenders

If you still find yourself unable to manage your debts, then it’s important that you speak to your lenders to discuss your situation. Your lenders may be willing to accept an alternative payment plan or a short repayment holiday in order to help you get back on track.

Of course, there may be situations in which you can’t come to an agreement with your lenders, in which case a more specific debt solution might be more appropriate.

Debt consolidation

A debt consolidation loan is a new loan that pays off your existing debts – effectively ‘consolidating’ several debts into one. This means you will only have to make one repayment each month, which can make managing your finances a lot simpler.

One of the main advantages of a debt consolidation loan is that by spreading out your repayments, you can reduce your monthly outgoings. However, be aware that you will pay more interest than if you had kept the shorter repayment period.

That said, it may still be possible to pay less interest overall if you are consolidating high-APR debts, such as credit cards. So long as your debt consolidation loan’s interest rate is lower than the average APR on your existing debts, you should be able to save money.

Before starting a debt management plan you should be sure that you can afford to make your new payments, and that you won’t risk getting into further debt by continuing your spending. If you are not sure, then another debt solution might be more appropriate.

Debt management plan

A debt management plan is an informal agreement between you and your lenders as to how you intend to repay your debts. It’s technically possible to arrange this on your own, but many choose to do it through a professional debt management company, who can negotiate with creditors and manage all transactions on your behalf.

If you do arrange the plan through a debt management company, you will usually make regular monthly payments to the company, who will distribute the money between your creditors accordingly.

IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement)

An IVA is a legally-binding agreement between you and your creditors, allowing you to avoid bankruptcy by agreeing to pay off a percentage of your debts over a set period of time, and write off the rest.

Before you enter an IVA, an Insolvency Practitioner will work with you to put together a proposal and send it to your creditors. For an IVA to go ahead, creditors accounting for at least 75% of your total debt must approve the proposal.

Once the IVA begins, you will make regular monthly payments to your Insolvency Practitioner, who will distribute the money between your creditors. This usually lasts for five years, and on successful completion your remaining unsecured debts will be considered written off.

If you’re a homeowner, you may be expected to release some of the equity in your home in the 54th month (half way through the final year) of your IVA.

Melanie from ThinkMoney.com very kindly wrote this article for me I thought it might be of interest to some of our readers. I hope you found it useful!

Quickish business trip to the States ended with a nasty bout of the flu. Still going on I’m afraid!

It’s amazing how much you can spend on medicines isn’t it? I’ve spent £20.00 allready this week:

Bells Cough Tincture
Beechams All in One Capsules
Lashings of Lucozade
Throat stuff

I know I sound a bit wet . . . I probably only get hit like this once every two years though.

No wonder the pharmaceutical industry are dragging their feet on a cure to the common cold