Who does the Government think it is fooling when it says we’re just getting a run of the mill update and not a full Budget from Chancellor Rachel Reeves?

Rachel Reeves is due to deliver her second fiscal announcement of her career as the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 26 March.

It would be really easy for me to just list out what’s coming up. We don’t know a lot but we do know she might be of a mind to tweak the cash ISA allowance.

We also know that her and her boss, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, now seem quite keen on some fairly substantial welfare cuts – plus a mini bonfire of Government quangoes that cash cheques and do little else.

So far it’s all a bit of a DOGE tribute act. Which is weird for a left-wing party but here we are.

But the bone I’m keen to pick today isn’t about these policy measures. If you’d like to hear more about that in detail, please have a listen to our latest podcast episode with interactive investor personal finance editor Craig Rickman instead.

No, as the title suggests, the problem I’ve got is the fiction we’re all being told to believe that this somehow isn’t a ‘Budget’.

Budgets vs Statements

Now, the difference between a Budget and a Statement is one of measures. The Budget contains lots of tax and spend measures while the Statement just has the fiscal forecasts and other numbers update.

But in practice does it ever work like this?

I would argue if Rachel Reeves is about to gut £6 billion from the welfare bill she is veryn much not just doing a Statement – it is a full-blown Budget.

Okay, well, why does that matter? It matters because:

a. Reeves said she’d only do one Budget a year. If she admits that has immediately been upgraded to two, it is admitting the first Budget was, well, a bit of a failure for not getting stuff buttoned up for 12 months.

b. It matters to big and ugly stuff like the bond market. Everyone from Westminster to the Square Mile is now quite nervous about upsetting the so-called ‘bond vigilantes’ and triggering another Truss-style meltdown.

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If Reeves admits she’s having to do a full whack announcement (and with it, more debt, spending, tax, etc that comes with that) then the bond market might be quite unhappy about more uncertainty on uncertainty. It risks scaring the horses, so to speak.

In reality this all doesn’t really matter that much, but the fiction that we’re just getting a perfunctory business update is working quite hard to play down some of the fairly serious problems facing the UK economy. By not facing that head on we’re just trying to minimise big problems that need tackling – ASAP.

Photo credits: HM Treasury

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An interest rate is the cost of borrowing money or the return on investment for lending to others. It plays a crucial role in the financial system, informing the cost or reward of products such as loans, savings accounts, mortgages, and investments.

Here’s a breakdown of how interest rates work in personal finance: 

1. Economic indicators: 

• The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets the base interest rate for the UK economy. Changes in this rate have a ripple effect on other interest rates. For example, when the base rate is lowered, banks tend to lower their lending and savings rates, making borrowing cheaper but reducing returns on savings and vice versa. 

2. Borrowing money: 

• Loans: When you borrow money, such as through a personal loan or a credit card, the interest rate is the percentage that the lender charges you on top of the principal amount borrowed. This is the cost of borrowing money, and it’s typically expressed as an annual percentage rate (APR). The APR includes not only the interest but also any additional fees associated with the loan. 
• Mortgages: When you take out a mortgage to buy a home, the interest rate determines how much you’ll pay over the life of the loan deal. Mortgage interest rates can be fixed for a certain amount of time (usually two, three or five years) or variable (changing periodically, usually in relation to the Bank of England’s base rate). 

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3. Saving and investing: 

• Savings accounts: When you deposit money in a savings account, the bank pays you interest on your savings. This interest is typically lower than the interest rates on loans because you’re essentially lending your money to the bank. Savings account interest rates can be variable or fixed. 
• Investments: In the context of investments, interest rates can affect various financial products. For example, bond yields are influenced by prevailing interest rates. When interest rates rise, bond prices tend to fall and yields rise. Additionally, the return on savings and investment products such as Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) is influenced by interest rates. 

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It’s pretty hard to avoid Budget speculation at the moment. It is a momentous occasion we’re told.

This is hard to argue. It’s a new government with difficult choices to make, and a wafer-thin balancing act to carry out. I don’t envy Rachel Reeves her job.

It is true to say that this isn’t unusual. The Budget is a significant moment for any Government and engenders enormous amounts of speculation from the media, and any and every vested interest you can think of.

But the way in which wild speculation about what is and isn’t coming has now reached feverish, and potentially dangerous levels – especially if people start making dramatic decisions with their finances as a result.

Labour backs against the wall

Labour has backed itself into a bit of a corner over tax rises, with the three main revenue earners (income tax, national insurance and VAT) all ruled out for rises in the party’s manifesto.

This leaves Rachel Reeves with the option to make a series of esoteric tax changes that either need quite a lot of explaining or are downright Kafkaesque.

This has led to weeks on weeks of speculation and policy idea floating in the media, which is at best enormously unhelpful, and at worst downright destructive when it causes people to start making rash decisions.

When you target the weird taxes, you get the weird outcomes. The ‘window tax’ is the most famous historic example of this.

Part of the issue with how the psychodrama mounts comes down to the way in which our parliamentary democracy works.

The Budget is an historic tradition, with the first mention of the term dating back to 1733.  It is presented by the Chancellor to Parliament. This in and of itself is ‘normal’ in the sense of a democratic process where legislation is presented to MPs who then debate on it etc.

However, setting a date long in advance creates a whole cycle of speculation in the run up, and indeed a whole round of unpicking, and ultimately trashing, of decisions once they’re announced.

But don’t bother surprising everyone with a Budget either, because you’ll get what happened to Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng – absolute paroxysms that lead to total meltdown of nearly the whole thing.

A voracious 24/7 live and digital news media means every aspect of it is now painstakingly analysed, criticised and commented on. Pundits have very little at stake personally, but create enough of a stink and you’ll kill an idea – no matter if it was a good one or not.

Every idea is shouted at by one group or another with: “You can’t do that! You’ll make x group worse off!” or “You’ll push Y group to flee the country” and “how can you target Z group don’t you know”…etc etc.

It leaves the Government reeling, policies disappearing as fast as they arrived, and all-round uncertainty. With a change of government for the first time since 2010, it feels even more psychodramatic than usual.

Anecdotally (mostly emanating from the advice sector) people have already begun making changes to their finances to try and swerve tax changes that haven’t even be confirmed as happening yet.

More from Edmund Greaves

Ministry of Tough Choices

Fiscal discourse is at all-time highs of pearl-clutching. This is because it is so easy to take an idea one suggested and profess utter dismay at it.

The only time in my career I can remember it being this toxic was the bad days of Brexit, although as a financial journalist I escaped some of the worst of it compared to those on the politics beat.

And to be sure, some of the ideas I’ve seen have…at the very least…raised my eyebrows.

But we’re in an era of reaping, not sowing. Debt is at painful highs. People have had their living standards crushed. Wealth inequality is everywhere. Enormous inefficiencies, unintended consequences and downright perversities pervade all the way through how taxes work in our country.

Unless we really grasp the nettle and make hard choices, we’re going to create an even more febrile situation next time, and the next time, until eventually our politics will reach a breaking point.

We have real-world examples of how this plays out. Look to the example of Argentina, which got itself into such a big economic pickle it went for broke and elected a Libertarian who sits totally outside the old Peronista consensus – the literal chainsaw wielding new President, Javier Milei.

A man who has named his dogs after free market economists, and has a self-professed desire to root out all the ‘parasites’ of the state. His rhetoric is as shocking as it is popular, precisely because the Argentine state had ceased to function, or control the economy (mainly with runaway inflation) in any meaningful sense.

In fairness to Labour and Reeves, they have already opted to make the winter fuel payment for pensioners means tested – a policy which has been deemed politically toxic, despite the fact pensioners are more likely to be millionaires than live in poverty. Perhaps Labour has indeed decided to launch a Ministry of Tough Choices and stick with it.

Unless we deal with the those tough choices now, and the media howling that this evinces, then we’ll just get our own Milei ultimately instead. That may or may not be a bad thing, but it will certainly not decrease the psychodrama, which I know we’re all quite done with already thank you very much.

Photo credits:  HM Treasury Flickr 

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For a financial journalist, the Budget is the biggest day of the year. We crowd around TV screens, notepads and pencils in hand, ready, willing and able to take notes on what the Chancellor announces.

This Budget seems to be gathering all the more intensity ahead of schedule than is usual. This is fair enough. It is the first Budget by a Labour Government since 2010 and comes at a time when some difficult choices need to be made.

But the temptation here is to focus in too hard on one event, and not see the wood for the trees.

Taxation is one of the most powerful tools a state can have in the pursuit of its goals, be that paying for a health service, aircraft carriers or new railway lines (or actually, pension liabilities). But Governments can do things that seriously impact our finances that have nothing at all to do with taxation.

This can come in many different forms too. Consider the Government’s lax approach to creating energy independence over decades, which led directly to the cost-of-living crisis. Or the failure to peg the state pension to anything of real value other than annual tax receipts.

Without wishing to make an exhaustive list of things that Government (of all stripes) do wrong, there are a couple in mind from the new one that could have significant unintended consequences, despite their noble aims. Here are the two I have in mind.

LISTEN: Editor Edmund Greaves and Chris Tuite, head of consumer finance at communications agency MRM, discuss these topics and more on the weekly Mouthy Money podcast

Renters’ reform

We have a good amount of detail now on what Labour plans to do about renters’ rights reform, with a bill now in the works through Parliament.

Among other things, Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions look set for the chop finally (after the gutless Tories failed to go through with it), while it will introduce ‘decent homes standards’, enhanced tenant rights, protection from mid-tenancy rent increases and other measures.

Taken at face value and these reforms all seem fair enough. Protect renters, don’t let landlords turn the screw financially, and improve living conditions. These things are hard to argue against.

But (yes I’m going to attempt to be contrarian here) I think that these enhancements will come at a cost. This cost will be born by the renters as landlords seek to shore up their positions. Restrictions placed on the rental market will affect supply because some landlords will sell up rather than take the tougher rules, and this will affect the market response to more demand and less supply.

In other words, rent is going to go up.

Improving the stock of rental property in terms of quality and living standards (again, no bad thing) will also come at a cost. This will cause some landlords to sell, or hike rents when they get the opportunity. Again, this will cost renters ultimately.

I must emphasise that these enhancements are almost certainly necessary. But they will come at a cost. We must be more honest about who will ultimately bear that cost. It won’t be the landlords.

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Workplace rights

We’re less clear on the exact plans that Labour has for enhancing workers’ rights, but we are expecting some legislation in the very near future to appear, and for it to contain around 75 separate measures to improve employee rights.

Chief among the potential changes are restrictions on the use of zero-hour contracts, protection against unfair dismissal from day one of employment, more statutory sick pay coverage, a right to flexible working, tighter rules around ‘fire and rehire’ and potentially a new ‘right to switch off’ after hours.

In a similar vein to renters’ rights reform, these are probably no bad thing, but will certainly come at a cost. However, unlike renters who will feel higher rents, these reforms have the potential to create a different kind of personal finance problem – unemployment.

Unemployment is the economic dog that hasn’t barked since the financial crisis. Aside from the extraordinary pandemic years we’ve had no real unemployment issues in the UK. This is generally seen as rather a good thing.

Rising unemployment is a problem though. A big one.

The workers’ reforms Labour propose would take us to a sort of employment market (in regulatory terms) much more commensurate with France. France is a lovely country for policy wonks because in demographic and economic terms its quite similar.  So when we look at how the French do things, we have a rough estimate of how that thing might affect us.

To paint the economic context then – France has a more productive workforce than the UK. Although productivity is a complicated issue, some of it probably comes down to happier workers with stronger rights.

BUT (and it is a big but) France also has higher levels of unemployment. To put some figures on it – the UK has about 75% of working age adults in some form of employment (although the definition of that is broad). In France the equivalent figure is 69%.

Were this worst-case scenario to happen, you’re looking at an increase in unemployment of two million people (based on the 33.34 million people in work as of July 2024).

Now this is certainly not a given, but the differential here would mean a 6% increase in unemployment in the UK in the wake of these reforms. This is unlikely to come all at once (although an uptick is likely soon after). More likely is we’ll see bosses less forthcoming with new roles, and more assiduous in hiring. It is likely to make those without work find it harder to get a new job and will probably entrench people in jobs they already have, again slowing things down.

My attempt to highlight these two ‘non-Budget’ personal financial issues is by no means an attempt to disparage Labour’s plans.

But my wish generally with this kind of article is to point out that the choices we make tend to have consequences. With renters’ and workers’ reforms those are likely to be higher rents and higher unemployment.

Enough of both those problems and it’s not hard to foresee some significant political trouble in the fallout.

Photo credits: Flickr

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If you want to take control of your finances, tracking your spending is a great way to start.

It may seem like a lot of time and effort, but it soon becomes a habit and the benefits outweigh the small amount of work involved. 

Five reasons for tracking your spending

1# You will understand where your money goes

Regularly tracking your spending will create an awareness of where your money goes. If you always run out of cash before payday, this habit will prevent you from blindly hurtling towards your overdraft each month. 

2# It will help curb impulse spending

By becoming hyper-aware of your spending habits in this way, you will be able to curb impulse purchases. Recording each expenditure will make you more mindful of your money, and identify and cut back on unnecessary and wasteful expenditure.

3# It will allow you to make a realistic budget

Once you eliminate unnecessary spending, you will be able to create a plan for your money each month. Making a budget that works for you is key to taking control of your finances.

4# It will alleviate anxiety

Constantly running out of money, sitting in your overdraft or spending on your credit cards can create an underlying anxiety that is constantly in the back of your mind. Tackling your situation head-on, understanding your spending and sticking to your budget will alleviate financial anxiety and help you avoid getting into debt.

5# It will help you prioritise and reach your savings goals 

Once you get rid of most of your unnecessary spending, you will be able to redirect your money towards your longer-term goals. For example, you could begin to build an emergency fund, pay off your credit card or other debt, add to your savings pots, or start investing.

Read more from Shoestring Jane on Mouthy Money

How to track your spending

A key part of tracking where your money goes consistently is to find a method that suits you and your lifestyle. It doesn’t matter how you do it; what’s important is that you review your spending regularly.

Check your spending history

A good starting point can be to look back on your past few months’ spending. Three columns can be helpful: Essentials, such as rent, fuel and utility bills; Discretionary spending, like eating out, clothing and entertainment; and debt repayments and savings. 

This allows you to set a sensible budget based on past spending and what you want your future spending to look like.

Decide what suits you

After that, consider whether you prefer to go old-school with a pen and paper, make a spreadsheet or use a spending app.

For years, I kept paper receipts to track my spending in a book every few days. This worked well at the time, but these days I prefer an app. I like Koody, because it is free, easy to use and doesn’t require you to connect it to your bank account.

If all else fails, consider cash

These days it’s so easy to spend using contactless technology, that we barely register our purchases. If you are still struggling to control your spending, consider using the cash envelope system instead. This allows you to withdraw a budgeted cash amount either weekly or monthly and deposit the money into envelopes for groceries, fuel, entertainment, coffee, food out, etc. If you pay by cash, it feels much more real to be parting with your money!

Nicola at the Frugal Cottage has found the cash envelope system a life-saver and explains how she uses it here. 

As you spend the cash, be sure to include it in your tracking system.

If you want to understand where your money is going and stick to a budget, prioritise your spending and reduce impulse spending, then the time you take to track your spending will help you regain control and reach your financial goals.

Photo credits: Pexels

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Budgeting for some is easy during teenage years. Many get a steady stream of money from your parents, caregivers, and relatives for things you need or want.  

Or alternatively, you’re earning money from a part-time gig, which means you can spend it on whatever concert you desperately want to go to.  

Personally, I’ve said and heard the phrase “I’m broke” or “my bank account is at zero” many times. Unfortunately, money does tend to run out near the end of the month. So, what happens when we grow up and become self-sufficient adults?  

One in three (34%) of students try to budget their finances and spending but struggle to stick to it according to research from Finder.com. Only one in five students (21%) have reported feeling confident in their abilities to budget and manage their money.  

It seems as if the education system is not ready to change in teaching young people such as me about money management for their present and their future, so who will teach us?  

While this article isn’t a holy grail of money management, hopefully, it will provide some insight and give some starter advice on how to begin finding ease in it. 

So, let’s dive in with some quick and easy tips to get you started on your journey to becoming a budgeting expert! 

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1. Start with a spreadsheet 

First things first, let’s get organised. An spreadsheet (be it Google Sheets or Excel) is your new best friend.  

It’s simple, customisable, and can do all the maths for you. Here’s a basic setup to get you going: 

• Income: List all your sources of income (part-time job, allowance, freelance gigs, etc.). 

• Expenses: Track everything you spend money on—food, entertainment, transport, savings, and even those sneaky coffee runs and shopping sprees. 

• Balance: Subtract your total expenses from your income to see what is left over. 

Pro Tip: Google Sheets works just as well as Excel and has the added benefit that you can access from anywhere with an internet signal. Plus, it auto-saves, so no worries about losing your data. 

2. Get a GoHenry card 

Say hello to the GoHenry card—a prepaid debit card designed specifically for young people. It’s a fantastic tool to help you manage your money. Here’s why it’s awesome: 

• Budgeting limits: Set spending caps for different categories to avoid overspending. 

• Real-time notifications: Get instant notifications on your phone for every transaction. 

• Parental controls: If you are still under 18, your parents can help keep an eye on things too. 

This card helps you practice spending within your means while giving you a taste of financial independence. 

3. The 50/30/20 rule 

This simple rule is a game-changer for budgeting newbies. It’s a guideline to help you allocate your money wisely: 

• 50% Needs: Half of your income goes to essentials such as food, transportation, and bills. 

• 30% Wants: Use this portion for fun stuff—movies, dining out, and hobbies. 

• 20% Savings: Save this chunk for future goals or emergencies. 

This rule keeps your spending balanced and ensures you’re saving for the future. 

Pro tip: When you get older and begin having access to financial products such as credit cards or overdrafts, then the 20% rule applies first to paying off debt before starting saving. 

4. Use budgeting apps 

There are tons of cool apps designed to make budgeting easier and more fun. Here are a few to check out: 

• Goodbudget: Tracks your spending, creates budgets, and gives you a clear picture of your financial health. 

• YNAB (You Need A Budget): Focuses on giving every pound a job, helping you save more and stress less about money. 

• PocketGuard: Shows your spendable money after accounting for bills and goals. 

These apps can sync with your bank accounts and automate a lot of the tracking, making budgeting a breeze. 

5. Set financial goals 

Clear goals can make budgeting more motivating and meaningful. Think about what you want to achieve financially: 

• Short-term: Save for a new phone, a trip, or a special event. 

• Medium-term: Build an emergency fund or save for college expenses. 

• Long-term: Start investing or saving for a car. 

Write down your goals and track progress. Celebrate your milestones—each step gets you closer to financial success! 

Budgeting might seem daunting at first, but hopefully, with these tips and tools, you’ll find it’s not only manageable but also incredibly rewarding.  

By taking control of your finances now, you’re setting yourself up for a bright and successful financial future. So, go out and manage your money! 

Joel Davies is a Year 12 student at Westminster City School studying History, English Literature, and Spanish. He aspires to study in the USA and become a financial journalist, focusing on personal finance and the international economy.

Photo credits: Pexels

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A budget refers to a personal financial plan that outlines an individual’s or a household’s income and expenses over a specific period, typically on a monthly basis.  

The primary purpose of creating a budget is to allocate money to different categories, such as housing, transportation, groceries, entertainment, savings, and debt repayment, among others. 

Budgeting is an important aspect of basic personal financial management and can be the difference between being able to save for the future or living off credit cards each month.

Here are key components of a personal budget: 

1. Income: This includes all sources of money you receive, such as your salary, bonuses, freelance income, or any other form of earnings. 
2. Expenses: These are the costs associated with various aspects of your life, such as rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance, entertainment, and more. 
3. Fixed expenses: These are regular, unchanging costs, such as rent or mortgage payments, insurance premiums, and loan repayments. 
4. Variable expenses: These are costs that can fluctuate from month to month, such as groceries, dining out, and entertainment. 
5. Savings and investments: Allocating a portion of your income to savings and investments is a crucial part of a budget. This can include contributions to an emergency fund, retirement accounts, or other savings goals. 
6. Debt repayment: If you have outstanding debts, such as credit card balances or loans, your budget should include a plan for repaying them. 

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To eat out on a budget might seem extravagant when you are tightening your belt financially.  But if you enjoy having delicious food cooked for you and don’t want to give it up, here are some ideas to eat out on a budget.

Become a mystery diner

One way to eat for free and experience a range of eateries you may not have visited before is to sign up to be a mystery diner. You won’t usually get a three-course meal, but can generally have a main course and a drink. It depends on the brief.

Mystery Dining by HGEM sends you to quick-service restaurants to begin with, allowing you to get your confidence up. You will be given a brief, which could be to order a main course and dessert or might be to request a specific dish.

The brief is likely to require you to take photographs of your food, and possibly areas of the venue like the toilets. After your meal, you complete a questionnaire and submit it by the deadline to receive your reimbursement. 

Avoid peak times

Many pubs, cafes and restaurants offer cheaper set menus during quieter times. Often, if you eat at lunchtime or on a weeknight, you will save yourself a packet. 

For example, Hungry Horse runs two-for-one deals between Monday to Friday and Sizzling Pubs offers two meals from £11 during the week. Toby Carvery has two courses from £10.99 between Monday to Friday, and Pizza Hut offers an adult weekday buffet for £10.99. Be careful not to load up on extras, though.

Look at the websites and Facebook pages of restaurant chains and independent venues to view their current deals.

Stick to the basics

If the food is the best part of your eating out experience, skip drinks with your meal. If you would like a drink, find a pub running a happy hour before you go in or have a glass or two at home first. Don’t be afraid to ask for a jug of tap water on your table for free – you don’t have to accept the pricey bottled stuff.

Similarly, you can stick to a main course and go home for coffee and dessert!

Read more from Shoestring Jane
on Mouthy Money

Meerkat Meals

Buy a qualifying low-cost single-trip travel insurance product through Compare the Market and get 25% off your entire bill at restaurants around the UK. These policies can cost you as little as £2-3, and you will soon recoup your investment. Meerkat Meals also offers 50% off pizzas at places like Dominoes and Pizza Hut if you decide to eat at home.

Sign up for discounts and freebies

A great way to get discounts on eating out is to sign up for apps and newsletters. For example, you can enjoy 25% off food when you download the Harvester rewards app and the same with the Toby Carvery app.

Some will also send you birthday freebies. Pizza Express offers a free dessert when you sign up for the Pizza Express Club and Frankie & Benny’s will give you a free main course.

Don’t forget to ask if there are discounts for students, pensioners or blue light workers.

The gift of food

If you love to eat out but don’t have the budget, ask for restaurant vouchers as birthday or Christmas gifts. Family and friends are often stuck for ideas and appreciate suggestions.

Use your Tesco Clubcard points

Tesco Clubcard rewards can help you to eat out on a budget. You can spend your vouchers at a wide range of restaurants, and they are worth double the points value. So, if you have £10 in rewards, you can convert them into £20 to spend with one of the Tesco partner companies.

Choose from Pizza Express, Zizzi, Hungry Horse, Chef & Brewer and more.

Too Good To Go 

This isn’t strictly eating out, but the Too Good To Go app allows you to eat restaurant food for a fraction of the usual cost. This app aims to reduce the amount of food that is wasted, whilst giving customers a bargain.

The food on offer depends on where you are located. In my area, I can, for example, order a Preto meat buffet dinner bag valued at £26.95 for £8.98, or a Harvester rotisserie chicken and salad bag valued at £13.97 for £4.79. The catch? I will need to wait until 9 pm to collect, and there is the possibility my order will be cancelled if there isn’t enough leftover food at the end of the evening.

Split the bill fairly

When you are eating out with friends, agree to split the bill fairly rather than equally – that means paying for only what you eat and drink plus a tip if service isn’t included. Most people will be happy for you to do this. I find it helpful to agree to this in advance to save any awkwardness.

I hope I have given you some helpful ideas on how to eat out on a budget and shown that you can treat yourself occasionally. Once you start looking, there are lots of ways to eat out, experience great food and enjoy a relaxing ambience without breaking the bank.

Photo Credits: Pexels

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The love of money may be the root of all evil, but love it or hate it, it seems we are stuck with the concept.

Not many communities today are able to operate without money. It’s an inexorable fact of life: we need to work for money in order to survive. Or do we? What about a life without money?

A few years ago, I read Mark Boyle’s first book, The Moneyless Man, with fascination and admiration as he asked himself this very question.

Boyle set out to answer it by challenging himself to live entirely without money for a year. He bought nothing: no food, clothing, transport, energy or nights out in the pub. No books, music, holidays, no tools or equipment. 

Sounds impossible, right? However, not only did Mark Boyle get through the year without any money, he continued with the moneyless lifestyle for a further two years. In these times of economic strife, can we learn anything from ‘the Moneyless Man’? 

You might very well be asking how Boyle achieved his goal without suffering starvation and homelessness or relying on other people to support him financially.

You need to read the book (free via your local library) for the full picture. However, here are some ways to live for free, inspired by The Moneyless Man and Boyle’s follow-up book, The Moneyless Manifesto. Maybe there are some lessons for those of us struggling to make ends meet.

Finding free stuff generally

I happen to live in a small town in Essex that has no charity shops. This means that the easiest way for residents to get rid of things they no longer have a use for is to leave them at the front of their houses with a sign for passersby to help themselves.

Although I was initially bereft at not being able to browse any thrift stores on my doorstep, I have to admit that I enjoy the street freebies I come across on my daily dog walks.

In recent months, I have picked up a small sander, a brand-new silk scarf, books, a set of tins from Joules and various pictures, including a limited edition framed print by a local artist. 

However, if your neighbours aren’t in the habit of offering stuff for free in this way, there are other ways to source them. Freecycle and Freegle are useful organisations to sign up to, where people in your area offer items for nothing.

The idea is to save them from landfill whilst doing someone else a favour. You can even put in special requests. When my daughter moved into a new flat, she requested a small freezer and was duly offered one in excellent condition.

There are also local Facebook groups where people offer things for free. Be careful, though, as some traders mark items as free when they aren’t, just to draw you in.

Skip diving

I am frequently horrified at the things I hear about being thrown in skips. It’s so wasteful! I am not a big skip-diver, although I always take a peek and once found several boxes of brand-new plates and bowls outside a restaurant that was being renovated. 

If you do the same, you are likely to find all sorts of treasures but do ask permission before taking anything.

Sharing

Popping up recently in some areas are ‘libraries of things’. The idea is that rather than buy tools, equipment and household items that you use rarely, you can borrow them instead. This saves money and waste. 

Some libraries of things are free, using items donated by the local community. Others make a small charge, such as this one, which started in London but has since spread to other areas. 

More and more communities are looking at how to start a library of things, so try and internet search to see if you have one in your area.

Free food prevents food waste

There are a number of initiatives that allow you to help yourself to free food that would otherwise go in the bin. Olio is probably the best-known, but community larders and community fridges are popping up all over the country.

There are multiple issues with food waste, both moral and environmental, so if you can prevent it whilst saving yourself money, all the better.

Free books

Obviously, your library is the most obvious resource to read books for free. However, you can also pick them up and share your own by joining BookCrossing, which aims to connect people with books.

The idea is that you offer books you have read to others on the network and post them out. You can track their journey and share your thoughts. It’s more than just a library – BookCrossing is an experience. 

You can also find book-sharing points in many towns and cities. I have one on my morning dog walk and often take a book or leave one of mine for someone else to enjoy.

LETs schemes

LETS schemes are “Local Exchange Trading Systems … local community-based mutual aid networks in which people exchange all kinds of goods and services with one another, without the need for money”.

The idea is that you can earn credit by doing tasks for others and then spend your credits requesting an exchange of time or skills from other members.

LETS schemes exist nationally, although some areas are a bit sparse and patchy.  If you like this concept, you can find your nearest scheme here. The more people join, the more successful they will become.

Most of us won’t be able to go to the extremes Mark Boyle did and live entirely free of money, but we could probably make do with less. I hope these ideas are useful to enable you to live well, whatever your income.

Photo Credits: Pexels

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Ramit Sethi, the author of bestseller I Will Teach You to Be Rich is a little different from the finance gurus of the past.

Although he believes in the age old principles of budgeting, or as he likes to call it “a conscious spending plan”, getting out of debt, and putting away for the future, he really focuses on this idea of building your “rich life”.

And he actually puts his money where his mouth is.

When it comes to how you should divvy up your money to live this rich life he talks about, he recommends staying somewhere close to the following guidelines¹:

1. 50-60% of one’s income to go on fixed costs. These are all the essentials to live, such as your rent/mortgage, household bills, groceries, transport, or any debts you may have that need tackling.
2. 10% of one’s income to go towards investments. This could be in the form of putting into a pension or an investment account such as a stocks and shares ISA in the UK.
3. 5-10% of one’s income to go towards savings. Saving for that emergency fund. Towards the house deposit. The car you need. Those sorts of things.
4. And last but certainly not least, a whooping 20-35% of one’s income to go on guilt-free spending. Essentially, spend it on whatever your little heart desires.

Although these guidelines aren’t too dissimilar from the well-known 50-30-20 rule (50% needs, 30% wants, 20% debts/savings) I think it may be how he has phrased the fourth budget category, and how he talks about it in his podcast and Netflix show, that feels a little scandalous for the likes of me who spends less than 15% of my income “guilt-free”. But that’s a topic for another article.

After the initial shock and some time to really digest, I can’t help but think maybe this is the kind of guideline that will actually work for the vast majority of millennials and Gen Z’s who both desire and are accustomed to a certain type of lifestyle. Often a much more expensive one than our parents and grandparents.

With any budgeting guidelines, they are just that, guidelines! Everyone’s circumstances are unique and it’ll be almost impossible to have a one size fits all approach to budgeting.

But budgeting guidelines are a useful way to help you categorise your spending to see where your money priorities lie and if they align with where you want to be.

With Ramit’s guidelines, it puts into place some securities for the future by squaring away 15% into savings and investments (maybe a bit low for those who want to be more aggressive savers), but crucially it allows for up to 30% of your budget to be guilt-free. No strings attached. No questions asked.

So what do you think of the idea of 30% guilt-free spending? Does it make you a little uncomfortable – if so, why? Or do you think it’s the right amount to give you the feeling of that infamous “rich life”?

References

1. https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/conscious-spending-basics/

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