Roughly translating as ‘not too much, not too little, just right’, lagom is the art of living frugally, which is a pretty essential life skill if, like me, you’ve still got a £9,000 student loan to repay.

Lagom encourages you to be healthy, environmentally-friendly and financially-frugal. It’s definitely not as much fun as hygge (which by the way, I readily embraced pre-Christmas by purchasing a pair of new brushed-cotton pyjamas and an endless supply of mulled wine).

But apparently January is all about new starts blah blah and I have a whacking great tax bill to pay, so I for one am becoming lagom.

Here are some handy tips on how to live frugally in January and embrace lagom:

1. Stay in and cook

I have a terrible habit of going out for dinner ALL the time. I make great plans to boil lentils and kale into some sort of healthy mush and yet, before you know it, I’ve got a dim sum in each cheek and Katsu curry dripping down my chin. I’ve recently realised, however, that although eating out is super convenient, it’s also incredibly expensive! So dig out your blender, boil your broccoli and soak those lentils overnight – healthy mush it is.

2. Use your gym membership (lol)

Sometimes I forget that I pay £30 to run for 20 mins on a treadmill once a month. But last week I suddenly remembered (miraculous) and decided to actually go. Although furious that the hot tub wasn’t working (why else would you go to the gym?), I did 10 lengths in the pool and then sat in the sauna for half an hour. It was glorious. Plus then I showered in water I’m not billed for – could life get any better?

3. Start a journal

Ok yes – you’ll need to buy a notebook and a fancy array of coloured pens, but then you’ve got a year of journal-writing FUN! Plus you will spend hours (HOURS) on Pinterest looking at pretty pictures of bullet journals. And there’s nothing more fun than planning, amiright?

4. Rearrange your living space

Having a sort out is always satisfying come the New Year, and adding a plant to your space can be just as refreshing as spending pounds on new fancy throw cushions that just get chucked on the floor come bedtime. It’s fun to make your bedroom a lagom project: picking up ring stands in charity shops and framing photos that you’ve had lying around. Just one question though – what do you do with old journals that detail your terrible tinder dates? Asking for a friend…

5. Get outside

Just a quick reminder that some of life’s simplest pleasures are free: going for a long woodland walk, getting your bike out of the garage, feeding the ducks at your local pond (I don’t care how old you are, this is still fun). And ok, if you want to pop to the pub after partaking in any of the above, that’s absolutely fine. As long as you remember the following: ‘not too much, not too little, just right’.

Lagom is about long-term fun: saving up those pennies for a house, getting fit and healthy, appreciating the smaller things in life without having huge extravagances. So although you might be tempted to book a last minute holiday to get some winter sun, just repeat this mantra while spooning healthy mush post-bike ride into your mouth: ‘lagom is long-term fun’, ‘lagom is long-term fun’. Failing that, remember you’ve got to pay for a house/wedding/holiday/tax bill/child this year.

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That rollercoaster is called The Baby, and sweet Phoebe arrived safely in March. And, as with any new baby, has created carnage and joy in equal measures!

Money was high on my agenda early on in my pregnancy. How will we manage financially? What is my maternity pay? Babies are expensive right? You’re pretty much halving your household income, and as we all know, maternity income can be meagre to say the least.

Here’s my round up of how I financially planned for the baby, and some things you might want to consider if you’re expecting:

1. Maternity pay. Find out what your maternity pay is. Maternity pay can be a bit of a
minefield, and it will vary from company to company, so get to grips with yours. No matter where you work, you’ll be entitled to up to 52 weeks Maternity Leave, 39 of which will be paid. If you are self-employed you may qualify for ‘Maternity Allowance’, and if you are unemployed you should receive government benefits and support.

2. Bank your holiday. If you are employed, save as much of your holiday allowance as you can. You can then bolt this onto the start of your maternity leave. I saved 21 days of my holiday allowance, which meant I gained nearly an extra month maternity leave.

3. Save, save, save. Put aside as much money as you can every month. I also checked savings accounts with my bank, and opened a new account with a slightly higher interest rate.

4. Deal with your debt. You don’t want debt repayments to be eating into your maternity pay, so pay off what you can or consolidate to a 0% credit card. I cleared as much of my debt as I could, and the remainder is on a 0% interest balance transfer card for 18 months.

5. Sacrifice your social life (it’s easy, trust me). I gave up things like my annual holiday and hen weekends, which – to be honest – are not the same when you can’t drink. You’ll also save money simply because your social life is a boring husk of what it was – no one invites you out to do stuff, and you feel too crap to do anything anyway. Weekends out? After work dinners? Cocktails? GONE. It may be depressing, but you can feel smug about how much money you are saving.

6. Go easy on the baby stuff. This is a separate blog in itself, but try not to go nuts on buying things. Family and friends will want to buy things for the baby, so graciously accept the offer– there is so much you will need to buy if this is your first, so the costs will mount up.

3 months into maternity leave, I am beginning to accept the financial implications of a having a baby, and adapting to living on way less money than I am used to. Watch this space for more blogs on how we’re financially managing and saving.

The post Oh hey little one! Financially planning for a baby appeared first on Mouthy Money.

Promote

This is a tricky one. I’ve heard it said many times that lots of views and no sales actually hurts your Etsy ranking. However, one of the first tricks to a successful shop (be it Etsy, or otherwise) is being found. SEO (or ‘Search Engine Optimisation’) is something that must constantly be worked on if you are to have a successful e-commerce business. While, yes, Etsy does have a lot of traffic compared to its competitors, it also has a lot more sellers and so it’s easy to get lost in a big forest.

Additionally, it helps to give your shop the occasional shout-out on social media, if you do not already have specific accounts dedicated to your business already. I’ve also been trying to break into Pinterest – my pins (one in particular, it seems) get a fair amount of repins, but converting those into sales (and money!) is a different battle altogether. Still, it’s a work in progress!

Pricing

Pricing is another difficult thing to get right. Too low and you don’t make enough money (when it comes to handmade, it’s incredibly easy to not even pay yourself the legal minimum wage), too high and you risk putting customers off. However, there are other factors at play here, which mean that under pricing yourself could mean putting a bullet in your foot, as many customers associate higher price with higher value and quality.

Here’s a handy blog that the Design Trust have created on the pricing problem – and they have many more on their website, too!

Patience

Some people get lucky (some very lucky). But, for most of us, success does not happen over night. It can take many, many hours of experimentation and work before you even get a taste of the fruits of your labour. As Theodore Roosevelt said: ‘Nothing worth having comes easy.’

With some hard work, I’m hoping to meet another milestone soon!

The post Things I’ve learned from selling on Etsy appeared first on Mouthy Money.

Talk about your set backs

I mean it. We don’t do this enough – as brilliant writer Hannah Khalil explains in more detail here. If we all talked about our set backs as much as we do our successes, things would feel more achievable even in the difficult times. I have never hidden the fact that I got the idea to start my theatre company during a bleak period in my life, when I was unemployed, had just split up with someone, and was living in a tiny, mouldy room. This actually seems to inspire people.

Do not take a set back personally

I recently felt very let down as three people I was really looking forward to working with became unavailable within the same week. It was a stressful time trying to recruit last minute replacements alongside working full time and trying to have weekends away from work! But we did it, and I look forward to working with those three people when they are available in the future, and working with the new people. Their reasons for leaving the project ranged from holiday dates, to family issues, to career betterment, i.e. nothing to take personally at all.

Be patient

Sometimes, things do not align at the time we want them to, but then better things come along and are made all the more worthwhile because of the amount of effort put in over a length of time. We applied three times over an entire year for Arts Council Funding for our first full touring production and it was so disappointing having to cancel on theatres that wanted and believed in our show. But it was third time lucky for us and, in that extra time, the play has been published by Methuen Drama!

Reach out mid set back, if you can

I had three jobs cancelled earlier this year and went from two films and a commercial that would have paid my way for the next six months, to zilch. I shamelessly put on Facebook that I was looking for ways to pay the rent and, lo and behold, I now have two part time flexible jobs from kind actor friends who put in a good word at their offices. It goes both ways, so if you see someone having a set back, try to help them through the frustrating times that you also recognise and remember.

Do not catastrophise. Energise

The sky will not fall in just because of who won the election, or the referendum, or that part you really wanted to film in Spain for Channel 4. Take stock and work out what you can do to help things go your way next time to get the right leader/result/job. It will happen. Work out why this set back happened and look at what you can do to change things. What can you do to make this situation more bearable, even if it’s not at all what you wanted? In the long term, perhaps this set back will help things work out for the better. We can see people mobilising all over the world since the events of last year after all.

The Serenity Prayer

Religious or not, the Serenity Prayer can also be extremely helpful to consider during a set back:

Grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

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When this season begins, there’s a sense of new beginnings akin to New Year. I have rejoined the gym and started waking up early in the mornings, so something is definitely up! Here are my top tips for springing into spring…

Have a clear out of your old clothes  

I’m going to do a exchange with my parents of my winter wardrobe for my summer wear.  Inevitably, when I dust the mildew off those summer outfits, there will be ones that no longer suit/fit, so here are some options: have a clothes swap with friends (always fruitful and cost nothing), donate your clothes to charity, or sell them through a social enterprise market stall (you keep half and they keep half; everyone’s a winner).

Get outside  

Whether you have a garden or not, those sacred green spaces still exist. Jog, cycle, walk, or roller blade. Make the most of the weather while you can!

Tax return

If you’re self-employed or PAYE over that threshold, do your tax return. Do it early while you’re in a good mood, while you’ve not got the January blues, and while you can still remember the last tax year. The HMRC site is less likely to crash, as most people leave it ’til the last minute in January.

Don’t just restrict spring cleaning to housework

What needs fixing? What jobs can you do now that will mean you are free to enjoy the weather? I’ve just bought some new antivirus software for my laptop – that way it won’t break while i’m doing my tax return!

Bring in that spontaneity again

Remember that mad rush, from October to December, where everyone needs to be booked at least five weeks in advance? And that time, from January to March, where everyone stays in because they’re too cold and tired? Those days are gone for the next three months before wedding season, and summer holidays begin. Fancy making plans on the day for lunch in the park or an afternoon in that beer garden? Now you can!

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I was kind of struggling at my old job – not with the work but with the whole thing. Over time, I’d fallen somewhat out of love with training, and every day was getting me down. I was volunteering on a communications project for part of the time, and that became the bit of the job I really enjoyed – the writing, the events and the variety of activities.

A year or so ago, I looked into the types of career where I could utilise my experience in communications. The choices seemed to be a) pack in my job and become a freelance writer, b) copywriting, or c) PR. A year ago, I wasn’t qualified to do any of these things. I knew freelancing wasn’t an option as my partner is self-employed and it would be far too risky. I set up my blog, wrote commissions for blogging sites (like Mouthy Money), and carried on with my communications projects at work. I got the chance to collaborate with some fantastic people, particularly for International Women’s Day. I did some work experience in a PR firm to learn about the day-to-day work, so I could sell my skill better in interviews… which I did, and quickly landed the job I have now.

Monday morning was terrifying. I pulled up outside the office, thinking that my comfort zone seemed a long way away. I took a deep breath, channelled my inner Wonder Woman, and walked through the door. Thankfully, everyone was lovely – very friendly, and more than happy to help when I didn’t understand jargon or specialist terminology. Never has the phrase ‘there are no stupid questions’ been so pertinent to me – you can’t learn new skills without fully understanding the basics!

Changing career has been one of the most terrifying and rewarding experiences of my life, so far. Here are my three top tips for anyone thinking of changing career:

Look at why you want to change career

Make sure you want to change career for the right reasons – why do you want to leave your current position? Is it because you want to progress in your career? Is it because the new role is something you’ve always wanted to do? You may also want to consider whether the problem is the career or the business. If you want to progress and there’s no opportunity in your current office, a sideways move to somewhere else might be a better option than a complete jump into something new.

Get as much experience as possible

When I was younger, I was desperate to be an actor… until I was an actor in Theatre in Education tours, and I realised what a hideous job it actually is!

Do some work experience, talk to people in your desired field, and get as much insider knowledge as you can. It might even be helpful to take a course (such as an Open University or a Future Learn course) to get a good feel for the career. This will also help you hit the ground running should you secure the new role.

Leave your ego at home

If you’re leaving a career that you were quite experienced in, it can feel quite daunting to be the ‘new kid’ again. Remember, your new colleagues want to help, not belittle you. It can be tempting to try and assert yourself as someone who knows it all but allow yourself to be new. Ask questions, ask for help if you don’t understand, and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t pick it up straight away. Be open to new learning and don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself!

Good luck to anyone considering a career change, and to anyone feeling scared or wondering if they should; go for it – it could be the best thing you ever did!

The post My new job: my fresh start appeared first on Mouthy Money.

I started to think about compromise in other parts of my life. It’s not a too dissimilar situation to deciding whether or not to go for a coffee. I’ve written a blog post before about bringing down the amount of money you spend on your coffee fix, so this could feel like a contradiction, but it is more to do with giving yourself time to get work done.

When I first became self-employed, I envisioned sitting around with the laptop, possibly in my pyjama bottoms, working at my own pace; leisurely. This is not the reality. Even if family members think it is! With kids at home, distractions around the house, people calling round, taking in parcels for the neighbours, DIY jobs constantly looking at you – working from home isn’t actually that easy. I’ll just make another brew, I’ll just put the washing on, I’ll just, I’ll just, I’ll just! Work becomes the afterthought. It’s difficult to discipline yourself, especially when there are so many videos to be watched on YouTube!

When I first became self-employed, I envisioned sitting around with the laptop, possibly in my pyjama bottoms, working at my own pace; leisurely.

Many self-employed and freelance folk work from the comfort of a coffee house. Though I miss the independent coffee place where I used to live, there have been two chain shops open nearby recently. The hustle and bustle of the place gives you company, having a coffee made for you and actually having to time to drink it is a luxury (how many times can you microwave a cup of tea before it’s just wrong!?), overhearing other people’s half conversations often sparks inspiration.

Of course, you’ll also be able to update your Instagram account with artsy photos of coffee cups and delicious brownies!

The compromise here is weighing up the possibility and probability of cabin fever in your home office, against actually getting stuff done.

Here are a couple of tips if you’re thinking of taking your laptop into a coffee shop to do some work. Make sure they have WiFi. Buy a drink at least every 90 minutes or so. Tip well and be kind to staff. Sit on a small table so you aren’t taking up a lot of space that other customers could use. Don’t be tempted to put your headphones in – you can zone out to music at home, but be in the moment and the environment of the cafe.

The compromise here is weighing up the possibility and probability of cabin fever in your home office, against actually getting stuff done. Sitting by yourself all day, with no conversation, can be counter-productive and hence not actually earn you any money as the work you need to do is still in a pile at the end of the day. Perhaps spending £5 on a couple of coffees and blasting through your to-do list is more beneficial as you actually get the work done? Plus, you never know who you might meet; possibly a new client might strike up a conversation with you, or you might become best friends with one of the baristas. When you can’t work away from home, there is an app called Coffitivity which recreates the noise and ambience of a coffee shop – this can boost your creativity and help you work better.

Putting yourself into a situation where you can meet people, get work done, and be in an environment which helps you work, has got to be beneficial. While you’d be spending a little bit of money, the pay off probably outweighs that cash. That’s the compromise and it’s well worth thinking about.

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I’m getting married. Sound the klaxons! No, seriously, it’s kind of a big deal because when I was 10 I signed a contract to state that I wouldn’t get wed as I didn’t believe in marriage as a constitution. However, I’ve since changed my mind (I’ll be elaborating on this further in another post, betcha can’t wait?), and at the grand old age of 33, I’ll be wed in October this year.

True love isn’t cheap

Never one for letting a romance get in the way of a chat about budgeting, my partner and I turned swiftly from the joy of our partnership to the cost of a wedding. A typical wedding will set you back thousands, and that’s on top of the wads of cash couples will have already spent during their courtship. According to data from Gumtree, Brits will fork out an average of £6,382 from first date to ‘I do.’ So, for most couples, the finances splurged on a potential wedding could arguably be better spent on a deposit for a flat or towards the cost of kids (real or planned). It’s the same for me and my partner – we certainly don’t want to start off married life in debt for the sake of a big old fancy wedding. But equally, we do want the day to be special, have room for our large families, and be an event. It only happens once, right? *Insert cheeky wink.*

Being honest about your budget

With all that in mind, one of the first things my partner and I did after we had come to terms with the momentous decision we’d just made, was talk about our budget. We have always been honest about cashflow. I wrote recently about how my partner helped me get out of debt a couple of years ago. We are lucky in that we already have savings and that both sets of parents have also offered to help. I do not want our wedding to be stressful – we’ve all heard the horror stories, right? Sharing the load emotionally when you go through a big transition with your partner is also something that relationship expert and psychologist, Dr Becky Spelman, advised when she recently worked with Gumtree.

That’s something me and my marginally better half are careful about too and we have now set a budget, done a handy spreadsheet, and divvied up jobs between us. We are also very clear on the aspects of the wedding we don’t want to shell out for, and – lucky for us – we agree on those things. Case in point – decorations. The cost of ready-made decorations and hire of items (such as table cloths) mount up quickly. However, my favourite weddings to attend have been the ones where the couple and their family and friends made decorations or the cake. Not only can you save tonnes, you also give it that all-important personal touch. This is why we plan to make all of our decor – from hand-knitted bunting to lanterns – we’re making or upcycling the lot.

Get creative to get the wedding you want

If you don’t possess natural designer skills (hello, that’s us), it can be overwhelming to think about how you’re going to deck out a large room or a hall for your reception. Luckily for us, we have some members of our respective families who are crafting masters. We’ve been bowled over by the number of people who’ve offered their skills – my advice to all to-be-weds? Accept all offers of help! Also, take ideas from the weddings you’ve been to as well as those pictured on websites such as Pinterest and then purchase those items on sites such as Gumtree, which can be much cheaper than shopping on the high street.

Why I love the internet

My mum’s already been working on wedding lantern prototypes – yes, that is what we’re calling them. They’re made using knitting wool, glue, and balloons. Mum came up with the idea after finding this how-to video online – fascinating, right? Not only is this saving us a tonne of cash, it’s also pretty fun and they’re looking better and better, if I do say so myself. You can buy a load of wool and balloons on Gumtree and other recycle and reuse sites online for not very much at all. Once we’ve made them, we’re going to string them with a long old line of fairy lights. Fairy lights are a wedding staple, obviously, but you can’t be buying them in the shops – buying them online is way cheaper and you’ll have far more access to bundled deals as well as lights used only once from other people’s weddings – look at these beauties! I’ve also got my eye on these lovely lanterns – I’m getting married in a large, rather dark hall and we’ll need some help with lighting!

My friend Suze saved hundreds on her wedding dress last year, too. She told me about a nifty idea she had that really paid off. She’d fallen in love with a particular designer, and tried on her perfect dress in the shop. It looked stunning but there was one rather obvious snag – it cost thousands! Not one to be thwarted, she then found the dress on Gumtree for a fraction of the price by inserting the name of the designer into the search bar. And that, ladies and gents, is why I love the internet.

The post How to get married-stress free and on a budget appeared first on Mouthy Money.

So, last night, I bit the bullet and went to an independent films networking event. I kind of cheated in that I went with a friend (safety in numbers) but figured that was allowed as there was no alcohol or nibbles to hide behind…

These are my top tips for anyone who also hears the word ‘networking event’ and starts to have a mild panic attack:

Be yourself

A fellow actress had brought her two children with her (pram and all, amazing – please let me be like this when I grow up!), and whilst the baby was asleep her nine year old daughter started the networking off with aplomb:

‘Hello, are you an actress and do you work with my mummy?’

‘Hello, I am an actress but I haven’t worked with your mummy yet. What’s your name?’

She introduced herself and proceeded to question me:

‘Do you do lots of films? Do you want to see my game? Would you like a cookie I baked?  I’m too shy to like acting. But I like singing.’

Having my second conversation with this nine year old girl strangely relaxed me, and I think seeing someone so blatantly unafraid to be herself reminded me that I just had to do the same (sans cookies, sadly. What a way to be remembered!).

Don’t go in hard sell – especially if it’s not very ‘you’

I always ask people about themselves first so not to go straight in to talking about current projects. I ask if they know other people at the event (very helpful for when I speak to those people later), what films they recommend seeing, what they thought of the last thing I watched. It’s less cringey than straight out saying ‘I’m looking for work at the moment. Can you hire me?’ Which leads me on to…

Don’t have the whiff of desperation about you

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from teaching and auditioning people, it’s that everyone is exceedingly interesting when you first meet them. Don’t doubt yourself, and never apologise or speak disparagingly about yourself to someone you have just met. Be proud to say what you do, what you’re working on, what you’re passionate about. You never know what that might spark in someone else.

Don’t disregard someone else because of what they do and what you think that means

I did notice a few other actors not talking to me very much once they learnt what I did, and honing in on the directors and producers straight away. I might not be able to directly offer them a job, but I do get asked to recommend people for projects every week and have got a fair few people work already this year. A writer I chatted to also directs. An actor I spoke to also produces in the US. Remember: everyone is connected, people wear different hats, and no job is higher than another in many creative industries.

I was pleasantly surprised, having planned to stay for just 45 minutes, to realise I had been there for nearly three hours. The event flew by and I only left as I had hungry people at home waiting to be cooked for. I think I’ll do this again soon.

The post Networking: make it a breeze (and not tumbleweed) appeared first on Mouthy Money.

I took three old Starbucks cards (which I found in a drawer) into one of their shops the other day and asked how much they had on them. I had over £30 across three cards! Of course, I used some of the cash there and then to get a drink and something to eat, but it got me thinking about the amount of money I used to throw at these huge corporations during my daily grind. I don’t like instant coffee (snob!), and when I used to work in the city, I’d pick up a coffee from Starbucks at least every other day. Occasionally, it was every day, sometimes even twice a day! Whilst it was a way to wake me up on the way to the office, or an excuse to get away from the desk, these drinks were at least £2 each!

Starbucks allow you to take the empty coffee bag into one of their shops and exchange it for a tall latte!

Here, I want to show you how to spend less and still enjoy your java. If you haven’t got one, buy a three-cup cafetiere from Tesco for £5. If you need your coffee on the go, a cafetiere mug is about £10. Whilst you’re there, grab a 227g of Tesco’s ground coffee for £2. If you really need your coffee to be from a brand, supermarkets sell 200g of Costa & Starbucks ground coffee for about £3.50.

Let’s be a little bit posh and use the Starbucks ground coffee for this. It’s useful to note that Starbucks allow you to take the empty bag into one of their coffee shops and exchange it for a tall latte! Extra perks!

For a French press coffee, the experts recommend that you to use 7g of coffee per cup. That’s just over 28 cups in one bag, making your cup of black coffee 12.5p – that;s excluding the price of water, electricity, and the cafetiere (which is an investment purchase that you will continue to use again and again). If you paid for 28 coffees at Starbucks you’d be paying around £56 – that’s grounds for divorce! So, even if you need to purchase a cafetiere for £5, you’re getting 28 cups of coffee for only £8.50. It’s even cheaper if you choose Tesco’s own-brand coffee!

I love indie shops and always try to go to one of them rather than a corporate chain!

Your ‘set up cost’ of £8.50 makes each of the 28 cups of coffee 30p each, which is an absolute bargain especially when compared with coffee shop prices. One bag of coffee provides one cup a day for four weeks – making a giant saving. What could you put that extra money towards?

Of course, I’m not trying to be anti-social or put independent coffee shops out of business – I love indie shops and always try to go to one of them rather than a corporate chain! This is also just based on black coffee – if you love a latte or crave a cappuccino, you’d need to look into the price of those sachets or pods for machines. However, if you want to save money pretty easily, follow these steps and you can still have a tasty black coffee, without paying the expensive prices. Give it a shot! It will also make those coffee shop visits that little bit more special. By the way, you can get a coffee from Wetherspoons for only 99p! Let’s also be thankful we don’t live in Dubai of Hong Kong as they come top of the expensive coffee table!

Jot down how often you grab a coffee from a hipster barista and a total of how much you spend. You’ll be amazed at the amount you could save by making it yourself. Go on, brew can do it!

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