5 things you need to do to get your life (and death) in order

Justin has developed a serious phobia about flying over recent years and I think it’s rubbed off on me somewhat. Moreover, it’s good to know that it can easily be overcome with self hypnosis because such anxieties are extremely excessive and irrational. Before I flew to Trinidad earlier this year (without Justin, I went with my dad) we thought it was a good time to finally get around to writing our wills. We’d put off doing it for years… for no reason in particular, just the usual ’round to it’ excuse. However, having just turned 50 – and with a 9-hour transatlantic flight on the horizon, the time seemed expedient.

Many people don’t want to think or talk about mortality and death; they find it gory, pessimistic, embarrassing or morbid. So, when we were approached by SunLife to write an article about funeral plans, we saw it as an opportunity to broach this sometimes uncomfortable subject with our readers. Here are some of the important steps to be taken to get your life (and death) in order.

In case of emergency

We’ve all heard the advice about always wearing clean underwear in case you get run over and need to be taken to hospital. But seriously, what if you do get run over or have some other medical emergency when you’re on your own?

I have a fairly new model iPhone where you can input ‘in case of emergency’ information. If you go to Settings→Emergency SOS you can insert the names & numbers of emergency contact people. You can also type in medical information such as any conditions you may have, medications you’re taking, any allergies, your blood type and whether you’re an organ donor. Even if your phone has a passcode, this information will be accessible if someone taps the emergency button on the home screen.

Justin’s iPhone is an older model that doesn’t have Emergency SOS settings. However, there are a number of apps (most free) on iOS and Android that serve the same purpose.

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Organ donation

From spring 2020, adults in England will need to opt out of organ donation. Prior to that though, you’ll need to register and let those nearest to you know of your wishes. I’ve chosen to be an organ donor. I signed up online and I carry a donor card in my purse. I’ve also told Justin and my parents that I’m registered.

_{Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 ImageCreator}

Power of attorney

Power of attorney is a legal written document given by one person or party to another authorising the latter to make decisions on behalf of and act for the former. There are currently two types that can be issued; ordinary and lasting power of attorney.

Ordinary is sufficient for occasions where you’ll be out of the country or in hospital for extended periods of time during which financial decisions may need to be made in your absence. Lasting will be needed in cases where there is dementia and other ongoing, permanent mental or physical incapacities.

Will

You’re never too young to begin thinking about a will. Actually, that’s not true; you can legally make a will from the age of 18. If you draw one up at this age, there’s nothing stopping you updating it as you get older and your circumstances evolve and change. You want to ensure that your assets and your precious belongings (which includes beloved pets) are looked after and are passed to the people and institutions of your choosing.

There are a few different types of wills; single, mirror wills (for couples), trust wills, living wills. There’s a lot of information available online which will help you decide the best option for you. If you’re over 55, you can get free professional help during Free Wills Month (which is every March) to write or update your will.

Funeral plans

Do your loved ones know whether you want to be buried or cremated? Do they know if you want a church service? What about flowers or a cortège? You can create a document giving your clear instructions and requests about words to be read, music to be played, attire to be worn by you and the attendees and anything else you think is important.

And finally

Inform family members or your planned executor of where you’ve stored all your important documents and information. It’s essential to keep original copies of these together in a secure fire- & waterproof strong box or safe. Also to be included are financial papers such as bank statements, tax returns, ISAs, stocks & shares certificates, house and/or land deeds, birth certificate, adoption papers, marriage/civil partnership certificate, divorce decree absolute/civil partnership final order etc.

Have you done anything yet about life and death plans? Be willing to bring up the topic in conversation and also start preparing for any eventuality!

Organising your financial paperwork

You’ve no doubt heard your parents say, ‘not another bill!’ when the postman makes his morning delivery. At the moment, these documents probably won’t mean much to you if you still live at home, but it’s important to know about the different types of financial paperwork you could come into contact with in the future. If you don’t understand them, you won’t be able to incorporate them into your budget, and this is where money problems arise. So, let’s take a further look…

Understanding different documents

It’s important to know how to read the most important financial documents that you’ll receive. We’ve outlined some of the most common ones you may be sent below:

Utility bills – Utility bills include invoices for the likes of water, gas and electricity. More often than not, you’ll receive a bill at the start of the financial year, which will outline how much you owe for the year ahead. You then have the option to pay the amount upfront or you can separate it into equal monthly payments.
Loan statements – If you’ve taken out a mortgage to buy a home, you’ll need to make monthly payments. You can use a home loan calculator to figure out the sort of payments you could be looking at.
Direct debit statements – You’ll usually only receive one direct debit statement after it’s been set up. A direct debit is a regular payment. For example, you could set up a direct debit for your electricity bill, and thus ‘x’ amount will automatically be taken from your account every month on a particular day. Once you set this up, you’ll sometimes receive a statement outlining this agreement.
Bank statements – Nowadays, most bank statements are accessed online; however, you can choose to have paper statements posted to you. This will show you how much money you have left in the bank, as well as your recent transactions. Most people keep on top of this with online banking as opposed to waiting for a monthly statement. Nevertheless, you may need these statements in the future, if you apply for a mortgage or rental accommodation, for example.
Credit statements – You’ll receive a credit statement every month if you have a credit card or if you use some other type of credit. For example, you may have an account with a catalogue company that you pay off on a monthly basis. Your credit statement will tell you how much you owe, as well as the minimum amount you need to pay off and by when. Let’s say you owe £150, yet the minimum payment is only £5. You’re advised to pay off the full £150 by the date stated; otherwise, you’ll be charged interest on the remaining £145 if you opt for the minimum payment option.
Pay slips – If you’re employed, you’ll receive a payslip. You’ll get this every month, fortnight or week, depending on how often you’re paid. Your payslip will reveal how much you’ve received for that period, and it will also state any deductions. These are usually PAYE tax (income tax) and National Insurance. At the bottom, it will state the ‘net pay’, which is the amount of money you’ll take home.
Agreements – A Letter of Agreement is a document that confirms you’re ready to enter into an agreement with someone or something. For example, if you join a gym, you may have to sign one of these. This will state that you are going to pay ‘x’ amount for gym membership, and it will state how for long you agree to do so. This is where you need to be careful. If the agreement says the membership is 12 months long, without cancellation, it means you have to pay ‘x’ amount each month, for the full 12 months – even if you want to cancel early or can no longer afford it.

Organising your financial paperwork

If your paperwork starts to pile up, you should get yourself organised, otherwise you could end up missing a bill payment or something else important. Split your paperwork up into categories and have a folder for each. Categories can include the likes of: credit cards, contracts, bills due, bank accounts, car, employment, loans, insurance and utilities. Each file needs to have four sections: bills to be paid, to do, file and shred. This will help you to keep on top of everything while also making sure you don’t accidentally get rid of any important documents.

Summary

‘Don’t understand it, bin it’ is the wrong approach! You never know what you could be throwing away, and overdue bills can lead to further charges, which is the last thing you want. Instead, handle every piece of financial paperwork with care and have a filing system in place to keep on top of everything.

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How to reduce your utility bills

When it comes to keeping your home warm, particularly during the colder months, your utility bills can become a real drain on your finances. It can be tricky to keep a budget in place, and save money on your bills without compromising on the quality of your home life.

With the blustery weather outside, we thought we’d pull together this post on how to save money on your utility bills. Our top tips can help you orchestrate a happy home that’s not just cosy and welcoming, but energy efficient too.

Change-up your routine

We all know how easy it is to lose track of how much energy we may be wasting, but one quick-fix is to make energy efficiency a part of your daily routine. For example, get into the habit of switching the lights off in a room as you leave and always avoid leaving devices on standby. As well as this, make sure your dishwasher is stacked and full before turning it on, and set your washing machine to a shorter, cooler cycle. Habits like this may seem small, but the savings soon add up.

Bleed your radiators

When pockets of air get trapped in your radiators, heating up your home can become much more difficult. Trapped air means you need to keep your heating on for much longer to feel the same results. When you bleed your radiator, you release the air that’s trapped inside and heat can travel through the radiators with ease, thus keeping your home warmer. Bleed your radiators to benefit from lower energy bills.

Make the switch to LED bulbs

Traditional halogen bulbs have long been the go-to bulb for home-owners. However, increasingly, people are growing wise to their inefficiency. LED light bulbs use 90% less energy than halogen alternatives, and come in a range of colour temperatures and designs. Investing in LED bulbs for your home can see you reduce your utility bills significantly.

Add foil to the back of your radiators

The heat from radiators often escapes through the back, only to get absorbed by the walls. To avoid this, and make the most of the heat, add foil to the back of your radiators. This will reflect the heat back into the room, giving you more warmth for your money!

Layer up

An old energy saving hack, but still as effective as ever. Instead of turning up your heating at the drop of a hat, add on an extra layer or two or get cuddled up under a blanket. Regularly getting into this habit, as well as encouraging the rest of the household do so too, can help to keep your energy bills under control.

Running an energy efficient home can be a real challenge, particularly when you’ve had a long day out in the cold! However, having to sacrifice luxuries to save on your bills is a long-standing misconception. Small compromises and healthy habits are all you need to keep your utility bills under control.

We hope you’ve found our post useful, and you are keeping warm during the cold weather. What are your energy efficiency hacks? Get in touch and let us know!

The information above was provided by the team at online electrical wholesalers, The Electrical Guys

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How we boost our income

Our web shop and spaces in local antique centres are perhaps the most obvious sources of revenue for our vintage business. However, we also earn part of our livelihood from other online sources. Some methods run into the thousands of pounds per year and others are simply a bit of ‘pin money’. Here’s a run down of the ways in which we boost our income.

Affiliate schemes

There are lots and lots of these schemes available out there. Some that we’re signed up to have been more successful than others. The user dashboard interface on some are much quicker and easier to navigate than others. This can make a lot of difference to the amount of time it take you to register, build links, input and run performance reports.

We have most success with Skimlinks as they have perhaps the largest range of merchants in the categories about which we write e.g. interiors and food. They also cover many of the merchants found on some of the other schemes.

Bear in mind, payment thresholds vary widely from scheme to scheme. Currently, Skimlinks pays out once your earnings reach £7 / $10 / €8. Whereas with the eBay Partner Network the figure is $25, Affiliate Window is £20 and Rakuten Linkshare £50.

You just need to try them all out to see which one works best for you.

Advertising

We get quite a few visitors to our blog who are into décor, gardens, food etc so sometimes we get asked by companies within those niches to host banner ads on our home page in the sidebar.

We also host ads placed via third parties either in our sidebar, within or at the bottom of blog posts or in our comments section. Usually what you do is register via their website, specify the type of content and the size of ads you’re willing to carry, insert some code into your blog template and presto – ads appear! The more traffic your blog receives – and the more people click on the ads – the more revenue you make. Here are the ones with whom we’re signed up.

Surveys

Surveys are just a bit of fun in the evenings when I have one eye on the television. I tend to prefer lots of short surveys or single questions over ones that take 20-30 minutes – but that’s just my personal choice. Again, payment thresholds vary; Opinion Outpost is £2.50, Prolific is £5, Viewsbank is £12.

Smartphone/tablet apps

I’ve downloaded a few to my iPhone which allow you to scan receipts from select high street shops and supermarkets. Depending on the app, you’re given money off, free (usually food or drink) items or entries to win cash prizes. We don’t ever buy anything that we wouldn’t have bought anyway. At the end of the year, we cash-in and treat ourselves to Amazon vouchers, PayPal payments or a few Christmas-y treats with the money earned.

We hope that you find the information and tips useful. A bit of extra income can be useful – and sometimes invaluable to the small business or the self-employed. Do you have any ways in which to earn money online that you’d like to share with us and our readers?

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Category: finance

5 things you need to do to get your life (and death) in order

In case of emergency

Organ donation

Power of attorney

Will

Funeral plans

And finally

Organising your financial paperwork

Understanding different documents

Organising your financial paperwork

Summary

How to reduce your utility bills

Change-up your routine

Bleed your radiators

Make the switch to LED bulbs

Add foil to the back of your radiators

Layer up

How we boost our income

Sponsored posts

Affiliate schemes

Advertising

Surveys

Smartphone/tablet apps