Susie Italiano

The best money saving strategies to save money fast and build financial resilience

_{Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below and I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post, but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t verified and/or personally used.}

The beginning of the year is the ideal time to reflect on what your money saving strategies are and how to achieve your savings goals. As we face an ongoing recession and cost of living crisis, we should all think about how to save money fast, and save enough money to protect us from economic hardships.

Here are 5 money saving strategies for you to consider to get yourself through this year and build a financially resilient lifestyle.

The five money saving strategies:

• Create a budget
• Save first, spend after
• Automate your savings
• Prioritise repaying debt
• Avoid lifestyle inflation

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Everything you need to know about preparing for your Self Assessment

If you start earning money as a freelancer, there is a specific process to follow to tell the government what your income was, and pay taxes on it.

This post will summarise everything you need to know about your Self Assessment as a self-employed freelancer, and I will share my best advice on how to make the tax return submission as stress-free as possible.

What we’ll cover:

• What is the Self Assessment Tax Return?
• Who needs to submit a Self Assessment?
• How do I register for Self Assessment?
• What are payments on account?
• Self Assessment deadlines and important dates
• What taxes do self-employed people pay?
• What is taxable income?
• What are allowable expenses?
• What if I’ve worked as a freelancer as well as an employee?
• What you should do to keep your financial records as a freelancer

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Tips to avoid impulse buying: how to stop shopping addiction

Have you ever bought something that you don’t need, without it being a planned purchase? That right there is called impulse buying. In this post we’ll go over what impulse buying means, the causes of impulse buying, and how to stop impulse buying behaviour.

What we’ll cover:

• What is impulse buying?
• What motivates impulse buying.
• How to stop impulse buying.

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Frugal wedding planning: tips to plan home weddings on a budget

On the 9th of March 2015, my husband and I got married with less than £2,000 and it was a wonderful day. Having a frugal wedding didn’t take away from the beauty and fulfillment that celebration brought us. I can absolutely guarantee that you don’t need to spend tens of thousands of pounds for a one-day party. Read on to learn some budget wedding ideas you can take inspiration from.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• A few important principles
• Wedding venue hire and licenses
• Wedding dress, rings, and clothes
• Wedding Hair and makeup
• Wedding Photography
• Wedding reception food ideas on a budget
• Other costs
• Grand total
• Final thoughts

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How to increase your credit score immediately: tips to boost your credit score

This post is for everyone who wants to improve their credit score in the UK, or has moved to the UK and is looking for easy ways to improve their credit score fast.

As an immigrant in the UK, I get that it can be hard to know how to build your credit from scratch. Stick with me, my friend, I’ll lay it out for you with the friendliest language I can muster. You’ll see that it’s not as daunting as it may seem.

This is what we’ll cover:

• What is a credit score?
• What is a good credit score?
• How do I check my credit score?
• How do I build or improve my credit score?
• How long does it take to improve my credit score?

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Products to buy that will save money and save the planet

This post is all about products that can help you save money. With an initial one-off purchase, you will save money by just using these instead of their single-use and more expensive counterparts.

I swear by all of these: I have purchased and used all of the products in this list, and as a nice bonus, they also happen to be kind to the environment in the way that they prevent waste and the use of non-recyclable materials.

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