How to Beat the Credit Crunch - My Testimony

How to Beat the Credit Crunch came about as a result of becoming one of the 'victims' of the current downturn.

I will spare visitors the sanguine specifics; suitable it to mention that prompt action was required.

Once the initial impact was past I started to devising my way forward. It was not possible to change my temporary job or get more hours/ overtime.

These limits were due to my area, prospects and age.The next area I inspected was our lifestyle.

Whatever my decisions, I had to ensure my disabled wife was unaffected and we would still have an satisfying standard of living.

Here's a boiled down draft of the actions I planned and did carry out:

• Together we inspected and noted down every element of our style of living.
• I worked out what our total annual income would be. From that amount I knew what was available. Then, I deducted 10% for reserves and unexpected payments. The net figure gave me the disposable (or 'available to spend') income for the year. Dividing it by 12 gave the monthly 'spend' figure. Finally, I had an general monthly target (or bar to get under).
• I possessed my grandmother's diaries from the 30's and 40's. I would research them again and again and note down helpful bits of information. I learned how people managed during those days of recession and going without.
• I visited all the comparison web sites for cost figures for all our purchases (food, insurance, etc) and jot the details down.
• As expenditure (or rather the reduction of it) was my main concern I needed to see where the money had been spent. Collating the last twelve months bank statements and bills (food, electricity, car, in fact everything I could find) I prepared a easy spreadsheet. I used these figures to analyse our expenditure over the last year.
• From the analysis and preliminary compiling of the facts and figures I studied the results.
• Then I totalled the data of our 12 months payments and showed just the total figures for each category. By totaling the comparison costs I collected from the internet web sites gave me an authentic cost compared with current cost.
• By heading up twelve columns each with a month of the year. I could now make a cash flow for the year highlighting the variations month by month (more expensive electric bills in the winter, cheaper vegetables in the summer months, etc). The data showed excesses and surpluses each month compared with the monthly average figure I had worked out earlier. Those months that showed a surfeit of available cash would be reserved for those periods when payments was greater. In other words, I now had a working cash flow for the year that I could adhere to to (and would have to follow).
• Next, to process our survival ground plan still further by using the research from my grandmother's notebooks. The ideas were used to plan our buying strategy. An example: buy cheaper cuts of meat. These usually require longer slow cooking and are very delicious. No need to be worried about the extra cost of fuel for the longer roasting. The key is buy a economical slow cooker. In this way, the savings would go towards a treat (visit to the theatre, whatever). Therefore, we would and could still eat well and have a style of living. (There are many more refinements, means of reducing needless costs, etc which are explained more thoroughly in the book).

This plan suceeded and was my survival guide to the credit crunch.

I used my experiences to write the 'How to Beat the Credit Crunch' book in deeper detail than shown above and to share the tips with other people (so they can also have a 'strategy' to be guided by in their own lives).

Many friends have used my 'How to Beat the Credit Crunch' book and informed me me it works for couples, singles and large families - in fact, everyone can use it.

Why not click 'How to Beat the Credit Crunch' and take a look at it in greater detail.

Thank you and good luck for the future

Richard Field