Sunday 31 August 2014

This has got to be the biggest bramble bush in the world...


The bramble bushes are massive this year. We spotted this monster of a bush today.

The bush measures in at around 70 metres long, 10 metres wide and 8 metres high.  That is a lot of blackberries.

We came across this beast on the edge of Wroughton Airfield near Swindon.


Does anyone know of any larger bramble bushes elsewhere?


Why are there so many blackberries this year?
According to the Daily Telegraph, the wet winter followed by weeks of sunshine has led to an early blackberry crop that is six times larger than last year’s.


5 tips for picking blackberries

  1. Blackberries are in season from late August to October.
  2. To reduce the chances of picking tainted berries avoid busy road verges and routes regularly used by dog walkers.
  3. The juiciest blackberries are those that have grown in direct sunlight.
  4. Pick only ripened, black blackberries as they do not ripen further once picked. 
  5. Make sure that you leave some berries for the birds.

5 tips for storing blackberries

  1. Blackberries do not keep for long so consume within 2 days of picking.
  2. Blackberries should be kept dry prior to use.
  3. Wash by soaking in water just before you intend to use them.
  4. Blackberries can be frozen in freezer bags for later use in baking or jam making.
  5. Alternatively, if you do not want your blackberries to mush together, spread them thinly on a tray and freeze until hard.  You can then remove the hardened berries from the tray and continue to freeze in a suitable container.

Some more blackberry facts
Blackberries are low in sugars, high in antioxidants and packed with vitamin C.  This means that they are very good for you.  Plus they're free!

Happy blackberry picking.


David
www.house-saver.co.uk


Post Update
I spotted this huge area of brambles whilst out for a walk today.  The brambles seem to cover acres of land. This really has been a bumper season for blackberries.  My freezer is now crammed with them.


Wednesday 27 August 2014

Can I quit my day job but maintain my current living standards? PART 3

How owners of a typical suburban house can make money from their home
In PART 1 I explained how the internet is allowing us to exploit the money making power of our homes.

In PART 2 I presented the opportunities that are available to owners of a typical UK terraced house.

This week I will be doing the same for suburban homes.

Whilst space is not at a premium in the suburbs, the extra room available in suburban properties offers excellent opportunities for you to make money from your suburban home.

A recap of our assumptions
I am making the following assumptions.

Full-time workers
I am assuming an average full-time income of £22,100 after Tax  [derived from Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures]

I have also factored in the "cost of going to work". Quidco.com research has found that full-time workers spend on average, £3,157.92 a year to go to work. Subtracting this "cost of going to work" from the average (after Tax) income reduces the typical take-home pay to £18,942.

I have not applied any additional costs to cover childcare.

Part-time workers
I have assumed that part-time workers earn £14,100 a year on average.  After Tax is factored in, this income reduces to around £12,500.

I have applied a "cost of going to work" figure of £1,578.96 to part time workers.  Subtracting this figure from £12,500 gives us a reduced take home pay for part-time workers of £10,921.

The opportunities
I have separated the moneymaking opportunities into "Easy wins" and "Not so easy wins". The easy wins are more straight-forward to implement, whereas the not so easy wins may require some sacrifice or greater effort on your part.

Easy wins

Renting out your spare bedroom
There is less demand for rooms to rent in the suburbs than in town and city centre locations.  However, for a well presented and competitively priced room, you will find a tenant.  An alternative option, if you do not wish to tie up your spare room up for lengthy periods, is to host foreign exchange students.

Rental income from taking in a lodger varies greatly from town to town.  Check out www.house-saver.co.uk for the typical rental values in your area.  For the purpose of this post I have assumed a midpoint annual rental income of around £4,500 after costs.

Note: Under the Government’s Rent a Room scheme, you can earn up to £4,250 through renting a room before having to pay tax.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £4,500

With respect to hosting foreign exchange students, expect to make around £80 per week per student. But keep in mind that the typical arrangement involves you providing both accommodation and meals.

I am assuming that you accommodate two students at a time, for 20 weeks of the year, and that you will earn the typical £80 per week per student.  This will deliver an income of £3,200.  I have reduced the earnings by £750 to take into account expenses.  This reduces the bankable income to £2,450.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £2,450

Renting out your driveway
Whilst there is less scope to rent out a spare parking space than in properties within or close to the centre of town, you can still generate cash from your driveway by alternative means.  Websites such as www.storemates.co.uk enable you to rent out driveways and other outdoor spaces for large items such as boats or caravans.

Expect to generate at least £750 a year for renting out part of your driveway.

INCOME = £750

Rent your shed, your garage or a spare room for storage space
Specialist websites such as www.sharemystorage.com will help you rent out extra space in your home for storage.  Such spaces can include your roof-space, a spare room, a shed or a garage.  The space has to be dry, secure and accessible.

The earning potential of your storage space is based on the size of the space.  Expect to earn around £100 a month (£1,200 a year) from renting out a garage or large shed.    You could earn in excess of £200 a month (£2,400 a year) if you are renting out a large garage.

For the purpose of this blog post, given that most of us do not own a large garage, I am using the lower of the two figures.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £1,200

Reduce your water bills by fitting a water meter
Most of us spend too much on our water bills.  Even larger households can benefit by fitting a water meter. By installing water saving measures such as water butts and water-efficient shower heads, you can greatly reduce your water consumption.

Note: Find out how much your household could actually save at www.ccwater.org.uk

SAVING POTENTIAL = £100

Reduce you Heating Bills
UK homes can be draughty which increases our reliance on central heating to stay warm at home. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) the average household spends £23.20 each week on electricity, gas and other fuels.

Bulking up on your insulation is the best way to make your home less draughty.  This will in turn help you save on your energy bills. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that householders could save £310 a year on energy bills by topping up on their loft insulation and by installing cavity wall insulation.

You may be able to access Government grants to meet the costs of your insulation upgrades.  Check out the Energy Saving Trust website for further information on the Government support available.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £310

Replace your old boiler
According to The Energy Saving Trust, upgrading an old boiler without controls with a new, top of the range, A-rated, condensing boiler could save households living in a semi detached house £305 a year.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £305

Generate your own power
The greater space available in suburban homes offers you a range of options to generate your own energy. This could comprise generating your own heating or generating your own electricity (or both).  Take your pick from:
  • ground source heating (ground source heat pumps)
  • air source heating (air source heat pumps)
  • water source heating (water source heat pumps)
  • solar panels  (Solar PV and Solar Thermal)
  • domestic wind turbines
  • hydroelectric systems
  • wood burning stoves
  • micro combined heat and power
Not sure which technology is best for you?  The excellent Energy Saving Trust website is a great place to start looking for further advice.

The Energy Saving Trust website also provides advice on the Government funding support available to help meet the cost of installing your energy generation installation.

The savings on your energy bills from generating your own electricity and / or heating will depend on a number of variables; including your current energy usage, the age of your property and your existing central heating system.  For the purpose of this post I have applied a conservative estimate of around £300 a year as your potential savings.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £300


Not so easy wins

Sell your car
Sainsbury’s Bank estimates that the average annual cost of owning and running a car is just over £2,200. If you live close to the public transport network you may not need to rely on having your own car to get out and about.

Also, specialist short term car renting sites and car sharing websites have proliferated in recent years.  These sites provide a cost effective route to having access to a car without having the financial burden of owning one.

I have assumed the typical £2,200 annual running cost of owning a car. I have assumed that you will need to pay around £750 a year in additional public transport costs and for the occasional renting of a car.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £1,450

Grow your own Food
Tending an allotment size plot in your garden, with a variety of vegetables, can produce enough crop to save the typical household around £300 a year on their grocery bill.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £300

Renting your home for a photo shoot or TV shoot
If you own a house with unique design features and your property is in an accessible location, you may be able to earn money from your home by hosting a TV crew or photo-shoot.  You can register your home through specialist websites such as www.location25.com.

You can expect to earn £500+ per day per shoot.  This is not a regular income, so I have assumed only four days of photo-shoots a year.  This would deliver earnings of £2,000.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £2,000

Car wrappings
Car wrapping companies such as Money4Space operate by matching up businesses that are seeking to advertise with drivers that are happy to display their ads. Once matched up, the car wrapping company will arrange to apply the ad to your car. You will be paid for each month that you display the ad.

This one is not for everyone!  Most of us don't want to turn our cars into mobile advertising hoardings. Obviously, if you have already sold your car this option will not be available to you.

You can earn around £1500 a year for displaying an ad that covers the whole of your car. Your earnings will reduce to around £900 a year for an ad displayed on the sides of your car.  If you only want the rear screen of your car to be covered, expect your earnings to drop to around £250 for a year's ad campaign.

For the purposed of this post I have included the £900 a year option.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £900

Summary
These money making and money saving options are summarised in the following tables.

'Easy Win' Measures

Income / Savings
Renting out your spare bedroom to a lodger

£4,500

Renting out a driveway

£750
Rent your garage or spare room for storage space rent

£1,200
Reduce your water bills by fitting a water meter

£100
Reduce you Heating Bills

£310
Replace your old boiler

£305
Generate your own power

£300
Total

£7,465


‘Not So Easy Win’ Measures

Income / Savings
Sell your car
£1,450

Grow your own food

£300
Renting your home for a photo shoot or TV shoot

£2,000
Car wrappings (assuming you have not sold your car!)

£900
Total

£4,650


Grand Total

£12,115

The final tally
Implementing all of the above options (but leaving out the £900 income for car wrapping) would generate sources of income and savings worth £11,215.

By using your Tax Free Personal Allowance, and by taking advantages of the Government’s Rent a Room scheme, you would not pay Tax on any of this income (assuming that you have no other sources of income).

Whilst this £11,215 figure falls short of the £18,942 average take-home pay (after tax) of full-time workers, it exceeds the £10,921 average (after tax) take home earnings of part-time workers.  This means that by implementing the majority of the above measures you may be in a position to generate sufficient extra income to enable you to go part-time at work.

Next Time
In PART 4 I will be presenting the money making opportunities for owners of a typical rural house.

David
www.house-saver.co.uk

Tuesday 26 August 2014

The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive explained



Useful upload on YouTube from the Department of Energy & Climate Change that explains the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).



Headline points as follows.



The RHI will pay you a "tariff" per unit of heat generated for the first seven years.

The tariffs are paid per kWh of renewable heat generated based on the following rates (typical annual payouts in brackets):
air source heat pumps 7.3p/kWh (£850)
biomass boilers and biomass pellet stoves with back burner 12.2p/kWh (£2,000)
ground source heat pumps 18.8p/kWh (£850)
water source heat pumps 18.8p/kWh (£850) and
solar thermal (hot water solar panels) 19.2p/kWh (£400)

The above rates will rise annually in line with inflation.




Find out more at:

http://house-saver.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/what-would-happen-if-mr-putin-turned.html



David


Thursday 21 August 2014

Can I quit my day job but maintain my current living standards? PART 2

How owners of a terraced house close to a town centre can make money from their home
Last week I explained how the internet is allowing us to exploit the money making power of our homes.

This week I will be explaining how owners of a typical, centrally located, terraced house can make enough money from their home to go part-time, or even quit their day job completely.

Space is at a premium in the middle of our towns and cities.  It is this space premium that offers excellent opportunities for you to make money from your terraced house.

The approach
I am making the following assumptions.

Full-time workers
I am assuming an average full-time income of £22,100 after Tax  [derived from Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures]

I have also factored in the "cost of going to work". Quidco.com research has found that full-time workers spend on average, £3,157.92 a year to go to work. Subtracting this "cost of going to work" from the average (after Tax) income reduces the typical take-home pay to £18,942.

I have not applied any additional costs to cover childcare.

Part-time workers
I have assumed that part-time workers earn £14,100 a year on average.  After Tax is factored in, this income reduces to around £12,500.

I have applied a "cost of going to work" figure of £1,578.96 to part time workers.  Subtracting this figure from £12,500 gives us a reduced take home pay for part-time workers of £10,921.

The Opportunities
I have separated the moneymaking opportunities into "Easy wins" and "Not so easy wins".  The easy wins are more straight-forward to implement, whereas the not so easy wins may require some sacrifice or greater effort on your part.

Easy wins

Renting out your spare bedroom
Rooms are in demand at town and city centre locations.  I have suggested two routes to renting out a room in your home: taking in a lodger or hosting foreign exchange students.

Taking in a lodger provides a reliable income over a prolonged period, usually for 6 months or more. The alternative of hosting foreign exchange students will not deliver rental income week in week out. However the foreign student option would be more appropriate for those households that do not wish to tie up their spare room up for lengthy periods.

Rental income from taking in a lodger varies greatly from town to town.  Check out www.house-saver.co.uk for the typical rental values in your area.  For the purpose of this blog post I have assumed a midpoint annual rental income of around £4,500 after costs.

Note: Under the Government’s Rent a Room scheme, you can earn up to £4,250 through renting a room before having to pay tax.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £4,500

With respect to hosting foreign exchange students, expect to make around £80 per week per student. But keep in mind that the typical arrangement involves you providing both accommodation and meals.

I am assuming that you accommodate two students at a time, for 20 weeks of the year, and that you will earn the typical £80 per week per student.  This will deliver an income of £3,200.  I have reduced the earnings by £750 to take into account expenses.  This reduces the bankable income to £2,450.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £2,450

Renting out your parking space
Parking spaces are in demand in UK's towns and cities and will fetch a premium in locations within or close to the centre of town.  If you have a parking space that you do not use, why not make the most of your asset and rent it out.

If you are renting out your parking space on a monthly basis expect to earn at least £85 per month.  £85 a month is the equivalent of just over £1,000 a year.  (Your earnings can be much greater in bigger cities, where parking spaces can provide earnings of well over £100 per month).

INCOME = £1,000

Rent your shed or spare room for storage space
Specialist websites such as www.storemates.co.uk and www.sharemystorage.com will help you rent out extra space in your home for storage.  Such spaces can include your roof-space, a spare room, a shed or a garage.  The space has to be dry, secure and accessible.

The earning potential of your storage space is based on the size of the space.  Expect to earn around £100 a month from renting out a garage or large shed (or £1,200 a year).

INCOME POTENTIAL = £1,200

Reduce your water bills by fitting a water meter
Most of us spend too much on our water bills.  The Consumer Council for Water advises that the typical single person household could save up to £100 a year by fitting a water meter.

Note: Find out how much your household could actually save at www.ccwater.org.uk

SAVING POTENTIAL = £100

Reduce you Heating Bills
UK homes can be very draughty which leaves us reaching for the 'on' switch on our central heating. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) the average household spends £23.20 each week on electricity, gas and other fuels.

Bulking up on your insulation is the best way to make your home less draughty.  This will in turn help you save on your energy bills. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that householders could save £310 a year on energy bills by topping up on their loft insulation and by installing cavity wall insulation.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £310

Replace your old boiler
According to The Energy Saving Trust, upgrading an old boiler without controls with a new, top of the range, A-rated, condensing boiler could save households living in a terraced house £250 a year.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £250

Generate your own power
The options for installing energy generating technologies are limited for terraced homes.  However, air source heat pumps are devices that can function effectively in smaller homes.

Air source heat pumps extract the heat from the outside air. Depending on the system, this heat can then be used to heat radiators, heating fans or for certain systems to provide hot water.  They basically work like a fridge but in reverse.

Air source heat pumps are cheap to install compared to other renewable energy systems.  You could get up to £1,300 through the Government's Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme to help with the cost of installing a heat pump.

Expect the heat pump to save you around £150 a year on your heating bills.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £150


Not so easy wins

Sell your car
Sainsbury’s Bank estimates that the average annual cost of owning and running a car is just over £2,200. There is less need to own a car when your home is close to the centre of town. Your centrally located home has the benefit of having local amenities nearby, plus you have easy access to the public transport network.

Specialist short term car renting sites and car sharing websites have proliferated in recent years.  These sites provide a cost effective route to having access to a car without having the financial burden of owning one. Plus, selling your car will free up a parking space that you can then rent out to others.

I have assumed the typical £2,200 annual running cost of owning a car. I have assumed that you will need to pay around £750 a year in additional public transport costs and for the occasional renting of a car.

SAVING POTENTIAL = £1,450

Renting your home for a photo shoot or TV shoot
If you own a house with unique design features and your property is in an accessible location, you may be able to earn money from your home by hosting a TV crew or photo-shoot.  You can register your home through specialist websites such as www.location25.com.

You can expect to earn £500+ per day per shoot.  This is not a regular income, so I have assumed only four days of photo-shoots a year.  This would deliver earnings of £2,000.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £2,000

Rent advertising space on your gable wall
This one is a long shot! But, if you are lucky enough to own a property in a very particular location, you could be on a nice little earner. Advertising companies such as Exterion will pay rents of anywhere between £750 and £2,250 a year to property owners with gable walls facing onto busy routes.

For the purposes of this blog post I have assumed a mid-point income from advertising hoardings of £1,500 a year.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £1,500

Car wrappings
Car wrapping companies such as Money4Space operate by matching up businesses that are seeking to advertise with drivers that are happy to display their ads. Once matched up, the car wrapping company will arrange to apply the ad to your car. You will be paid for each month that you display the ad.

This one is not for everyone!  Most of us don't want to turn our cars into mobile advertising hoardings. Obviously, if you have already sold your car this option will not be available to you.

You can earn around £1500 a year for displaying an ad that covers the whole of your car. Your earnings will reduce to around £900 a year for an ad displayed on the sides of your car.  If you only want the rear screen of your car to be covered, expect your earnings to drop to around £250 for a year's ad campaign.

For the purposed of this blog post I have included the £900 a year option.

INCOME POTENTIAL = £900

Summary
These money making and money saving options are summarised in the following tables.

'Easy Win' Measures

Income / Savings
Renting out your spare bedroom to a lodger

£4,500

Renting out a parking space

£1,000
Rent your garage or spare room for storage space rent

£1,200
Reduce your water bills by fitting a water meter

£100
Reduce you Heating Bills

£310
Replace your old boiler

£250
Generate your own power

£150
Total

£7,510


‘Not So Easy Win’ Measures

Income / Savings
Sell your car
£1,450

Renting your home for a photo shoot or TV shoot

£2,000
Rent advertising space on your gable wall

£1,500
Car wrappings (assuming you have not sold your car!)
£900
Total

£5,850


Grand Total

£13,360

The final tally
Implementing all of the above options (but leaving out the £900 income for car wrapping) would generate sources of income and savings worth £12,460.

By using your Tax Free Personal Allowance, and by taking advantages of the Government’s Rent a Room scheme, you would not pay Tax on any of this income (assuming that you have no other sources of income).

Whilst this £12,460 figure falls short of the £18,942 average take-home pay (after tax) of full-time workers, it easily exceeds the £10,921 average (after tax) take home earnings of part-time workers.  Not bad for a terraced house.

Next Time
In PART 3 I will be presenting the money making opportunities for owners of a typical suburban 3 bed house.

David
www.house-saver.co.uk


Thursday 14 August 2014

Can I quit my day job but maintain my current living standards? PART 1

The Dream of Financial Freedom
Many homeowners are sitting on an asset that is a worth a fortune. Yet we are still financially burdened.

Maybe you would like to take early retirement, or have the ability to go part-time, or it could be that you simply want to quit the rat race.

Or perhaps you enjoy your job and want to carry it on, but would like some extra cash to fund your children through university, or to pay for those long haul holidays that you have always dreamed about.

Or possibly you would want to start your own business from home or pursue a vocation, but need financial security before you make the leap.

Or you could simply be struggling with paying your household bills on your stagnant wages.

Unwilling to compromise
Off course we could tighten our belts a little more.  But most of us do not want to have to live like a monk to get by.

There is the opportunity to take advantage of high house prices and downgrade or move to a cheaper area. But we like our home and have no desire to move.

Another option is equity release.  But this is does not appeal to most of us.

So how can we secure financial freedom without having to live frugally and without having to downgrade?

Having your cake and eating it
In the internet age, owning a home can boost your household finances.  For home owners seeking an additional income the emergence of websites serving the "sharing economy" is becoming a real boon. These specialist websites are allowing us to exploit the money making power of our home.

Over the next 4 weeks the House-Saver Blog will be providing advice on how you can gain greater financial independence.

This week I will be explaining our approach.  In the weeks ahead I will be applying this approach to three typical home owner scenarios:
  • PART 2: a city centre / inner urban 2 bed terrace house
  • PART 3: a suburban 3 bed house
  • PART 4: a rural 3 bed house
For each scenario I will present a range of options.  This will enable you to pick and choose the money making measures that suit your circumstances.  I will also be presenting some rather unusual options for the really brave.

Our Approach
I will be making some highly generalised assumptions.  However, the principles can be applied to almost any situation.  For example, living costs in London are higher than in the rest of the country, but so is the potential income that Londoners can generate from their home.

Cost of going to work assumptions
According to Quidco.com we spend on average, £3,157.92 a year to go to work.  This is broken down as follows:
Fuel, train fare, parking fees £1,932.48
Lunch and snacks £696.48
Tea/coffee/milk £163.20
Birthday/leaving contributions £72.84
Work wardrobe £185.40
Sponsorship for colleagues £25.20
Forgotten or denied expenses £82.32
Total  £3,157.92

The above costs are extraordinarily high and they don't even factor in childcare costs.  According to the Family and Childcare Trust, for a family of two children, the cost for one child in part-time nursery care and one in an after school club is an outrageous £7,549 a year.

Current Income assumptions
The average household income in the UK for full time workers is £28,200. [Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS)]

Tax reduces this figure to around £22,100*.

Taking away the "cost of going to work" figure of £3,157.92 reduces this to £18,942.  This becomes our first target figure.

I have assumed that part-time workers earn £14,100 a year on average.  Once Tax is applied, this income reduces to around £12,500.

I have applied a "cost of going to work" figure of £1,578.96 to part time workers.  Taking this figure away from £12,500 gives us a reduced take home income for part-time workers of £10,921. This becomes our second target figure.

I will aim to present money generating options that match the above target income figures.

*Don't know your take home pay after Tax?  Check out www.icalculator.info

Other assumptions
I will be assuming that there is a spare room (or spare rooms) available in your home, plus other surplus space that you don't need, or that is under-used.

I will be assuming that you are a typical household when it comes to your expenditure on energy and other utilities.

Some of my options will require you to own a car.

Next Week
In PART 2 I will be applying the above assumptions to a typical city centre / inner urban 2 bed terrace house.  I will show how the "average" owner of such a property could go part-time, or even quit your job completely, by generating income from your property.

David
www.house-saver.co.uk