Content Marketing

With the world’s biggest shopping event approaching, many shoppers are starting to consider what to buy on Black Friday weekend. However, if your goal is to save money, it may be just important to think about what you shouldn’t be buying in the sales.

To help you to save your money and shop safely this weekend, here’s how to avoid Black Friday scams.

[top_pitch]

‘Tis the season for Black Friday scams

While there are plenty of excellent deals available on Black Friday, the event is also extremely popular with scammers. Last year, £15.4 million was lost to scammers over the Christmas period. According to Action Fraud, the majority of this cash was lost to deals that were simply too good to be true.

Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are hectic events. Stock can sell out within seconds and the fear of missing out on great deals can lead … Read more

With prices soaring as the end of the year approaches, we’re all looking for ways to cut down our expenses. And the food shop is a great place to start, especially as we gear up for the holidays.

As the penny-pinching folks at NetVoucherCodes.co.uk point out, reducing how much you spend doesn’t mean you’ll go hungry. It just means shopping smarter, shopping around and only buying what you actually need.

Here are their tips for keeping your food costs down.

[top_pitch] 

1. Shop with a list

Don’t just walk into the supermarket and start putting things into your trolley. This is especially dangerous if you’re going food shopping when you’re hungry – you’ll end up with a pile of snacks and things you don’t need.

Instead, write down a list of essentials before you leave home. Even better, plan meals before you go food shopping. If you already know you’ll … Read more

If I had a lump sum of £5k to start investing with today, I would buy a basket of my favourite equities.

I like to buy stocks that are both undervalued and high-quality. These investments are few and far between, but there are plenty of different businesses I am attracted to right now. I would acquire these stocks to build a diversified portfolio of equities with my £5,000 allowance. 

Stocks to start investing 

The first corporation I would buy for my starter portfolio is Unilever. I think this is an excellent foundation stock for any portfolio. The company’s own portfolio of billion-pound brands and global reach are both desirable. And as the stock has underperformed the market this year, it currently appears undervalued. 

With these defensive qualities, I hope Unilever will continue to earn returns for my portfolio year after year. That allows me to take more risk in … Read more

Peter Lynch, legendary manager of the Magellan fund in the 1970s and 80s, tells the story of one of his best investments. It was very simple.
 
His wife tried a new pantyhose brand called L’eggs and thought it was great. Lynch did some research and bought shares in the brand owner. L’eggs radically changed the hosiery marketplace and he made a 10-fold return on his investment.
 
He reckons that if ordinary folk like you and I keep one eye out for investment ideas as we go about our daily lives, we’ll see potential winners all around us.
 
Now, with my eyesight, I really need both eyes just to avoid walking into plate-glass doors and so on. But over the years I’ve managed to develop what I think of as a little Peter Lynch, sitting in my peripheral vision, alerting me to possible investment opportunities.

Silky Hotel

Due to a family … Read more

If, like the rest of us, you one day plan to retire, it’s important that you have a strong pension plan in place. Typically, higher incomes come with better pension plans while lower earners are left with smaller pots.

For this reason, many couples wind up relying on the highest earner’s pension for financial support during retirement. Although this may seem like a harmless plan, relying on just one pension can become a big problem in the event of a separation.

While no one likes to plan for the worst, you could prevent yourself and your partner from future financial woes by securing two strong pension pots. Here’s how you can boost your pension and prevent financial heartache.

[top_pitch]

One-third of people rely on their partner’s pension pot

Recent research from Hargreaves Lansdown reveals that one-third of people plan to rely on their partner’s pension for retirement. This group includes … Read more