QDM magazine

ISSUE 01 2023 QM Talks. We Take Care Of The Unexpected WWW.QUIDMARKETLOANS.COM

QM TALKS Intro From tips, tricks, mindfulness and more At QuidMarket, we're are responsible direct lenders based in Nottingham. The aim is to provide advice on how to manage your finances and promote mindfulness - something we feel is essential. Providing educational resources to help our customers make more informed decisions and manage their finances responsibly is key to our ethos of continued customer support.

QM TALKS A Guide To Lowering Your Bills In 2023 With the cost of living continuing to rise in 2023, it can seem like an impossible task to lower your bills and find more money in your budget. But don’t worry—this article is here with a simple guide on how to save money now! We’ll take a look at some practical steps you can take to reduce what you spend and make sure that it doesn’t hurt your wallet too much in the long run. So if you want to find out how to save money now, read on!

Address the Expense You can save money in a number of ways, but it all starts with identifying where your money is going. Track your spending for a month or two to get an idea of where you can cut back 01 Eating out If you eat out frequently, try cooking more meals at home. This can be a cheaper and healthier option. Major supermarkets now offer really good deals for feeding a family for a week for £25 which, can prove really helpful! 02 Shopping If you're a shopaholic, try to curb your spending by only buying what you need. Make a list before you go shopping, and stick to it. We know its tricky, but there are plenty of second hand apps and websites which can help curb the expense!

03 Entertainment Going out to the movies, concerts, or bars can be expensive. Try renting movies, having game nights at home, or going for walks instead. The days are getting lighter thankfully, so sometimes its nice to get out after work if you can! 04 Utilities If your appliances are more than a 6 years old, they’re probably not as energy-efficient as newer models. Energy-efficient appliances use less electricity and water, which means lower utility bills for you. It seems like a big expense but in the longer term it'll be more financially beneficial!

TOP TIPS Strategies for lowering your bills There are a few things you can do to save money on your monthly bills and actually increase the amount of money you have each month. We've looked at a few tips to get the ball rolling, however there is another way, which may sound complicated but it's not! After all your general expenses have gone out, like bills rent/mortgage etc. Find out what your remaining balance is, now we all know you might have sneaky streaming fees come out, so do try to ensure you know when they're coming out too! Then do this calculation: BALANCE / DAYS LEFT TILL PAY DAY = DAILY SPEND That's it! Now you can work out how much you have each day to spend, and also see if you can save!

If you always eat out for lunch, pack a lunch from home instead. There are many IT CAN other ways to save money on everyday expenses – it just takes a little bit of creativity! BE DONE! Another way to reduce your monthly bills is to negotiate with service providers. This The first step to saving money is can be a great way to save money on understanding your spending. Track things like your mobile phone bill, TV bill. where you are spending your money for Don’t be afraid to ask for a lower price – two weeks using a budget or spending you may be surprised at how often you get tracker. This will help you see where you it! can cut back. Finally, make sure you are taking Once you have an idea of where your advantage of all the discounts and money is going, look for ways to reduce incentives that are available to you. Many your expenses. One way to do this is to find companies offer discounts for things like cheaper alternatives for the things you setting up automatic payments or signing spend money on regularly. For example, if up for paperless billing. Do some research you usually buy coffee from a café every and see what kind of deals are out there – morning, try making coffee at home you could save a lot of money each month! instead.

MINDFULNESS Mindfulness is defined as the quality or Practising mindfulness can also help you state of being aware and present in the to savour the good moments and find moment. It is a form of meditation that can contentment in everyday life, which with be practiced anywhere at any time, and the cost of living crisis can be a significant has been shown to provide numerous boost. benefits for mental and physical health. Mindfulness can help us to feel more in Mindfulness can help combat the cost of control when everything feels out of living crisis by reducing stress and anxiety, control. It can help us to find a sense of improving sleep quality, and boosting calm amidst the storm. productivity. OUR LIFE IS SHAPED BY OUR MIND, FOR WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK There are many ways to practise When we are mindful, we are present in mindfulness, including meditation, yoga, the moment and aware of our thoughts Tai Chi and walking in nature. You can also and feelings without judgement. This be mindful in your everyday activities, such allows us to step back from our emotions as eating, drinking, washing or brushing and see the bigger picture. It gives us a your teeth. Just take a few moments to chance to make more deliberate choices focus your attention on the sensations you about how we respond to difficult are experiencing in your body and the situations. breath moving in and out of your lungs. Mindfulness can help us to cope with Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to stress, anxiety and depression. It can boost the present moment, without judgement. our immune system and increase our It is about being aware of your thoughts, resilience. And it can help us to find feelings and surroundings, and accepting meaning and purpose in difficult times. them without trying to change them.

NO PLACE IS EVER A S B A D A S T H E Y T E L L Y O U I T ’ S GOING TO BE. MINDFUL HABITS This can help us to focus on what we need to do in the here and now to take care of I N THE FACE OF ourselves and our finances. FINANCIAL Second, mindfulness can help us to better deal with difficult emotions that come up CHALLENGES around money. When we are mindful of our reactions, we can start to see them more Mindfulness can help us to be more clearly and choose how to respond in a way present in the face of financial challenges that is helpful rather than harmful. and difficult life circumstances. When we are mindful, we can better deal with Finally, mindfulness can help us develop a difficult emotions and situations. We can greater sense of self-compassion. When we are also develop a greater sense of self- able to be kinder and more understanding compassion and understanding. towards ourselves, it becomes easier to make sensible decisions about our finances and We all face financial challenges at some stick to a budget. We may also find that we point in our lives. Whether it’s struggling to are less likely to impulsively spend money make ends meet, dealing with debt, or when we feel down or stressed out. trying to save for a major purchase, money worries can be a big source of stress. Mindfulness can help us to cope with these When it comes to the cost of living crisis, challenges in a few different ways. First, it mindfulness is a necessary tool to help us can allow us to be more present in the cope. The first step is to become aware of the moment and less caught up in our problem. We need to be mindful of our thoughts about the future or the past. spending and our income. If we are not mindful of these things, we can easily find ourselves in a hole that we cannot get out of.