Ciao! Here’s why we needed protection for our money. And you for yours.
About The Money Godfather
It’s all because of the terrible 2022.
The year started off so well. Thing were looking up after the pandemic. Though there were rumblings about an invasion.
Then it all went belly-up very quickly.
The military manoeuvres turned into an invasion and soon a full-scale war. That knocked the world’s economies, and energy prices started rising. At the same time here in the UK Boris got knocked off his perch, his party was over.
Up stepped Liz. Her first job (after bodging a simple curtsy) was to deal with the rocketing energy prices. The plan was to cap everyone’s energy prices, at record high levels. And cut taxes for those who could afford the price rises, and not for those who could not. Energy and food prices shot up, with inflation in double figures. Then the markets reacted and mortgage interest rates took off as well. Heaven forbid if your fixed rate deal ended or you applied for a new mortgage.
Reluctantly Liz stepped aside (or was she pushed?) for Jeremy to stabilise the ship and Rishi stop it from sinking. Maybe. By then the average household was running out of money month after month. One can only cut back so much. Asking for a wage or salary increase did not help either. The stand-off between the striking union members and the government spilled over into 2023, with no end in sight.
So, the cost-of-living crisis of 2022 served as a big wake-up call for our household, as it did for everyone else. The shock of massive increases in energy costs, food prices and general expenses had us turning over every penny we spent. Then our fixed rate gas and electricity deal came to an end and our variable mortgage interest rates also shot through the roof. Any ideas of getting fair salary and wage increases faded rapidly. Cash flow went negative.
The squeeze was on…
Like most UK consumers, we urgently had to ensure our cash flow would cover our debt repayments and day-to-day expenses and taxes. We started looking for new ways to add income while we economised, cancelled and cut back wherever we could.
We managed to quickly cut our costs by hundreds of pounds and soon we were back in the black. Thankfully. And we continue to look at more ways to reduce expenditure and also get more money coming in.
Out of this The Money Godfather was born.
We tracked what we did and started noting the useful hints, tips, deals, offers and hacks that would either save us money or make more money. It worked for us, and there is so much more to learn. It led us down the path of reviewing all aspects of our finances. Every extra pound saved or earned puts us closer to financial freedom, while making living that little bit easier. We decided to record and share here all the new and useful information we came across.
These ideas provide the protection we never thought we needed. We hope this may help and protect your fortunes as well.
Buona fortuna!