If this sounds of interest to you, then buying frozen food instead of fresh could be the way to go. According to research conducted by Sheffield Hallam University, a basket of frozen goods cost around£15.45 , and the same basket of fresh goods would cost around £23.25. So, if you made the swap, you could find yourself saving as much as a third every week.

With so many families finding it difficult to cover the rising cost of living, I’m sure any savings would be welcome. However, many people will be reluctant to opt for the frozen options over fresh, because of nutritional value. But, research was also released which said that in many cases, there should be no difference in this.

This study was of all the different types of foodstuff, from “value” ranges all the way up to organic and they found that at per 100g, the frozen food was much better value for money. The items that were looked at were things like vegetables, chicken, fish, sausages and pizzas.

If you made the swap, you could save over £400 in a year in cost. Not only this, but it could also reduce a lot of food waste. Recently it was reported that in the UK, we throw away as much as 17% of fresh food, so another good reason to go frozen!

Along with the Olympics, the Queen is set to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Whilst this is certainly something that will boost morale and generate some much needed excitement and enthusiasm across the country, it doesn’t necessarily translate to an improvement in productivity and growth. On the contrary, the extra bank holiday to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee actually means the country’s GDP will be down.

In a similar way that the Royal Wedding affected productivity last year, analysts predict the same will happen when we have an extra bank holiday for the Diamond Jubilee this year. This means for the second quarter of 2012, growth will be down. However, the third quarter will bounce back even stronger, all thanks to the Olympics and the extra income that this will generate – especially through the £700million expected from tourists.

However, something that analysts are hoping is what’s known as the feel good factor. Despite the extra day off affecting growth, some are hoping that the Queen’s Jubilee will help generate a feel good factor and create a surge in consumer spend. Retailers wait with baited breath as to whether an increase in sales will happen.

The UK economy is made up of three sectors, the primary sector (agriculture and mining), the secondary sector (manufacturing) and the tertiary sector, also known as the services sector. This sector makes up 73% of the UK’s GDP and so it’s vital to the economy. It’s quite broad in its spectrum, but it includes consumerism, so the sale of products and services to consumers. In this sense, it is hoped that the excitement surrounding the Queen’s Jubilee will help get people spending and contributing to this large section of the economy.

The current situation for consumers does not look good though. The amount people are earning is shrinking as wages are either slashed or frozen. Considering the rising cost of living, things like food, fuel and bills, people are having less and less disposable income. So, people are spending less, and are often seeking short term financial solutions, just to help get by from month to month.

This has spawned an ideal climate for short term lending solutions, like payday loans, to flourish. Despite media criticism, these are an ideal way to help pay for the essentials or emergencies, provided the applicant pays the money back (including added fees and interest) on time and in full.

So, the UK economy is set for stagnation, or small growth in 2012. Despite the celebrations surrounding the Queens Jubilee, the extra day off will actually affect GDP; whilst retailers are hopeful that the added enthusiasm will spark an interest in spend, the current climate is actually quite unforgiving because disposable income is not as high as it once was – and this is reflected in the popularity of short term loans such as Payday loans.

This has resulted in a series of public spending cuts, and a tightening of belts both for businesses and the general public. The government decided to cut many public bodies, as well as staff and budgets from local councils in an attempt to curb the amount they were spending. Taxes were raised, especially for those on higher incomes, and other taxes and charges have been included as a way of generating extra money into the government’s coffers.

Despite the apparent need, when cuts are quite severe, this can often have a detrimental effect on the growth of the economy. As families have less money to spend, they aren’t inclined to spend as much, and as a result, private sector businesses are harmed in the process. Due to this, many private sector businesses have had to make cuts of their own, further increasing the current level of unemployed people in the country – to the highest it has been in nearly twenty years.

So, for you, the member of the public, what does all of this mean? Well, there’s multiple ways of looking at it. For some workers, they’ve either had to take a pay cut or even a freeze, therefore the amount of money you have to spend on a monthly basis will get reduced. On top of this, getting money from the bank is becoming increasingly difficult. Whether you’re a business looking for some finance, or in need of a personal loan, as a result of the financial crisis, it’ll be difficult to get the funds you need.

This also affects those looking for mortgages as well as credit cards. Banks are more stringent than ever, and credit checks are much more thorough, so if you’ve had a history of bad credit, then it will be extremely difficult to get that little bit of credit that you would need to help you on a monthly basis. In this respect, the need for a quick and easy form of lending was set up. A type of lending that doesn’t look into your past credit rating and only considers your current financial status.

Step forward Payday Loans. This short term lending solution has grown exponentially in the last couple of years, mainly as a result of the need for people to get a little extra cash on a monthly basis. Whether it’s for emergency purposes, or just to help get by, they’re proving to be highly successful. As long as you know you’ll be able to repay the loan (as well as the associated fees and interest) on your next payday, there is no rival to this form of short term lending in the current financial climate.

What would be the best option?

Saving Money

One of the biggest arguments for saving your money is that you are covered should a financial emergency pop up. Also, by doing this, you could try to prevent getting into debt in the future. However, the difficulty with doing this and not paying off your debt, is that the interest on things like credit cards will increase, leaving you paying off more money that you might have done before.

Paying Off Your Debt

Paying off your debts is important as the longer you leave it, the more interest you will pay, so it’s a good idea to get rid of the debts as quickly as possible.

However, if you decide to use the money to pay off your debt, you could leave yourself at risk if a financial emergency appears. If an unexpected expense does pop up, then you might find yourself relying on credit cards to cover the costs, which could make the debt worse.

Why Not Try Both?

I think realistically, it’s important to do both. It’s a good idea to be able to find a good balance between paying off your debts, but trying to set some aside in case of emergencies. So, maybe if for example, you were lucky enough to be given a £500 bonus at work, then it might be worth putting £250 into a savings account

Obviously, this does depend on your circumstances, as most people aren’t lucky enough to have money left over at the end of the month. If your debts are more urgent, like a utility bill and you don’t have any spare case and don’t want to use credit cards, what are your options?

If you have no emergency fund and an unexpected finance does come up, then you might consider a short term loan like a payday loan. It’s possible to apply for anything from as little as £50 to as much as £1250, which you borrow until your next payday. For more information, why not check out our FAQ’s?

This report refers to the households that bring in around £20,000 a year take home (around 5.8 million households). According to the research, the incomes for this group of households will gradually decline then start to level around 2016/2017. Then hopefully, the growth that is expected will come along and then in 2020, these households will go back to the same disposable income they had before the recession came along. However, if this predicted growth doesn’t happen, then incomes could be 8% lower than 2007, which isn’t good news.

Whatever the outcome, it’s still likely that the gap between the lower incomes and the higher incomes will get bigger.

Also, with regards to property, this group of people took around four years to save for a home deposit in 1992 and eight years in 2001. In comparison, these same households will now have to wait around 22 years to be able to get their own home. It also showed that those who are over 35 may never be able to stop renting. The reasons that researchers gave for the increase was that wages aren’t increasing at the same rate as house prices.

Although many people across the UK are looking for some positive news regarding the state of their finances, unfortunately the immediate future isn’t looking too bright. Hopefully we will get some good news about the economy soon.