Saving Money On Train Fares

The cost of train tickets can at times seem extortionate for what appear to be short journeys.  This is especially so if you travel at peak times and buy your ticket at a train station on your day of travel.  

Thankfully there are ways of significantly reducing the price of train tickets.  What’s required is some forward planning for travel plans, wherever that is possible.

Here are some ways that train ticket prices can be reduced:

Buy Tickets Ahead Of Time

If you can plan your journey ahead of time then you have the opportunity to buy your tickets up front.  This is no different to buying flights really; the sooner you can book your ticket the cheaper it will be.  You can buy tickets ahead of time at train stations or online.

Plan To Use Specific Trains

If you are able to specify exactly which train you plan to use then you are able to benefit greatly compared to a less restrictive ticket.

Buy Tickets Online

There are a number of train ticket websites and each of the UK’s train companies has it’s own site too.  Occasionally it is cheaper than buying equivalent tickets at train stations.  The systems work well and you can have your tickets posted to your home (usually free) or arrange to pick them up at the train station on your day of travel.

Travel Outside Peak Times

If you must travel during peak times then there will be quite a cost associated with that.  You can offset this by buying ahead of time, reducing the price of your ticket compared with just turning up on the day.  Make sure you check the times of your journey as peak times aren’t the same everywhere. 

Season Tickets

For people who know what their forward travel commitments are buying a season ticket for as little as a week or perhaps as long as a year is worth considering.  Just remember that if you have any known periods when you won’t need to travel then you might want to mix and match season ticket durations.

For those occasions when you get no notice at all about having to travel then the ticket price will be high.  Hopefully those situations are few and far between and a little forward planning will save a significant amount of money.

Spend a little time to save a lot of money! 

Debt Reduction Goals for 2011

The start of another year means new challenges and goals for everyone.  As positive as everyone wishes to be if you know you have a mountain of debt hanging around your neck it can be a real downer.  Debt isn’t bad in itself but what needs to be done is break down debts into manageable chunks.  This is exactly what’s needed at the start of 2011.

The thing to do is First decide on which of your debts you want to get rid of (have a look at my post on this) and Second, decide how much you want to pay off by 31^st December 2011.  Then Third, put together your plan for how you are going to go about it. 

Your plan needs to be split down into 12 monthly steps identifying how much you aim to pay back each month.  A combination of reducing outgoings and increasing income will provide you more than you think and faster than you think.

Set SMART Goals

For your goals to be meaningful they need to be challenging so that when you go for it and meet each monthly goal you’ll feel really good about yourself.  To do this make sure your goals (your annual and monthly figures) are S.M.A.R.T.

Specific : your goals will be to save a set amount by doing x, y and z and increase your income by doing a, b and c.

Measureable : your financial goals are only measurable if you put numbers against them – don’t say ‘reduce amount spent on buying coffees’, put numbers against each goal.

Achieveable : make sure your goals are achievable and attainable, not easy ones - give yourself some challenge.

Realistic : ensure your goals are realistic given the time and resources you have and your own personal circumstances.

Timebound : put a date on each goal.  Pretty simple for these goals as you just need to check progress at the end of each month.

Record Your Goals and Measure Progress

All you need to do is write your goals down in a notebook and keep everything updated throughout the year.  By all means create a simple spreadsheet to track progress if that helps. 

As you go through the year it’s OK to update your monthly goals, just make sure you keep them challenging.  Keep thinking about what works best for you in terms of reducing your outgoings and increasing your income.

Spend a little time to save a lot of money!