Personal finance advice from Kiran Trivedi.

1. Kiran Trivedi Articles 29th
April
Should You Use the Contactless Card?
News has reached the Kiran Trivedi blog that use of the contactless card has reached record levels and
this prompts me to wonder, should we really be using the contactless card, or is it a risk to your
personal finances?
The contactless card is exactly what you think it is – a revolutionary trick of technology which allows
you to pay for goods or services on your card without having to put it into a machine. Instead you hold
the card next to a device. It’s like a scanner at a checkout.
Exceeds £100 million a Month
It’s certainly proving popular with consumers, as The UK Cards Association has announced this week
that spending with the contactless card has exceeded £100 million in one month alone, for the very
first time.
This rising technology was first introduced by High Street mainstay Barclays, but has since rapidly
spread among UK financial institutions. The Bank seems optimistic about the card, as it has said that
it expects spending via this latest financial technology to total over £600 million this year.
This view is certainly one that is shared by Graham Peacop at The UK Cards Association. Peacop
commented to the BBC that: "Whether it's to buy a cup of coffee or pay for a trip on the bus, today's
figures show that consumers are voting with their wallets and find contactless cards a very convenient
way to pay."
Kiran Trivedi on the Pros and Cons of Going Contactless
Despite the popularity there are a number of concerns about this game changing invention. The first
is that it’s so new that it won’t benefit customers in the long run to invest in one. However, as
businesses up and down the country embrace the new technology, this problem should clear itself up.
The larger concern is safety. Banking is precarious enough, and it’s a simple task for any determined
criminal to hack into your bank account. Is this new technology, which is dependent on the sharing of
information through the airwaves, really safe at the moment for consumers to embrace?
So there are a number of problems with the contactless card, Kiran Trivedi readers. However, as I
pointed out earlier, your personal finances are always at risk with banking. That’s why you take steps
to protect yourself.
The New Unemployment Rules: What Do You Need to Know?
With new unemployment rules now in effect, if you’re among the number of unemployed in this
country, you need to take heed of what they’ll mean to you. So that’s why this week on the Kiran
Trivedi blog, I’ve outlined what you need to know about the new unemployment rules.
Unemployment, though unpleasant, is a reality of life for many people in this country. Whilst
unemployment fell to a three year low in February – now sitting at 2.24 million people, there are still
a lot of people out there who currently have no fixed source of income
New Rules for the Long Term Unemployed
People in this position – and a vast swathe of the British population are in it at some point - rely on
benefits, which means that they have to carefully budget in order to handle their personal finances.

2. Most people though aren’t on benefits for long, as they successfully find a job. These new rules do not
apply to them.
For those who have been unemployed in the long term, the rules have changed and if you are in this
position, you need to know about it, as non-compliance can impact your access to benefits, which
would devastate your personal finances.
Under the new rules the long term unemployed – those who have been out of work for over two years
– will now either have to sign on every day, work for nothing or take part in a training programme.
This has been labelled by the government the ‘Help to Work’ scheme, and it is not intended to punish
everyone. There are punishments for those who do not comply. The first offence sees benefits
stripped for four weeks, the second 13 weeks. Estimates suggest that 200,000 people in the UK will
be effected by these new rules.
Kiran Trivedi’s Tips to Gainful Employment
The most obvious way to avoid falling foul of these rules is to find work, and I’ve got a few tips that’ll
help you along the way:
 CV: This is a common mistake jobseekers make. Rigorously check your CV for spelling and
grammar mistakes. Employers receive so many CV’s they just throw out any with mistakes.
 Practice: Interviewing is nerve racking and difficult, and it’s a skill that needs to be perfected
if you ever hope to impress a potential employer. Practise your interviewing technique.
 Online: Most jobs are online these days are advertised online and the options are so myriad,
that if you look on internet job databases, you will find something for your skillset. Universal
Jobmatch is perfect for this!
 Don’t Give Up: You never know when the right opportunity for you is just around the corner.
Kiran Trivedi’s Top Four Lifestyle Money Saving Tips
Have you any idea how much money you waste just living your life? There are so many ways that you
can cut down on the amount of money flowing out of your budget every month, and this week on the
Kiran Trivedi blog, I thought I’d list my top four for all of you out there.
Modern life demands that you budget – you need to in order to get everything paid off every month
- that’s why I always suggest that you look at how much money you have flowing out every month and
look at where you can cut down.
When it’s time to balance the books, people often concentrate on cutting the big tickets items. Whilst
this is effective in shoring up the bank balance, it can be a case of you cutting off your nose to spite
your face. There are a thousand small lifestyle changes you can make that’ll save you big bucks in the
months and years ahead and barely event dent the way you live your life on a day to day basis.
The Top Four Lifestyle Adjustment That’ll Relieve Your Budget
So what are these tips that’ll save you money without forcing you to make major adjustments to the
way you live your life?
1) Get Online: Don’t want to ditch the brand goods? Then why not try making a saving in
supermarket online stores. If you look carefully enough, you can find all you favourite
household items for less. The internet really is a wonderful thing.

3. 2) Public Transport: Do you travel by public transport to work? If you do, you can make a killing
just by switching to monthly passes. These passes are specifically designed to entice people
through the fact that they save you money in the long term. Also, check out money saving
scheme such as the Young Person railcard.
3) A Night on the Tiles: Are you one of those people who is a little loose with the debit card on
a night on, spending cash on something you’ll regret in the morning? Why not try taking more
cash out at the beginning of the night and leaving your card at home instead? This one saves
you money when you hit the High Street too!
4) Embrace Freebies: Find a freebie wherever you can and cling on for all it’s worth. This random
hunt for a free version of your favourite product will save you small amounts of money that
tend to add up in the long run! Promotional offers in city High Streets are a great source of
freebies, FYI!