2013-01-28 13:56:00 - Worried about that credit card bill due at the end of the month? Why not take the opportunity to regain control of your spending and learn how to save without sacrificing your lifestyle – and not just save a little, but save a massive five thousand a year, and maybe even more!

Four years ago, faced with his first pay-cut – and realising that it might not be the last – Irishman James O’Donovan decided that he wasn’t going to let austerity grind him and his family down. He decided that he liked his lifestyle, the way he and his family lived, and wanted to continue it. The challenge was doing so on a reducing income.

James explains: “My first step was to identify where my wife Rosaleen and I were spending our money. The next step was to identify possible savings. But I was adamant that these would be savings – not sacrifices”.

HOW TO SAVE 5000: THIS YEAR – AND EVERY YEAR!, as the name suggests, is a book that will

teach you how to keep more of the money you earn, without making any cutbacks, just changing some spending habits.

It IS possible to maintain your current lifestyle, within reason, and spend less money at the same time. This book will teach you ways to spend smarter. By following the techniques, you will change your spending habits and save thousands each year. Better still, each year’s savings carries forward into the next year, so you could save not just thousands but tens of thousands over time!

James targets nine areas of expenditure - housing, utilities, food, children, banking & personal finance, insurance, personal & household, transport and entertainment.

The book suggests simple, practical money-saving tips, based on key principles, including:
• Shop around / do price comparisons
• Think long-term / total cost of use / ownership
• Think of cumulative, not one-off, savings
• Pay only for what you need – needs analysis
• Track your spending / monitor trends and changes
• Tips on mortgage protection and house insurance
• Avoid brands
• Information on buying a car and how to lower running costs
• Plan your shopping / avoid impulse buying
• Learn to DIY – food / cooking gardening, housekeeping, building repairs etc
• Use vouchers / coupons / reward points etc

But just looking for quick savings ignores two key aspects of James’ system – for system it now is:

• His focus on long-term cumulative savings – it’s not about saving €5 here or €10 there – it’s about the cumulative effect of making the savings every year.
• Tracking the savings he makes, watching them build up and monitoring to make sure he keeps on track.

James’ system is now available for anyone to use. He has documented it – complete with What I Did sections, explaining how he put the basic principles to work – in this new book aptly titled: How to Save 5000 – This Year & Every Year: Reduce Your Outgoings Without Reducing Your Lifestyle. In it James looks at nine separate spending areas, offers his advice and then explains what he did to make his €6,741 in annual savings. It’s simple, easy to read and – more important – easy to follow. And there’s a supporting website at www.HowToSave5000.ie. And follow James on Twitter @HowToSave5000.

‘This is a highly practical personal finance self-help book. James O’Donovan writes from his experience of responding to austerity and saving the equivalent of what his family was losing in wage cuts and tax increases – in this case about €6,700 ... While many of the ideas suggested are no more than common sense, the breadth of the areas in which money can be saved is impressive.’ Frank Dillon, Booked, The Irish Times.

‘This practical book full of common sense about saving money by cutting your costs and putting money away, is a must for this year.’
Prudence Magazine

In these straightened times, a copy of James’ book might be just the ticket!

Paperback: $11.99, £7.50, €8.99; ePub: $3.99, £2.39, €2.99; Kindle: $3.99, £2.39, €2.99. Available at www.oaktreepress.com and all good bookshops.