Side Hustle - October 2015 - Travel club

As you probable have seen (or not) a new link appeared in my websites list. What is it about? It is a travel club that i use to travel around the world, with very good offers and conditions. I like them because they will return you 150% the difference if you find a cheaper alternative in the next 24 hours. And they have a interesting system of balancing the price, meaning that if they find a better alternative, they will send you back the saved money even without you asking for them. Although this option i have it as a member, so you will still need to check if it is available to non members.
The link is here.

Disclaimer: It is a referral link, so i will benefit if you will use it.

Blackrock, Vanguard, cooking from scratch and other travel hacks

I start with the brainy stuff.
I just look at few of the Vanguard and Blackrock funds as some article from monevator.com raised my interest. What was my research and my conclusions?


Fund name      NAV 31/7/2015      12 months yield   Fund charges%    Performance

Vanguard FTSE Developed world
Accumulated     2.23                        1.71%                        0.15                Good
Income              2.02                        1.74%                        0.15                Good

Vanguard Investment Grade Bond
Acc                   0.82                         3.20%                       0.15                  Good

Vanguard Investment Gov Bond
Acc                  1.44                         1.90%                         0.15                 Moderate - Good
Inc                   1.22                         1.92 %                        0.15                Moderate - Good

Vanguard Short Term Grade Bond
Inc                   1.00                          2.06%                        0.15                Moderate

Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe
Inc                   1.62                          2.59%                        0.12               Good

Blackrock Corporate Bond
Acc                 1.22                           3.34%                       0.17                Good

Blackrock UK Equity A
Acc                55.69                            2.86%                     0.52                Good but too big charges

Blackrock UK A
Acc                3.29                              1.80%                        1.67                WTF happen with
Inc                 4.48                              1.77%                        1.67                 all those charges?

I would definitely go for Vanguard 40% (FTSE Europe and Developed World, Bonds and Gov.Bonds) and Blackrock 60% (mostly UK and 100 UK Equity tracker - 0.07 charges and some Corporate Bonds)
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Saving hacks time, what i discovered lately?
1. Cooking from scratch. I just realized that i got enough food for a week, so i decided to just make a kind of meal plan to use everything and just after i finish it to go for shopping. I will tell you later what is the result of my experiment.
2. Travel hack no.1. If you go by train, but not so often to justify a yearly or monthly pass, you can just buy a Network Railcard. The cost is only 30 pounds, is valid for 12 months and you can save 33% from the cost of your trip. Plus you can take up to 4 children and save 60% on child fare. As a result, if you spend more than 100 per year on your train tickets, go to the station and make yourself a service. Network Railcard.
3. Travel hack no.2. If you are not from UK, but you would like a holiday here, or even if you live locally and have the time to travel across the country, National Express is offering a Brit Xplorer pass, and you can have unlimited travel 7 days (for 79 pounds), 14 days (for 139) or 4 weeks (for 219). I was imagining myself going around, choosing 7-8 hours trips just to sleep during my journey, and exploring every little corner on UK. I also heard that is some very cheap alternative for train and boat to go to Ireland, but i didn't look for it.

Wish you a perfect week! I'm out.