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How To Slash Your Bills In One Hour

If you’re looking for ways to save money and make your income go further, you need to take some action. Making some quick and easy changes to your spending could help you free up some money and finally help you reach your savings goals – no more scraping by until your next payday.

Want to know how you could slash your bills in one hour? Take a look at these useful tips.

Photo by Sora Khan on Unsplash

Cut down on your insurance

Cutting down on your insurance premium is one quick and simple way to reduce your outgoings. All it takes is a few minutes to find a new deal. Sometimes, you might not need your insurance to be as comprehensive as it is, especially for an older vehicle. It’s worth taking a look at some specialist quotes for the type of vehicle you have, such as a van or motorbike to help you find the right deal. You can find out more, here. Compare quotes regularly to make sure you’re always getting the best deal!

Switch energy providers

Energy providers all want your business and are therefore likely to offer a competitive deal. If you’ve been with the same provider for a long time, it’s worth seeing if other providers will offer you a better rate on your energy consumption. Many providers will also give you an incentive such as a cash reward or gift vouchers for switching over, so it’s worth trying if you think you could be paying too much each month. Check out some cheap energy deals to help you get started.

Find a cheaper phone contract

A mobile phone can be a major expense, and there are always better deals to be found if you’re smart. Buying the phone outright (or with 0% interest) and getting a sim-only deal could be one way of reducing your phone bill, stopping you from paying over the odds for a phone. This way, you won’t be tied into a 24-month contract either, allowing you to benefit from a new release sooner, while being able to sell your old phone for a worthy sum.

Cut the expenses you don’t need

It’s easy to waste your money each month on things you don’t need. Are you a member of a gin club? Or maybe you have a gym membership that you barely use? Look through your monthly statement and work out if there are some expenses you can simply cut out of your life. It’s fascinating to see how much people spent on Netflix during lockdown, and could be a bit of a wakeup call if you are one of the people who barely used it! 

By taking a little time out of your day, you could easily save some money on your bills and bring your monthly spending down. Simple changes can make a big difference, helping you save £100s more over the course of a year. Set yourself a challenge and see how much you could save in one hour!

Lexus Design Award Finalists

Lexus Design Award Finalists 2019

2019 LEXUS DESIGN AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Lexus Design Award Finalists

First of all, these designs are amazing! So, the finalists for the 2019 Lexus Design Awards have been announced! There’s a total of 6 of them, chosen from over 1,500 entrants. They’ll now get to develop their ideas with the help of Lexus. The Lexus Design Award highlights how inventors address some of the worlds future challenges. Most importantly with innovative and imaginative use of renewable energy sources.

The finalists:

Arenophile, by Rezzan Hasoglu

Arenophile

This project explores new applications for desert sand, a naturally abundant substance that is not widely used. While creating new composite materials by combining sand with non-toxic binding material. Which therefore can be used for new products identified through experimentation and research.

 

 

 

Algorithmic Lace. Lisa Marks

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This is a bra for women who have undergone a mastectomy, crafted in a three-dimensional lace fabric. Which is woven using a new algorithmic patterning method. Furthermore helping avoid discomfort after surgery. While, it can give women confidence about making a new beginning.

 

 

 

Baluto. Jeffrey E. Dela Cruz

Baluto

The project looks to provide a housing strategy suitable for low-lying areas prone to flooding. While, providing habitable space that can withstand a sudden rise in floodwater levels.

 

 

 

 

Green Blast Jet Energy. Dmitriy Balashov

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This amazing design enables collection of the jet blast energy from an aircraft take-off, consequently using it to meet different power needs at airports.

 

 

Hydrus. Shuzhan Yuan

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Hydrus is equipment for emergency treatment of offshore oil spills. While addressing a specific problem, it also encourages people to deal with changes in the earth’s environment.

 

 

 

Solgami.  Prevalent/Ben Berwick

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The Solgami uses origami geometry to bring flat-dwellers closer to the world outside. For example, it can be used for a window blind, this geometry provides privacy. While letting the user choose between letting in more light, or using the blind to generate electricity.

(Lexus)

The Home Straight

The six finalists attended a Lexus-Sponsored 2 day workshop in New York City. It is here where they were given hands on guidance from 4 top class mentors; Jessica Rosenkrantz, Shohei Shigematsu, Sebastian Wrong and Jaime Hayon.

“The finalists’ ideas are very interesting and some are truly breaking boundaries. Through the mentoring workshop, I was also inspired by interacting with a different generation who look at technology for the 21st from a fresh angle.” (Jamie Hayon)

Most importantly, the finalists will get access to their mentors until April’s Milan Design Week. In addition to the help, they will get the chance to continue to develop their ideas. While all the hard work will come to fruition when the winner is announced on 8th April.

(Lexus)

For a more indepth bio of all the finalists please click here!

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Gravity + Rocks = LIGHT

We want to share with you an incredible new gadget from a company called Deciwatt, they’re the 2015 winner of Shell’s Springboard programme and it’s called GravityLight. GravityLight is a gravity powered lamp which uses the earth’s gravitational pull to create light. How? Here’s how:

A bag of rocks is attached to the light via a strap, then as they fall to the earth the strap pulls on some gears which then drives an electric generator which powers a bright LED bulb and the gravitational pull is able to give continuous light for 20minutes. The beauty of this device? It will never run out of battery and the bulb will last a VERY long time. The device is aimed at combatting the energy expense in the developing worlds and as there are no running costs of these lights, the only payment is for the purchase of GravityLight and then it will last for years.

The reason for GravityLight? The ability to provide easy light to those that need it most in places such as Kenya. Following a second successful spell with crowdfunding the GravityLight foundation is now on a 50 Night Tour across 50 Villages in Kenya. What’s really great about this is that people in these villages regularly use a harmful lamp called Kerosene, with the GravityLight it provides safe and clean energy to the people of Kenya.

Watch the video below to see more information regarding GravityLight!

Apple getting greener!

Apple are getting green fingers! According to a Chinese regulatory filing e Cupertino company has invested in four wind turbine Chinese Companies that are owned by Beijing Tiarun New Energy Investment, which is a subsidiary of Goldwind – China’s largest wind – turbine manufacturer. Marking this step as Apple’s largest clean energy scheme to date.

 

These investments will yield A LOT of power, 285MW of clean energy to be exact, and the power generated from these turbines will power Apple’s supply chain manufacturers.

 

While their supply chains are getting greener it’s not just those warehouses and factories like the widely known Foxconn, Apple has been looking to make its offices and stores a lot greener too. In 2015 Apple announced a joint venture with SunPower to build two solar projects, you only have to look at Apple’s brand new campus to highlight how serious Apple are taking this. The main building’s roof is covered in solar panels and 80% of their campus will be green space!

To listen to the guys chatting about this on the show please click here!