Growing savings
Top tip #1 to stretch your salary or allowance
Most people find that food takes up a good chunk of their monthly salary or allowance. Even if you vow to cook at home rather than eating in restaurants, those grocery bills can add up. Here are a few ways to cut back on costs when you shop for food: Try planning the week's meals ahead of time and make a list of the things you'll need before you go shopping. When you’re at the store, only buy what's on your list.
To avoid impulse buys, try shopping when you’re not hungry. Look for items that are on sale. Also compare brands and consider choosing the least expensive one.
Shopping online
How to find the best airfare deals
When looking for low airfares, it helps to use third-party websites that allow you to search for your required dates and compare different airlines. Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia and Cheaptickets are some popular examples of such search engines. By doing a comparison, you can get a pretty good idea of the average going rate.
When you do a search, it's a good idea to look at multiple airports – ticket prices can vary from airport to airport. It also helps to be flexible with your dates. more
Q voice
Last Updated :
07 July 2011
q:voice is an informative and easy-to-read publication that helps students and young adults in Qatar better understand finance and the opportunities that exist in the financial sector. The publication will be issued six times a year and will contain informative and practical advice, such as profiling young people already working in the sector, top tips on financial issues that affect their personal lives and some of the basic principles that support banking and finance.
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In Issue 2 2009
- Growing savings:
How to stretch your salary
- Shopping online
- A beginner’s guide to finance
View the full magazine (PDF)
Feature article
Mutual Funds:How to build your future with $50
Many people want to invest money but have no idea how to go about getting started. Some people brush aside the idea of investing because they believe they don’t have enough money. The truth is, though, that it’s possible to start investing with as little as US$50.
Mutual funds, which are commonly made up of stocks and shares in different companies, are the most common investment vehicle for beginners because they don’t require a lot of money to get started and they help, by definition, minimize risk.
Before we look at mutual funds, let’s talk about what a stock/share is. Basically, when a company needs to raise money for its future business activities, it sells shares in itself to the public. When you buy one or more shares in a company, you actually become a part-owner of that company. If the company does really well, then the value of your shares goes up. If the company does poorly, then the value of your shares will drop.
The value of the shares reacts upon the sentiments of investors; more demand raises the value while less demand could pull the value of the shares down. It’s important to know that shares not only increase (as well as decrease) in value because demand for them goes up (as well as down) but they also pay dividends, or a share of the companies’ profits.
Read the full article