Jackie Gower - Snap happy savings

What on earth did we do before digital and phone cameras?  Spend a whole heap of money on films and processing for starters (not to mention the inevitable surprise blurred pics)!  The great thing about digital cameras however is that they can save you money on so much more than simply developing photos.  These ideas are ingenious and can save you a fortune!

Happy landings.  My son has just gone on a school sports tour overseas and took photos of his luggage prior to take off in case they got lost in transit.  Wish I had been able to do that years ago when it DID happen to me!  He also took a photo of the street map where he was staying so he and his friends didn’t get lost while travelling.  Smart kid!

Remember where those cords go!  We have just moved house and, like many people I am shocking for remembering which cords go where in the back of the TV, DVD player, computer and so on.  Not so this time though – I just took a photo of the back of them all before packing them away!

Help with insurance.  Digital cameras can be useful in many ways when it comes to insurance.  For example a few years ago I was in a bad car accident and was rather miffed when a fellow motorist immediately jumped out and began taking photos.  Turned out he was just trying to help – those photos were a huge help when it came to claiming insurance on my car! It’s also worth photographing any valuable household items and jewellery in case of theft or damage, it can help both with insurance claims and also aid in the recovery of stolen goods.

No paper required.  I use the camera on my phone for all sorts of things which saves me carrying around or losing scraps of paper.  For example, instead of carrying a shopping list, I simply take a photo of it before I leave the house.  When I dropped my son off at a party at night in an unfamiliar area recently, I took a photo of the street signs so I could find him again!  One idea I thought was really ingenious was when I needed to email an important document to the bank the other day but my scanner wasn’t working.  No problem, my friend simply took a photo and emailed it, no scanner or photocopier needed!