Change Your Life With £1

You can change your life with just £1. Here are five ideas to start you off.

Can £1 actually change your life? By itself one pound is unlikely to have much impact on your overall wealth. In fact, some people may not even bother to stoop to pick up a pound coin if they saw one lying in the street.

It just goes to show how inflation has badly eroded the value of the money in our pockets. I remember a time when a pound was enough to stand a round of drinks in your local. But today, a pound probably won't even let you stand around and watch others drink. For me it highlights the importance of investing every pound at our disposal to ensure that it is put to good use.

That said £1 is not exactly worthless just yet. There are still lots that you can do with a pound, and here are a few things to consider.

You can open a savings account with just £1. Lots of banks will let you start saving with a nominal sum of one pound. These include ICICI Bank's Hi SAVE account, which pays over 5% interest a year, and First Direct, which currently pays 4.75% interest. Additionally, once you appreciate the miracle of compounding, you may not be able to stop yourself from saving more.

Fans of online auctions may care to bid for a Haynes car manual. There are hundreds of manuals available on eBay, and I counted no less than 150 that cost less than a quid. As I see it, fixing minor faults on your run-around can cost hundreds of pounds if you went to a garage, but you can significantly slash your motoring bills if you can carry out some basic repairs yourself.

You can buy a Lottery ticket with just one pound. Mind you, the chance of scooping the top prize is an abysmal 14 million to one. However, the probabilities of snaffling one of the smaller prizes are considerably better. You have a one in 57 chance of matching three numbers, which entitles you to a £10 payout. But even if you don't win anything, you can rest assured that some of your money will be going to good causes.

If you have a garden shed, chances are you leave it unlocked most of the time. But for less than £1 you can buy a brass padlock that will keep your possessions safe. According to a recent report from Cornhill Direct, the average contents of a garden shed are worth £2,000, yet millions of people don't even bother with the most basic security for their outhouse.

Finally, a favourite of mine. Why not pop down to your local pound shop and pick up a Frisbee this summer? It's a great way to spend you time in the sun and get some exercise in the process. It's also a cheap way to entertain children when you are picnicking in the park. What's more, if you run out of crockery, you can always wash out your Frisbee, turn it over and use it as another plastic plate!