Let’s cut to the chase. Now is the time to start a saving plan. So many of us only start putting things into action when something goes wrong. Once the issue has taken place or life changing event has happened. How about we get our finances in tip top shape right now and start a saving plan?
Put It On Record
One of the first things to do is to record every spend that you make. When you’ve figured out how much you spend every month, you need to split it into categories. One for utilities, one for food, another for your rent or mortgage payments. When you have everything written out it’s so much easier to figure out what is going on. This way you’ll be able to know how much you spend every month, find ways to cut back and know what you have to work with.
Budget, Budget, Budget
You need to become best friends with this word budget. Sticking to a budget when you spend money. Making a budget so you can afford to start filtering money away into savings. If you’re self employed, you also need to budget for that tax return at the end of the business year. if you If you spend more money than you have budgeted for, across any category of area where you spend cash, that will have to come from somewhere else in order to balance your books.
Learn how to save money with these top blogs from Thrifty Londoner.
Slash Your Spending
Mentioned above, when you start recording things, you can find those areas where you shell out cash and get very little back. Your money has to work for you. If you forgot you’re spending £50 a month on a gym membership you no longer use, get rid of it. Shift down your supermarket or simply buy a cheaper brand. You won’t notice the difference n taste but you’ll really notice the difference on your receipt! Find some ways to slash your spending which will help your saving plan.
Get Your Priorities Right
In order to shift your mindset into the savings game, you need to get your priorities right. You have food in the house, so you don’t need a takeaway. Do you need to go to the pub four nights a week? Wouldn’t one or two be sufficient? I’m not saying to sit indoors and be bored all day and night, just cut back on spends and you’ll be able to divert what you don’t spend, towards your savings.
Got Automatic
So many of us struggle saving because we have to put the effort in. There are simple tools out thee which can help you set up automatic payments from your current account into your savings. This will help you realise just how hard you can make your saving plan work for you. If you receive your monthly salary on the same date every month, set up an automatic transfer to move a chunk into your savings the day after. That way it’s done and dusted. You don’t need to log in and do anything and you know how much you’ve got to play with for the month ahead..
Set Goals & Watch Your Savings Grow
The final part of your saving plan is to set yourself some goals. Consider both short term and long term goals. That way you don’t feel downhearted. A short term goal could be money for a new outfit for that wedding you’ve been invited to next year. That’s achievable soon and you’ll feel like you’ve done some good with your savings. A long term goal could be planning or retirement. If this is years away, you don’t want to start resenting that money moving across and you not seeing anything for it. Short term and long term goals work well together and you’ll soon see those savings grow.