Now I don’t know about you, but with the new year approaching I want to take it back to basics when it comes to money management. I’ve had the luxury of earning way more than expected this year, while also having my outgoings dramatically drop due to the pandemic. But that’s going to change soon. So here are my 7 basic money saving tips.
MAKE A BUDGET
I know it’s obvious, but you need a budget. If you don’t know how much is coming in every month and how much is going out, then you’ll struggle to be able to manage your money and manage it well. A budget helps you see and gaps you can plug. For instance, do you have a gym membership that you pay for but never use. Do you need to buy lunch 3 times a week. you get the idea. Here’s how I budget to give you some inspiration.
WORK OUT HOW TO PAY OFF YOUR DEBT
Having a little debt isn’t a big issue. It’s only an issue if you can’t afford to pay it back, or if you’re only paying the minimum amounts. Having a budget helps you work out how much you can afford to put towards your debt. I personally use online banking and have my payment details saved so I can easily make a payment before the direct debit if needed. If you’re not sure the best way to pay off debt, then the snowball method might be a great one for you to try.
BUILD AN EMERGENCY FUND
An emergency fund is exactly what it sounds like. A fund you can access in emergencies. I can’t stress how important this is. And would really recommend you build an emergency fund while also paying debt (if you’re in that situation). If your boiler broke, or you car needed fixing you can use the money in your emergency fund to cover the bill. If you don’t have one, you run the risk of having to rely on credit to cover the cost. And if you’re already in debt, you’re just adding to it.
MEAL PLAN
This is probably the one I struggle with the most, but planning your meals is a great way to manage your money. Especially if you also do your food shopping online. I find I can spend so much more on a food for a week when it’s not planned and I’m just going into the supermarkets for ‘inspiration’. That inspiration leads to more money in their pocket and probably more food waste in my fridge.
LOYALTY DOESN’T ALWAYS PAY
Loyalty doesn’t always pay, especially when it comes to household bills. Make sure you have a list of when your bills or insurances are up for renewal and see if you can shop around for a better deal. But don’t just do it for insurances or broadband. Loyalty with your bank doesn’t really pay either. So if another bank is offering you £125 to switch your current account, then do it. The switching service is incredibly easy and as long as you’ve not been a customer before, you can get yourself some free money.
BUT SOMETIMES LOYALTY DOES PAY
So while household bills or insurance companies don’t reward loyalty. Places like Boots or Tesco do, if you use their reward cards. I can easily rack up over £50 worth of Boots points over a year by using their advantage card. And easily more if you have the app and load the offers on before you shop. It’s the same with the Tesco Clubcard. I have over £30 worth of Clubcard points that are worth 3x that amount on certain sites like Hotels.com.
DON’T FORGET YOUR CASHBACK
And finally, don’t forget to use cashback sites for those planned and intended purchases. I have the Top Cashback browser extension installed on my laptop and it makes it so easy. I just shop as normal online, and if there’s a chance for cashback, I’ll get a notification to say cashback is available. And that’s it.
So I know I said these were basic, but those were my 7 basic money saving tips. What are your favourite money saving tips?
Leave a Reply