Does your money seem to disappear as quickly as it arrives? You are not alone. Most of us experience this. It seems to be an endless battle between meeting immediate needs and shoring up resources for the future.
Although there is no magic solution to this problem, adopting certain habits will help you grow your savings. Listed below are our top 7 tips to get you started.
1.Set Goals and Make Plans
You won’t build a house without a blueprint, so approach saving the same way. Begin by defining what your financial goals are. It might be to set up an emergency fund, saving for a down payment on a house, or to clear up debt.
Regardless of what goals you set, make sure they are realistic. Then outline a plan to meet your goals. For example, setting aside a certain percentage of your monthly income.
2.Create Budgets and Use Them
Begin by assessing your expenses and income realistically and use the data gathered to create your budgets. Do not forget to account for large annual expenses such as insurance payments and tax bills. However, also plan for the occasional treat.
Budgeting in this way will ensure that you can always keep on top of your money and will always know exactly where every penny is going to.
3. Limit Your Use of Credit Cards
Credit cards are one of many benefits of modern society. But with easy credit, you might find yourself overspending. To avoid this, never charge more to a credit card than you can comfortably pay off at the end of the month.
Alternatively, consider using only debit cards for purchases. Also, consider using a credit card that offers rewards or cash back.
4. Take Advantage of Discounts
No, this doesn’t mean becoming an extreme couponing hoarder. One of the best ways to save more is not to pay any more than you have to and taking advantage of discounts helps with this.
What do you do with all the money you save by purchasing at sale prices? Put them away in your savings account of course! Thankfully most receipts now clearly tell you how much you saved. Round the savings up and pay the difference into your saving accounts.
5. Round-Up Your Purchases
Some banks have current accounts that now have schemes that round up purchases made with a debit card, and then send the extra amount to your savings account.
For instance, if you bought a vanilla latte that costs £3.20, using this scheme, the amount charged to your debit card will come up to £4. The excess sum will then be put into your savings account, which could amount up to an easy £130 (approximately) in a year and by the time you add up your other purchases, you would have saved a tidy sum.
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