Top 6 money-saving tips to help you plan for the future
Contents
- Reduce your bills
- Consolidate your debts
- Contribute to an ISA
- Get into the savings habit
- Revisit all your direct debits
- Start a side hustle
As the cost of living continues to rise, we all need to get better at managing our finances. To help you plan for the future, we’ve put together six money-saving tips that will help you keep your financial affairs in order this year.
Reduce your bills
With the rise in the cost of energy prices this year, it’s more important than ever to look for ways to reduce your bills. One way is to limit your energy consumption, ensuring you keep good habits, such as turning the heating off when it’s not in use and washing your clothes on a cold cycle. You could also consider your broadband and cable TV bills and potentially reduce both.
Getting out of expensive phone contracts is another great option, opting instead for a sim-only deal on a cheaper handset. Although they might seem like small steps, they all add up and will help to reduce your bills in the long run.
Consolidate your debts
When you’re planning for the future, getting your debts under control is a great place to start. If you have multiple debts to different lenders, a personal loan for debt consolidation might be a good option for you. Debt consolidation enables you to bring all of your debts into one place and can save you money and stress every month.
Provided you shop around and do your sums, a personal loan for debt consolidation could work in your favour. This recent article covers when a loan for debt consolidation is the right idea and is a good place to begin your research.
Contribute to an ISA
In the UK, everyone has a tax-free ISA allowance of £20,000. Whether you open a cash or stocks and shares ISA, they can be an excellent way of earning interest on the money that you put away each month.
Stocks and shares ISAs are tied to the stock market and can go up and down depending on how the market is performing, while cash ISAs often come with a fixed rate of interest. No matter what you’re saving for in the future, contributing to an ISA is an excellent way to start building your wealth and is a top money-saving tip.
Get into the savings habit
In addition to contributing to an ISA, it’s helpful to get into the habit of saving money every month. Whether you start with £10, £100, or £1,000, transferring the agreed amount of money every month to a savings account is an important first step.
It makes sense to set yearly savings goals before breaking your payments down into weekly or monthly contributions. You can then use your savings to pay for a holiday, car or even plan for your future.
Revisit all your direct debits
Did you know that during a single lifetime, the average British person wastes more than £30,000 on monthly direct debits they don’t even use? This is a scary thought. But given the number of direct debits that some of us have, it’s no surprise that some slip through the gaps and go unaccounted for.
Whether it’s a well-meaning charitable donation or a TV subscription you forgot you signed up for, it’s time to revisit and assess all of your direct debits. Go through your bank statement and make a list of all direct debits that leave your account every month. If you don’t know what they are, cancel them. You will be amazed at how much money you can save.
Start a side hustle
The gig economy has exploded in popularity in recent times, with as many as one in six UK adults working a gig at least once a week.
Whether you start an eBay store, launch a blog, or offer your services as a dog walker, you can earn good money from the gig economy, which you can then use to supplement your earnings or put away as savings. Some people even grow their side hustles into full-time jobs, so it can be a great way to do something that you truly love for a living.
We hope these money saving tips have helped you start thinking differently about your finances. If you’re keen to reorganise your debts and like the idea of a personal loan for debt consolidation, use our loan calculator today to see how much you could potentially borrow. 24.9% APR Representative.
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