Our top tips for funding your new-year dreams.
If you find it hard to get a good balance between saving and spending, then fear not! Make a new year’s resolution to follow these four simple saving tips, and you’ll have a nice pot of money in no time.
1. Know your budget
To become a brilliant saver, you have to know your budget. This means knowing how much money you've got coming in and going out, so you know how much you can put aside.
There are many free budget planners online that can make this task easier. Here’s one you can try from the Money Advice Service.
Before you start working out your budget, you’ll need to:
- Understand what you typically spend each month. (A good way is to keep all your receipts, and write down what you’ve spent each day for a month.
- Gather together all your bills from the past year.
- Check your credit union or bank transactions for the last year to find out what you spent on one off occasions - like Christmas and holidays.
Once you’ve entered all the information into the planner, it will work out how much money you should have to spare. You can decide how much of this you want to put in to your savings.
2 . Sort our your savings accounts
If you’re saving for more than one thing, it makes sense separate your savings into different accounts:
- Emergency savings should go in an account with easy access, like our Easy Saver account.
- Our Christmas Saver is perfect for preparing for festive spending well in advance.
If you have £1000 or more already saved, consider transferring it to our Cash ISA, where you can earn interest at a competitive rate.
3. Make payments automatic
Set up standing orders into your savings accounts, so that straight after you receive your pay or benefits, the same amount of money automatically gets saved. Not only will this give you a hassle-free way to build up your savings, you’ll also be less tempted to spend what you’re meant to be putting aside.
If you work for one of our Employer Partners, we can set up payroll deduction, so that money automatically goes into your savings direct from your pay.4. Cut down on costsIf you spend less, you can save more. A great way to do this is to avoid wasting energy, water and food:
- The Energy Saving Trust offers great advice for lowering your energy bills. Check out their ‘quick wins’.
- Visit Save Water Save Money to find out if you’re eligible for a free water-saving pack.
- The average UK household throws away around £470 worth of food each year. Visit the Love Food Hate Waste website for fantastic food-saving ideas that will also save you cash.
With a bit of thought and planning, healthy saving habits can become easy. Start saving now, and you’ll reap the rewards later in 2016!
