Money Management Tips

We all know we shouldn’t spend more than we earn, we need to manage debts such as mortgages and car finance schemes so we minimise unnecessary interest and we all admit that saving is a good idea. However, in practice many people get a little lost along the way and loose sight of their money management goals. So here are some tips on how to effectively manage your money.

Become your own accountant

Excel comes easier to some people than others, but you don’t need to be a genius to form a basic spreadsheet charting how much you earn each month and what you spend your money on. Break it down into necessary payments, i.e. household bills, mortgage, insurance, food etc and unnecessary payments such as holidays, clothes, activities etc. Keep specific notes on any high priced items. By breaking your spending down by type and necessity you can see where you can make cut backs and where you are doing well.

Set up a savings account

Don’t think there’s no point saving if you only have a few quid to save. Saving starts small; think of your childhood piggy bank. Small and regular savings are just as good as large but infrequent ones. Set up an easy, instant access account. These don’t have any set up fees and you can start saving from just £1, plus you can actually get some quite good rates these days. Santander savings rates on its instant access are currently 3.10% and they can be entirely managed online.

If you are earning over £1000 a month after tax you could qualify for a high-interest current account. You can get up to 5% for the first 12 months, meaning your money works even harder for you. After this time, switch accounts to get another high rate for a further 12 months.

Set yourself achievable goals

Like anything, we always work harder and put more effort into things when we have a goal to focus on. This could be simple, i.e. I want to save £50 per month for the next 12 months, to the more complicated: I want to save 10% of my salary every month, reduce spending on unnecessary items by 5% and earn 3% in interest. Don’t stretch yourself too far. If you slip up one month, recover during the next month. If you have a few good months of hard saving, you can reward yourself the following month.