Are you keeping on top of your finances? Are you checking your bank balance and squirreling away any extra money for rainy days? Are you spending more than you can afford?
Many of us struggle to save due to various reasons -don’t earn enough, a big spender or simply poor budgeting. A lot of us when we get our pay check at the end of the month we do not really sit down and do a proper budgeting for the month ahead. It does not matter how little or big your salary is because poor budgeting normally gets us into loads of financial trouble. Here’s a few tips on how to get organised with your money:
•Always be in the know of what you spend. Check your bank statements every month and keep receipts to see exactly how much you are spending every month. Make time to sit down and face your spending head on.
• You need to know exactly what your income is. This isn’t just salary, it could be money from interest on savings, gifts, money made from selling things, etc. Subtract your monthly expenses from your income to see whether you have a shortfall or money over. This will determine your next steps – reining in or making good use of any extra money.
• If you don’t know how to create a budget, make sure you learn how to create one. If you’re not a spreadsheet kind of person, try apps that help you budget such as Moneydashboard , Mint and Yolt. You can also check your spending and make a monthly or annual budget plan with a budget calculator which you can find on the internet.
• Go digital if you can. Banks and building societies all provide online banking through their websites or apps so there’s no excuse for not staying on top of things. All banks now have put in place support services to guide customers through the nitty gritty of online banking.
