With headlines everywhere about the cost of living soaring to new heights, now is a better time than any to start taking better care of your finances. With a few small changes to your lifestyle, you can save yourself money and have more control over your cash flow. So many of us neglect to check our bank statements and spend frivolously without even thinking about it. But if you want to save and stay organised, it’s best to update these habits. Let’s explore some of the ways that you can sort out your finances in 2022.
Create a Plan
If you’re saving for something in particular, say a mortgage or new car, then you should really have a budget plan in place to help you along. You want to take into account your income and how much you spend on a monthly basis. If you break this down, then you might be shocked at how much you actually have left at the end of each working week. You’ll also need to take into account aspects to do with tax and events you can’t predict. However, there are plenty of resources online to help you to forecast different costs if needed.
Plus, if you’re a business owner, this is particularly important. The more orderly your accounts are, the better. When it comes to generating your Income Statement for the government, you’ll need to ensure each bit of information you give them is correct. If you’re unsure of how to prepare your company’s income statement it makes sense to research this now and have everything in place before you miss the deadline.
Assessing Your Current Outgoings
By going over your current spending and putting your accounts under the microscope, you may be surprised by what you find. Outdated subscriptions you no longer use, incorrect charges, low-interest rates… These are all things you don’t want to see. However, they are easily rectified. Have a session where you go over the past 6 months’ data in your bank account, and decipher any unnecessary payments. Cancel the subscriptions you don’t need, chase up incorrect charges and consider a bank that offers you the best interest rates possible. Be smart with your money.
Make Your Money Grow
Once you’ve organised your main bank account, you should then consider putting some of your money somewhere it can grow. Think savings accounts, ISAs, or other safe investment options. When interest rates are low for banks, it’s not a good idea to have the bulk of your money sitting in there, if the rate of inflation is increasing at a higher percentage than your interest rates, your money is in fact losing value over time. And nobody wants that!
Declutter Your Home
A quick and easy way to give yourself a cash injection, to make the figure in your bank account more appealing, is to look around your home. Do you have a lot of items you don’t want or need? Well, you should consider selling them, as there may be someone out there who can make better use of them. Check out online marketplaces like Facebook or eBay. Your home will be more spacious, and your bank balance more attractive.
With just a few hours of admin, you can transform your finances. It’s definitely worthwhile if you’re wanting to save money and not make wasteful purchases. Start today.