When you start to save your money, you often have a budget and a goal in mind. So let’s say that you are saving for a mortgage and you want to put away enough for a reasonable deposit – that’s probably the most common example to put forward – you know how to live your life with this amount of money being inaccessible to you. Or if you don’t already then you soon will. But what else do we need to put our hard-earned cash to one side for?
Insurance
Don’t always assume that your insurance will pay out. Most insurance policies have an excess which is to be covered by you – look in your contract and see what this is. Always keep this amount safe and away from any sale temptation that you may have, as you never know when it will be needed. Do not put up the amount of excess on your insurance policy in order to get a cheaper monthly premium; if you can’t afford it at the time you take your cover out, there is little chance that you will be able to afford it when anything goes wrong.
Health appointments
Appointments aren’t really things that you will be making when you need emergency treatment. Visits to the hospital or another health professional when you are in need can be costly, and again you will never know when you may need it – stuff can go wrong with us at any time. Have a look around for services such as your closest emergency dentist and see if they have any plans that you can take out should anything unexpected happen. If not, get saving and again put away for what could happen.
Household goods
You know when you’re stood in the shops paying for your expensive household appliance and they ask if you would like to buy an extended warranty … and you say no? Most of the time it is just a sales tactic to increase profit, but you end up kicking yourself when you realise your machine has broken just outside the timespan of the manufacturer’s warranty. It’s always the way it happens. A good rule of thumb is to take a couple of dollars per appliance per week and stash away – you may find that at the end of the year you have saved up enough to buy a whole new gadget if yours goes kaput, but at least you have the backup there if anything were to go wrong.
Gifts
Birthdays happen every year, so do religious holidays like Christmas and so do anniversaries, weddings, graduations … everything that it is common practice to give a gift at. Budget yourself accordingly so you’re not panicking about how you’re going to afford to eat the next day; when you don’t organise and prepare, you will often end up spending over the odds to compensate for your lack of judgement. Save some pennies by thinking ahead and getting everything in order before the event happens – including your finances!
