You may think the best way to save for the future is to find the best possible high-interest savings account. You’d be right!
But, having the account is only part of the process, you need to put money into the account regularly in order to save for the future.
Fortunately, this isn’t as difficult as it may seem, you simply need to adopt the following 5 better money habits.
- Create A Budget
You can’t hope to save anything if you don’t know how much money you have to spend or save. A budget simply means noting all your essential expenditure, that’s bills you have to pay. Take this away from the amount of money you have coming in, what’s left is known as disposable income.
Now you know how much you have available to spend and save. Set yourself a weekly spending limit and a fixed savings amount.
Now you know what you can save and what you can spend. It’s a start for the future which can be improved with the following habits.
2. Save Instantly
Once you’ve chosen a figure that you can afford to save on a weekly or monthly basis you need to get it into your high-interest savings account. The simplest way to do this is to create a monthly transfer.
If you have online banking, and most people do, you should be able to set this up online in a few minutes and then forget about it. You’ll be saving for your future without even thinking about it.
Plus, by debiting the funds from your account as soon as you get paid, you won’t miss them or be tempted to spend them.
3. Review Subscriptions
Take a look at your monthly outgoings. You’ve probably got a subscription that you can live without. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a gym membership, a magazine, or even video-streaming.
Consider each subscription and cancel any that you can survive without. These extra funds can be channeled directly to your savings account.
4. Take A Second Job
A great way to earn extra money and save it is to take a second job. Obviously, it will need to fit around your main job. A second job will give you extra money to save and will give you less time to spend the money you’ve earned.
That’s a win-win for your future savings.
5. Review
You don’t want to spend too much time thinking about your savings once you have the plan in place. However, it’s a good idea to review your progress regularly, between 2-4 times a year.
As you see your savings balance rising you’ll gain motivation to continue. But, you’ll also be able to identify areas where you’re struggling to stick to your budget. Additionally, you may find more savings are possible. This will all help you save for the future.
Don’t forget to keep a healthy balance, you need to enjoy today while planning for the future.
