Managing your money can feel like a chore, but bad money skills can be more detrimental to your life than you think.
Improving your skills where money is concerned, can help you now and in the future.
Having a money management plan can help you to get your financial life in order.
Whether you have several bank accounts not working for you, savings accounts with nothing in or you’ve even experienced debt in the past, having sound money skills can help you to feel at ease.
Learn how to budget
Having a budget is as necessary as it is to have windscreen wipers when driving in the rain. Without it you can end up in trouble. If you’ve never had one before, creating and sticking to it can seem a little tough in the beginning, but it’s worth it in the long run.
Being honest and transparent with yourself where your money is concerned is probably the most important step when it comes to improving your money management skills. Your project budget can help you pay off debt, start saving for the future and planning for retirement.
Remember, it’s never too early to start preparing for those later years!
Understand your income and expenses
Knowing what’s coming in and going out each month is another important step.
Whether you keep a track on an app on your phone, a spreadsheet on the computer or even in a notebook, knowing what’s going out each month can help you to save in the future.
Have all your expenses, both variable and fixed, accounted for. This will allow you to see the whole picture and know how to best manage your expenses going forwards.
Create a retirement pot
It may seem far off, but when you realise that you need roughly £33,000 a year in retirement to live a relatively stress free life, you’ll have wanted to start saving yesterday. You want to be sipping martinis under the sun on some far away island at least twice a year, rather than being stuck at home worrying about how to pay your gas and electricity bills.
It’s recommended you try and save at least 10% of your income each year. Depending on when you start saving, this could amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds when you reach your golden years!
Try your hand at trading
This may seem like a scary prospect, but with specialist trading apps like Tickmill, you could be confidently boosting your income on the forex markets! With plenty of demos and tutorials for you to follow, as well as a wealth of knowledge on YouTube, you could use this to bolster your income and subsequently your savings.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
It’s time to ditch bad habits
If you’re ready to shake up your finances and better manage your money, start with these simple tips. Think about the spends you’ve made that you could cut back on – from your £3.00 daily coffee from Starbucks to your takeout lunch from work. There are so many little changes that you can make to become a master at money managing!