Savings

The first quarter of the year is the perfect time to take stock of your finances and plan how to get them and keep them on track. Looking at your finances can be a daunting and, sometimes, terrifying task. However, here are four steps to help you kickstart your finances this year, and help make money matters less of a burden in the future:

1. Set financial goals

Setting financial goals is a key step to kickstarting your finances in the new year as they can help you to stay organized and motivated to reach them.

Budgeting is probably the most important part of managing our personal finances. A budget helps us keep track of our income and expenses, identify where money is wasted and where savings can be made and allows us to make better informed financial decisions. In its most basic form, a budget can be done on a piece of paper, but in this digitally connected world, budgeting apps for our mobile phones and tablets can make the process simple, straightforward, and convenient. 

Learning from the Ghost of Christmas Future

In Charles Dickens’ classic festive story “A Christmas Carol”, the spendthrift Ebenezer Scrooge is visited late on Christmas eve by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. These festive specters endeavor to show Scrooge the error of his ways and (spoiler alert) he wakes on Christmas morning a changed man; full of festive spirit and peace and goodwill to all men.

You will be aware that the cost of living is increasing, but what does it mean, why is it happening, and what can you do? Here we explain.

The ‘cost of living’ is a frequently used term that refers to the amount of money people need to cover basic expenses, such as housing, food, energy bills, and healthcare.

With the Covid-19 pandemic impacting the last two Christmases, this year is set to be extra special for many people. For the first time in three years, people will be able to travel and gather together to celebrate Christmas as they usually would, and as families and friends resurrect traditions that were temporarily put on hold it will, undoubtedly, be a period of great celebration for many.

“Short-term savings can cost more in the long run.”

During times such as these, where an increasing cost of living is putting pressure on our finances, it is essential to make savings wherever we can. Of course, we can cut non-essential spending on things such as the TV subscription we seldom watch and eat out less, but when it comes to spending on essential things such as food, it can be hard to see how we can cut cost without dramatically impacting our quality of life and wellbeing.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to reduce your food bill, and here we explain how:

Socially Responsible Investing

People are increasingly looking for ways in which they can have a positive impact on the world. Over the past decade we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people switching to plant based diets and choosing to drive electric or hybrid vehicles. These lifestyle changes are both widely understood and accepted ways to lessen our impact on the environment, but another way to have a positive social impact is through the growing world of socially responsible investing.
 

There is a very old saying that “familiarity breeds contempt”. Whilst its origin is disputed, its original meaning is believed to relate to friendship; the more you know someone, the more likely you are to lose respect for them.

In the modern world though, it can equally be used to describe the attitude some businesses have towards customers who stay loyal to them. 

With the cost of living rising for many of us, making money go further has seldom been more important. Obviously, by budgeting and identifying non-essential expenditure it is possible to cut costs, but when it comes to our essential spending on things such as food and clothing, how can you make savings to make your money go further? One way is by using discounts and loyalty schemes, and here we provide some tips on how to do it: