Be money savvy and make the money that you may have lying around in accounts work for you instead
Over the next few weeks, we will be releasing our Money Savvy series to help you gain knowledge and control over your finances and may even boost your existing income!
Gone are the days of high interest rates for savings accounts so we now have to do the leg work and find ways to get more out of our money. We have done the research for you and below are some simple ways in which you can make your money work harder for you.
Carry out a Money Overhaul
Some people have no idea where their own finances are up to – this could be a combination of bad financial education or a burying your head in the sand mentality. We encourage you to take the financial bull by its horns, sit down and really get to grips with your own financial landscape. For tips on how to do this, read our Money Overhaul blog post here.
It may seem daunting, but it really isn’t! We can bet that you’ll feel so much more in control once you have all that information to hand.
Sit down and create a spreadsheet with all your income and outgoings, including credit cards, loans, utilities etc. Everything needs to be covered.
Once you have that information down, you can go through the products where you are able to change to a better deal – such as gas and electricity providers, subscription services, credit card companies, internet providers etc. Use a comparison site and you may be surprised exactly how much you can save. This may appear time consuming, but it is so worth it if you end up saving each month.
Make your credit card work for you
There are cashback credit cards which pay back the holder of the card a proportion of what is spent every time you use them. Some holders can earn £100’s per year by using the card for their normal weekly spending, e.g. the food shop. As with the use of any credit card, just ensure that you are at the very least paying off the minimum amount each month.
Savings rates
Take some time to research the market and dig out the accounts that have the best savings rates. Savings rates are low at present and have been for some time so keeping your money in a savings account may not be the best idea. There are some great comparison sites out there so get researching!
Switch that account!
Banks want your custom and a lot of them offer money to switch accounts. The process is fairly painless too under the Current Account Switch Guarantee, whereby your new bank will switch your payments and transfer your balance whilst your old bank will close your account. Yes, you may have to stay with that new bank for at least three months before getting the money but the account that you will have switched to may well have a better interest rate too!
Make sure you check in next week when we will be giving you the lowdown on how to boost your existing income by selling what you have already got.
