Friday 7 February 2020

How I am planning on budgeting and saving in 2020


For 2020 I have made goals about what I want to achieve and where I want to go. I am going through some kind of mid-20 crisis and it has been a light bulb moment in where and want I want to be spending my money on.

I have tried to look at my wage each month and look at the areas where I can definitely make savings and places where I am spending and essentially wasting money. I have made end of year saving goals and also have adjusted it depending on what is happening in my life. For example, I am lucky enough to be going to Florida in May and it is going to be a holiday of a lifetime. Therefore, I am paying off the holiday and want to have money to spend whilst I am. However, after that from the mid until end of the year that it where I am looking at being able to save the most money.

I think you have to really look at the finer details looking at exactly what is coming in and going out. My monthly wage changes slightly each month. I have created an average which is a nice round figure which I can work off. My first tip is using the notes app on your phone. I have a list off all my out-goings that I pay month to month. I total at the bottom what I will have left. I then look at my calendar as to what social events or other things I have going on in the month and list those. Next to each item I give myself a budget, for example a meal out with my friends £20. I then finalise the total costs. You can then see what if anything is left over whether this is £20 or £200. That is your target for the end of the month. After this every time I pay the bill or buy something it goes on the list I deduct the money each time. Once you have done it for one month you will realise exactly what you are spending your money on.

Patricia Bright is the queen of all aspects of money. This YouTube video she did on her channel - The Break Platform on how she budgets her salary is fabulous. She uses an excel spreadsheet which lays out clearly exactly what she has coming in and out of her wage. She gives hints and tips as to what areas you can make little savings, and she talks about how should always be investing which is something which has never crossed my mind. She makes reference to how she suggests spreading your money around so you always have pots which you can dip into where necessary.

I think it it always good have an approximate end of year goal whether it is £1000 or £10,000. It is important to stay in your own lane and stay focused on your own goals as it can be easy to compare yourself to others. My end of year target is to have saved at least £5,000 to put towards my house savings. I have looked at all my outgoings and realised it is a realistic goal. There is no point saying you want to save a huge sum of money if you are literally going to have absolutely nothing left.

One saving tip which I have been doing since I qualified in my job three years ago is whatever I have left at the end of the month I move into my savings. Whether this is 10p or £100, I move it over in my savings so that each month I start on a clean slate. This means each month I can go through and make the list which I mention earlier, and budget for that month on what I have earned. I love doing this as you realise that you can actually make more savings than you realise.

Another way how I make little savings here and there is using apps. One which I have loved to the latter end of 2019, is an app called Airtime Rewards. You can attach all of your debit and credit cards to your account and if you shop in an shop which is attached to the app you can a reward to your account this may vary from 1%-15% cashback. Once your account reaches £5 you then cash it in and it takes if off your next phone bill. If you are wanting to join if you enter my code: WRPHF3MJ then we both get 0.50 added to our accounts. Other little saving regimes which I use all the time are the good old supermarket clubs. Tesco is always me favourite as there is nothing better than getting your clubcard vouchers through the post. I have found myself shopping in Morrison's recently so I have recently signed up for their points regime. It is so much easier now you can upload these cards to your phone so you don't have to carry them around with you. I also love the good old Boots and Superdrug cards as you can collect points and spend them. These little amounts of money add up and for real little effort.

So here's to 2020 and making the goals a reality. Let's stay in our own lanes and smash those savings goals!

Lucy
xoxo
SHARE:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blogger Template by pipdig