(Collaborative post). Starting to save when we are young makes a big impact on our life as we get older. It’s a great idea, and there are many ways you make a start on this. It doesn’t matter how much you can put away; just a few pounds here and there will add up to a large amount if you start when you are young. With that in mind, here are 5 Tips to Help You Start Saving and ensure that you have everything in place by the time you need the money for a large purchase, such as a house deposit or a car, or even a wedding.
5 Tips to Help You Start Saving
Start From Your First Paycheque
It’s tempting to tell yourself that you’ll start saving next month or the month after or next year or when you reach a certain age. However, the best time to start saving is when you start earning. This way it becomes part of your routine. If you start saving later, you’ll miss the extra money much more. As you get older and your income grows, increase the amount that you are adding to your savings.
Automate Your Savings
When you’re saving, you want things to be as easy and pain-free as possible. Automation is the way to do it. If you have to put a certain amount of money into your savings account each month, and you choose to do it manually, you might decide to put a little less in, or not at all.
Set up a standing order from your current account to your savings account for the day you are paid. You will never even notice the money is gone. That way, your savings will increase, and you don’t need to worry about forgetting to add the payment.
Have a Second Income
If you don’t earn enough to put any money aside because everything you make is taken up with outgoings such as rent and food etc. you may need to take on a second job. Many people do this. Some or all of the additional income can go straight into your savings account.
The idea of having a second job might not appeal, but there are plenty of ways you can earn additional money. You could become an Avon representative or sell Busy Bee Candles. This wouldn’t have to be a full-time job. It could fit around your spare time. It could be something that grows over time too with regular clients and recommendations.
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Have a Budget
When you are earning an income, it’s crucial to know how to make a budget. This will help you ensure that you have enough money to pay for all your necessary outgoings, and you’ll know what’s left. You can then work out how much you can afford to spend on fun things like takeaways, evenings, or hobbies and possibly some for your savings.
Making a budget and sticking to it are two very different things. It’s not always as easy as we would hope. However, just like saving, the earlier you can decide your budget, the easier it will be to stick to. Things should also gradually become easier financially when you plan and organise well.
Avoid Debt
Although obvious, this is worth mentioning nonetheless. It can be tempting to borrow money on a credit card or a loan to buy something you would really love but may not really need. However, that debt can, can haunt you for a long time where you don’t have the means to pay it off. This will also affect your ability to save.
Ideally, if you do have any debt, you should aim to pay it off as quickly as possible. Pay more than the minimum required where you can. Once paid off, use whatever money you were paying it with and put that into savings. You won’t miss it, and it will boost your savings account significantly.
My 5 Tips to Help You Start Saving has covered the essentials. What additional tips would you suggest?
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Great tips. That second income is always a great help. Even though its a little, it still makes a difference.
It sure does. It can also mean you can boost savings and pay off debts that incur interest.
Yup, a budget is a MUST. We have one and we put money into savings because you never know what can happen. We rarely go into debt! Right now the house is the only debt we have.
I think the only thing I would add is to make part of the savings you put back be an emergency fund for occasions when you have to take it out in case of a layoff or some other financial incident.
An emergency fund can come in veryhandy. You never know when you might need some extra money.
I really find budgeting some savings in every month helps, even if it’s only £5.
I’m always looking for ways to save money. I’m going to take your advice!
I couldn’t agree more to all these. Avoiding debts and making second income would be my first step.
Those are very important and will really help x
I’ll keep all in mind, especially avoiding debts, sometimes we tend to spend more, thinking that it’s okay since we can just pay it later.
It can be easy to overspend sometimes. Watching your budget helps keep it to a minimum.
I am getting far better and putting money aside for things. I like to have a budget for days out and home items that may need replacing. Great tips!
These are all so true, having a budget is so important so you have an idea where your money is going from fixed expenses to savings and treats x
It really is important to help identify where money can be saved and when you may be overspending.
I found having a second job to be really helpful, because it’s a huge bonus income, that can be used to save! What good tips.
Having a second income can make a large difference to many. These days one job isn’t always enough.
Great tips! Setting your budget, avoiding debt, and having a second income really helps you to save more money.
They can make a big impact. Doing this eases financial stress to a large degree.
I don’t know if I have any other tips, but these are wonderful. I love being able to save money whenever I can. I have been like that ever since I was young.
That’s great to hear. It really does make a big difference if you are careful with your money.
Amazing tips!!! I am the worst when it comes to budgeting but I should get better at it for sure! Thank you so much for your encouragement.
Thank you for sharing this informative post as I can always use tips to help with saving. I always have to be cautious 😉
Some great tips here and I agree with all of them. So important to start from the first paycheck and auto deduct the amount
Having a second income and an actual side hustle will definitely change the money saving game. I know I want to have a side hustle myself.
I hope you can find something suitable.
Saving is so important right now. Money can be tight most weeks.
It can. Finding ways to save is really important.
I have a very limited second income but I do try and save the wage from that so that’s a great idea to help save.
That’s good that you are able to save the second income. It will help in the long run.
I like the idea of having a standing order on the day of pay – it’s true that you wouldn’t see it gone. I think that’s something I need to do, by the end of the year we’d be surprised and it could be well for a rainy day fund.
Honestly, you’d be amazed at how much you can save if you try. Good luck xxx
Damn! How timely is this blog post. I need this reminder because I’ve been struggling lately, and I wanted to change things regarding my finances. It’s just so hard right now, and I am finding ways to get a second job to increase my income.
Good luck with the job hunt. I hope you find something suitable that can help you boost your income Joyce x
only spend according to what is in your hand. I agree with all your tips.
It does help to be careful with spending.
I am all for saving money. I keep the “don’t spend more than you make” motto when it comes to my finances.
That’s a good moto to have and helps in the long run x
I always appreciate a post that provides tips for good ways to save your money and I have gotten better with it for sure over the years and always love to have money saved for ‘just in case’. I hate to admit that I can do an even better job as there are areas of change that can help me to save even more. I find myself tossing out bad produce, and other expired food items and that is something that I have to change as it is totally wasteful plus I could be saving all of that money.
I think many of us do the same. It is hard to keep on top of produce especially when you are also catering for a family. One week mine will eat all the strawberries then the next no one wants them. It’s hard to know what to buy.
I think it’s great to automate the savings at the start of the month as then it disappears without you noticing so much!
It does help as then you don’t factor that into money you can spend.
Start as you mean to go on. If you don’t have it initially then you will not miss it. I am a big advocate of automating savings as things have a habit of getting away with you and if its in your account you will spend it.
That’s very true. If you save each month you won’t even miss the money more than often and you can use it to pay off chunks of bills to reduce interest, reducing stress and increasing the amount you can save further along.