Wendy Grace
We are really struggling with managing our finances especially since our income has been affected during the Covid-19 pandemic. What advice to you have to help us to get back on track?
The first thing to do is to sit down and budget. This requires an open communication with your spouse so you can both decide what things are absolute priorities and what you can live without. You need to spend the time analysing exactly what you are spending your money on and if there are small and big ways that you can cut back. There are lots of free budgeting apps such as The Money Doctor App which allow you to track your spending so you can see exactly where your money is going. Do you really need to buy 5 lattes a week, or are you actually using your movies subscription? After a month a pattern will become clear as to what elements of your spending need to be revised. Then you need to look at other ways to save, have you got loyalty cards for all the places you shop? You can store them in one handy location with the StoCard app, you will be surprised at how quickly points convert to money. What monthly outgoings such as phones and the internet are up for renewal? It’s amazing how many people don’t shop around each year. By spending time making some phone calls you can save hundreds of euros. Be sure to put all your renewal dates in your calendar so when they do arise you can make those calls. Trust me, It is always worth spending the time shopping around.
Then look at your day to day spending, and then your regular monthly payments. Setting up additional accounts is really easy online and can be really helpful in budgeting. When looking at your regular monthly or quarterly payments such as gas, electricity, car insurance, house insurance (I know the list can be endless) figure out what the annual cost is and divide by 12, and then set aside at the start of the month that amount into a separate utility bills account, next, you need to set up an account for irregular expenses that might occur, you can avoid the stress of unexpected expenditure such as needing emergency plumbing by setting aside a small amount each month, then when it comes to that unexpected car repair, money will have accrued and you won’t need to dip into your day to day cash flow.
Then you need to work out what your day to day spending is, ie: after all your monthly bills are paid, what are you spending on things like fuel, leisure, shopping, whatever it is, just leave that amount in your account. If anything is left over put it into your irregular bills or savings account. You will be amazed at how making small changes like having one take away a month instead of two, changing providers on utilities and being aware of what you are spending can actually go a long way into saving you hundreds of euro.