With 2020 not far away, many of us are starting to think about what we will do differently, during the coming year. One of the changes a lot of people need to make is to start saving for their future. If that is something you are planning to do, this article will help you to narrow down your options.
Open an ISA
Signing up for stocks and shares ISAs from Wealthify or a similar provider is a good starting point. Many ISAs still offer a good rate of interest. Or, in the case of the stocks and shares ISAs, provide you with the chance to invest in a diverse portfolio of investment vehicles.
Virtually anyone can open an ISA and you only need £1 to get started. For the stocks and shares ones, the minimum investment is usually between £25 and £100. So, there is no reason, why you should not empty the change out of your pockets, right now and go and open one. Once you have, it is a good idea to set up a direct debit to send cash to it every week or month.
A savings account with your bank
An alternative is to open an ordinary savings account with your bank. If there is the facility to do so, set things up so that any funds that are leftover at the end of the month get automatically swept into your savings account.
Use a round-up and save app
An even easier way to save without really noticing that you are doing so is to download a cash round-up app. You can set them up so that every time you spend money the change is sent to a savings or investment account.
So, if you spend £2.60 on a coffee, £3 is taken from your account. The 40p is automatically sent to your savings account. This is an example of the kind of app we are talking about here.
Put your change in a jar
If you do not want to save your change in that way, because it means opening and managing another account, just do it the old-fashioned way. When you get home, each day, put all of your change into a jar. At the end of the month count it out into official money bags and take it to your bank.
Another option is to put it through a change machine at your local supermarket. But, you do need to be careful when taking this approach because a lot of them take a significant percentage of the coins that they count.
Change a few of your spending habits
At the start of the year, go through all of your subscriptions and cancel any that you rarely use. Think about making a coffee and taking it to work with you instead of stopping at the café on your way in. Most people can save hundreds simply by making these two simple changes.
Use a budgeting app
If you are not already doing so, consider using a budgeting app. This will enable you to quickly identify other changes you could make to increase the amount of money you can set aside for a rainy day.
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