Budgeting

Tis' me Elliott with another font of knowledge; this font is going to give you a few pointers on the ever-changing realm of budgeting and saving money.

So, to begin with I would first like to outline the importance of keeping track of your pennies, the first reason is it takes away that stress over your daily life, knowing where your money is going and where it is coming from over a month gives you that peace of mind. The second reason that you'll be able to know if you can or cannot afford something you want, maybe a pair of shoes, clothes, or those all-important pints 😉.

The first tip is that you need to see when you are getting paid, and how much, writing this down is important. Be this the student loan, an income from a job or some money from relatives this need to be noted down as it is important for the next step which is using this budget out your costs. Remember to not down the outgoings now like rent, insurance for your car; phone bills etc...this is stuff you cannot control so now you should have a remainder which will be how you budget.

This budget will now be where you do all your work; from here you will want to first budget essentials like food, maybe give yourself £20p/w for food (shop at Aldi, it's the best value for money) this means you get a weeks' worth of food, snacks and the rest. Now put some money aside for savings if you need them, then put money for emergencies away, like unexpected outgoings like if you break something in your house you can use this money to repay the landlord; the last thing you do is budget money for fun like pints, a coffee with your pals or maybe a takeaway. From there you will want to put any other money you have across these costs to make sure you're well spread out.

The next thing to consider is where you can be saving money to maximise that budget, maybe when you're shopping you can substitute for something cheaper you maybe only save a couple of quid but add this up across the week, over the month that could be £10. Get yourself loyalty cards to rack up points and make further savings.

Download the following apps, Shoppix (snap pics of your receipts and get vouchers for it!) get yourself Qmee, this is a survey platform that can make you a couple of quid in a day after doing a few surveys, this can go towards savings or leisure. Another app you should check out is Unidays as this can give you discount codes for all those online purchases, while you're at it look at top cashback too, this means you get cashback on those same purchases meaning that £2 you saved can now be £10-£20.

Now you know how you can be saving; and are now money wise go forth and use this new found knowledge for good!