Top Tips To Help You Start Saving...

Saving money enables us to achieve our financial goals whether that’s buying our first property, saving for a special event and even gives us something to fall back on if we receive an unexpected bill. 

​Saving also gives us a sense of achievement and a feel good factor that can also reduce financial anxiety and other money worries so if you want to save but not really sure how to begin, here’s 5 top tips to get you started….

1. Jam-Jar budgeting - Save regularly by dividing your money into different virtual savings “pots”. Each “pot” you have could be for a different saving goal, for example emergency fund, holiday fund or a treat fund.  You can do this by having different savings accounts or by opening up a specific jam-jar account with one of the newer challenger banks. If you still like to use cash, you can also label some actual jars and watch them fill up.  This method is also great for kids too as it helps to improve their financial education by showing them the importance of saving.
 
2. Use a savings app – Apps are helpful for tracking your spending, setting a budget and splitting bills with friends.  Whilst some are free, there are some that are paid apps.  Some may require you to link your bank and savings accounts to the app so it can track your spending habits and give you detailed insights about how (and where!) you spend your money.  There’s a great online Which? review of some the best money management apps here..
 
3. Rounding up every transaction – Most banks now offer a “rounding up” or “save the change” function in their apps.  For example, if you spent £2.75, your bank takes £3 and pays the retailer £2.75 then drops the remaining change - 25p into your allocated savings account.  Now 25p might not seem much but think of the number of transitions you make on a weekly basis…it all adds up!  Even if you are able to save £5 a week…that’s £260 over a year just by saving the change.  If you like to use cash, you can do the same by saving the change in a money box but remember to keep it safe and try not to dip into it.
 
4. Set yourself a saving challenge – A simple online search will reveal loads of different saving challenges.  Get the whole family involved, including the kids and have a family saving month.  One of the most popular challenges is the “1p challenge”. It works by saving 1p on the 1st day, 2p the next, 3p the day after that etc. If you keep it up for 12 months, you’ll save £667.95 by the end of the year!
 
5. Skimming your change - At the end of each day, round your bank account balance to a whole number/pound e.g., if you have £103.56 in your bank account at the end of the day, put the change (i.e., 56p in your savings account) and do this every day.  Some current/bank accounts will skim your pennies into your savings account for you. The challenger banks and online apps are good at organising these too.
 
For more information about how to start saving, MoneyHelper has a fantastic guide to help you.
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Emma Waller (check out her avatar on these posts!) is FinWELL's Head of Content and oversees FinWELL Insights.

Emma is an award-winning financial wellbeing consultant with extensive experience supporting people to improve their financial knowledge, skills and behaviours and most notably co-authored Martin Lewis’s “Your Money Matters” book.