Keeping on top of your finances is vital both as an individual and as a business. Thankfully there have been plenty of advancements in technology and businesses emerging that aim to improve the situation for those in need of help controlling their finances. From ways to spend less money to boosting your funds, the following few steps can provide a good start for anyone hoping to regain control over their incomings and outgoings.
Use Financial Planning Services
Sometimes you may think you’ve tried everything to get your finances in order, but control still seems to slip away from you. Using professional financial planning services can resolve this and implement stricter discipline when it comes to looking after your funds. Whether you’re a business or an individual, they can help provide a good review of your current situation, offer advice and put together a plan to meet your financial goals. Tailored services mean you will know exactly what to do to stay in control of your finances in the future.
Track Your Spending
In the past five or ten years there have been many excellent spending tracker apps developed that can help with organising and staying in control of your money. From simple smartphone apps where you can manually input everything you spend in a day, to more sophisticated options that link to your accounts and create graphs based on income and outgoings, there’s a broad range available. These offer transparency and can be used for small businesses to track expenses, highlighting areas that need cutting down.
Consider a SIPP
A self-invested pension plan (SIPP) is a great option for people who want greater control over their retirement funds. With this, people can make their own investment decisions for how their pension is saved, while having the same tax benefits such as the government adding 20% tax relief still. As an individual or business SIPPs can put you in control of your future finances, and these are available through financial experts such as Bestinvest.
Contribute to Regular Savings
Discipline is vital to stay in control of your finances, so anything you can do to get in a regular saving pattern will be useful. Set up monthly direct debits from the account your pay check goes into your savings account, so you don’t have to remember to make savings. So you question yourself how much house can I afford based on that you can setup savings if you need to buy a house. If you can’t trust yourself not to dip into them, consider getting your partner, friend or family member to set up a savings account for you so only they have access to it.
Control your finances better with the above steps and you should soon be reaping the rewards.
