For many of us, it hasn’t just been the weather getting hot this summer, it’s been the spending too. The kids have been off, the barbecue has been on and the beach has been calling. At this time of the year, you can justify that extra bit of spending, because we all deserve a seasonal spending splurge!
Savers and investors can account for an expensive summer by what they do in the quieter months that follow. As we are now over a week into September, you have the perfect opportunity to get back on track, and with some simple adjustments you can make up for some of July and August’s excesses.
Put money aside on payday
Going forward over the next few months, you can get back on track with saving and investing by being more proactive on payday. As soon as your salary lands in your bank account, divide this appropriately between bills, investments, savings, and disposable income.
Have the attitude that you’ll pay yourself first, in other words you’ll portion off a sum of your salary for saving or investment. We call this ‘paying yourself’, as in the long term this money could come back to you with added growth if invested effectively.
To make up for some of the summer spending, you may decide that the start of a new month could be a good time to invest a little more than usual, to make up for any shortfalls in investing during the summer holidays.
Commit to budgets
Putting more money aside for investing and then giving yourself a leaner disposable income budget for the months ahead could also sync well with other post-summer commitments. Spending less on food and drink is sure to help any efforts to get back in shape!
Budgeting can be applied to several aspects of your life. The compound effect of cutting a little here and there could add up to big savings. For example, spending ten pounds less on the weekly grocery shop, amounts to forty pounds saved over a month. Put this in your investments and this could snowball into even greater value over time.
Make similar small cuts in other areas such as entertainment, drinking, leisure, transportation, and you could find that you end up pocketing a surprising amount of extra money over a month. This can then be put towards your savings and investment goals, and may even cover any saving and investing shortfalls that you had over the summer.
Track your investments
One of the great things about investing with True Potential is the award-winning technology that’s included with your investment. With the True Potential app or desktop site you have the ability to track and manage your investments, assets, liabilities and bank accounts in one place, you have total control 24/7. What’s better, you can review every aspect of your account, wherever you are in the world, whenever you want.
We recommend logging in to your account at least a few times a month, to benefit from insights into how your investment is performing. By doing this regularly, you are reprogramming your mind to get into a saving and investing habit.
Set goals, visualise them with tracking, and stay committed to investing and ultimately growing greater wealth.
Use impulseSave® to reach your goals sooner
By cutting back on spending in the post-summer months, you are likely to find spare money here and there. When you are feeling flush, you can top up your True Potential investment at any time through impulseSave®.
Put your future in perspective
Taking this time to get your finances back in shape after the summer needn’t just be a short-term fix, it is also a great time to think of much longer-term goals. Why not spend some time thinking about your pension?
You may be able to retire sooner, or retire richer, based on the decisions you make today. Could you afford to increase your monthly contribution? The more you contribute in the early stages of investing for a pension is worth more than simply rushing to invest increased amounts in the later stages of your life.
The savings you make now in the post-summer period could go a long way when invested towards your pension.
Get started!
Whatever you do to improve your personal finances this autumn, the most important thing is simply to get started today, even if it is just a small amount of money you put aside. Over the long term, little and often investing can snowball into much greater wealth.
Log in to your True Potential account.
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