We should all have savings. Everybody knows that.
Savings can enable you to enjoy special treats, events and celebrations. They can contribute to major purchases such as a home, car or holiday. And of course they are there as a buffer in any kind of emergency.
So everyone should have savings. In fact, financial experts recommend having savings to cover at least three months living expenses.
But do you?
Various different research projects during 2021 revealed that many UK adults do not have savings. In summer 2021, research from the Yorkshire Building Society indicated that:
So if you do not have savings, or have very little savings, you are not alone. But for all the reasons we covered above, it would be good to make 2022 the year when you do start saving.
But how can this happen? Many people live from payday to payday, using up all their income for living expenses with no spare cash left over to save. At least that’s how it seems.
However, there are various ways that you can start to build up savings, even if you just start very small. Let’s take a look at five ways you could build your savings in 2022.
The first key thing is to have a separate account for your savings. Whether this is another current account, a savings account, fixed term bond or ISA is up to you. You need to find an account that has a good rate of interest and that also meets your needs in terms of how quickly you can get to your money if needed. For example, if you are saving for something long term and don’t want to be able to access the money for now, you could save into a fixed term account, and may get a higher rate of interest this way. But if you want to be able to get your money quickly in case of an emergency, you need to find an account with instant access.
So the right account for you will depend on your savings goals. You may even decide to open two new accounts, one for long term savings and one for an emergency fund.
Another good way to top up your savings is to commit to saving any unexpected money you receive this year. For example, a bonus, win or gift. Yes you could probably spend it several times over but if you put it straight into your savings account it really will be the gift that keeps on giving. And because it was unexpected money in the first place, it’s not as if you knew you would be getting the money.
If saving all the money seems too difficult, then at least determine to put half of any unexpected money into your savings.
Start developing the mindset of a serious saver! Always be on the lookout for opportunities to top up your savings. Some days this may just be something small, for example taking your own lunch or coffee into work instead of buying something, or deciding not to buy a magazine or watch an on-demand movie.
Every time you make a no-spend decision, move the money you would have spent into your savings account. This will add up over time. For example if you didn’t spend £2 each day that you normally would have, this would give you an extra £730 savings over the course of a year.
As well as varying no-spend decisions, you could do a regular savings challenge. Two popular challenges are the daily penny challenge or the monthly pound challenge:
This is an easy challenge that could save you £668 over the course of a year. You can either do it with cash or a bank account.
On Day 1, save 1p. On Day 2, save 2p, Day 3, 3p. And so on. Either put the money in a jar or move money into your savings account online. Even at the end of the year, the most you will need to save per day is £3.65, which sounds very do-able. But it could build you a nice little nest egg.
This challenge involves greater sums of money but could boost your savings by £1378 if you do it for a year.
All you need to do is save the number of pounds each week that correspond to the week of the year. So for example, £1 in week 1, £2 in week 2 – going up to £52 by the end of the year.
This does mean that from around halfway through the year, the amount you are saving each week could become a bit challenging. But by this point you will be used to saving and may be able to use some of daily no-spend decisions to top up the amount you can save.
You may also want to put some additional effort into your own “saveathon”. Let’s take a look!
We all know the term “telethon”, used by major TV fundraising efforts for people to call in and pledge money to a worthy cause. Your saveathon is your own fundraising effort to boost your savings.
The idea is that in addition to the regular challenges we’ve just mentioned, you also consider setting yourself occasional fun challenges. For example, you may choose a particular month to raise an extra £100 towards your savings. Treat it like a competition, even though the only competitor is you!
The aim is to find new and creative ways to bring in extra money that you will then put straight into your savings. Some examples could include:
So if you want to start building savings in 2022, we hope that one or more of the above ideas will help you to do just that.
Don’t worry if you find it hard to save at first. It takes time to develop a habit, but the sooner you start, the sooner you will be able to see results. Even if you can only save very small amounts to start with, it is better than nothing, and is laying the foundation for greater things later on.
We promise you it will be worth it!
Good luck, and do check back here soon for more lifestyle and financial tips from direct lender Munzee Loans.
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