Spring Time Is Financial Planning Time
A lot of people associate spring time with the idea of spring cleaning. This can involve clearing out clutter, making everywhere look nicer and generally getting everything tidied up. However, spring is also the best time to do this with your money, and today we will we show you why spring time should be a financial planning time.
Look at both annual and monthly
Checking both annual and monthly income will make it easier to budget, as you will be able to look at how much is coming in. Equally, you also need to look at what you are spending and where savings can be made.
Papers
One issue people may have, with regard to finance, is what papers to keep and what to throw away. When it comes to documents related to tax, it is recommended you keep hold of them for at least seven years.
Budgeting
One aspect of budgeting is to look at how you spend. For example, if you regularly go out for coffee it may be better to get coffee at home in order to reduce spending on it. If you go to the cinema, it is worth checking the prices of local cinemas, as some will have reduced prices at certain times. This doesn’t mean eliminating treats entirely, but looking at ways to do so without spending as much.
Investments
If you have an investment manager, it is worth sitting down and talking to them about your investments and whether or not they are providing the return that you want from them. It may be that you need to change how you invest in order to reduce risk or cut costs.
Check your bank statements
It may sound obvious, but sometimes it is possible to miss overcharges, fraud, etc. through not properly checking your bank balance. For example, if you have an overdraft it may be possible to switch to a different account and reduce the amount that you are paying in overdraft charges.
Check your credit history
One aspect you may not have considered is your credit history- if a bankruptcy should have been removed from the record and is still on there, then that can negatively affect your credit. Get a check and make sure that any mistakes are corrected.
Have a contingency
As well as budgeting for the day to day expenses, it is worth having some level of buffer for one-offs or unexpected additional expenses. A serious storm could result in roof repairs, or you may need to replace a dishwasher or washing machine. Events such as birthdays and weddings can also add to regular expenses.
We can help
Larcomes Financial Services is a family firm that for years has been helping people get more from their money. If you would like to know more about controlling your finances contact us today, and we will be happy to discuss your individual circumstances in more detail, and see what we can do to help you.