Finance for the Future

Finances, budgets and money – it all sounds very grown up and a little scary. But it needn’t.

I’m at the point where I want to be increasing my pot of savings and planning towards when I might look to buy a house. Of course I’m in no rush to do that in the next year at least in all honesty… much to my parent’s relief perhaps! But saving money is something I need to consider and indeed probably something a lot of people around my age will be thinking about.

Talking about money seems to be seen as a taboo subject and whilst I’m not going to openly discuss how much money I may hold currently in my savings account, or state a specific figure of where I want to be in 6-12 months time; and who would?! – I think it’s an important area to talk about. It would be nice to be comfortably working towards that deposit, but equally you might be planning a holiday and want to save up £x for that, or perhaps you want to get a new car. Whatever your goal is for this year, there are plenty of ways you can get there without having to eat beans on toast every night and deprive yourself of social events.

How am I going to do it? Well, I’ve already cut down on unnecessary spending. I don’t remember the last time I went into Boots on a spree to buy new makeup. Though I would say if you were keen to keep treating yourself whilst saving, try waiting for a 3 for 2 offer. Clothes and shoes seem to be where I spend but recently I’ve been good at using any discount codes or sale reductions and thinking about what I actually will wear, rather than just picking up any items because they’re 60% off in the sale.

With having my Cineworld Unlimited card, going to the cinema is a cheap way to get out (and catch up with friends too – typically having a coffee before/after the film) and I barely notice the fee per month leaving my bank account.

If you’re Durham based, Newcastle Building Society have a great savings offer. It is exclusive to the Durham branch (sorry if you’re based elsewhere, but I’m excited that something’s happening locally to me!!) and is a 6 month ISA which can be opened with a minimum of £500, offering an interest rate of 1.25%. Now of course I’m not here to talk numbers and tell you which offers are best, as it entirely depends on your plans, but I certainly would say it’s well worth discussing further with an advisor if it is something you’re considering!

I’d also like to know if you’re saving for anything this year and indeed any tips on saving you might have. Let’s help each other out! By leaving a comment you can enter my competition I’m running with Newcastle Building Society to be in with a chance of winning a £50 voucher of your choice. It’s so easy, what are you waiting for!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

T&C’s: competition runs from 25/01 to 15/02 and is only open to UK based residents. You must complete the mandatory entries: leaving your email address so I can contact you if you win, leave a comment to let me know your financial goals for 2018. All other entries are optional. This post is written in collaboration with Newcastle Building Society but all words and photos are my own. For more information please view my disclaimer.