When it comes to saving money one common mistake most make is by setting their goals to high, putting large amounts away at a fast pace. This often becomes unrealistic and unaffordable fast, we’ll call this the Savings Sprint. This for some can be manageable but today we’re here to talk long term saving goals and how starting small and sticking at it for the long run can be your step to success in the Savings Marathon.
First things first, take a look at your income and expenditure, see where you can make savings, for example if you’re quitting smoking as a part of your New Year resolution you’ll have some spare money you can set aside. Once you know your ins and out’s you’ll now be able to decide how much you want to save, start small as this will still give you some room for small emergencies and won’t tie up all of your disposable income.
In our example we’ve decided to save £10 a week, a small and easy target that over the space of a year ads up to a huge gain for us:
| Week | 1 | 13 | 26 | 39 | 52 |
| Saved | £10.00 | £130.00 | £260.00 | £390.00 | £520.00 |
As you can see from the table above - over the space of a year we’ve manage to save an amazing £520, an excellent buffer for any small emergency. As you can imagine the more we save the more return we’ll get, it’s all about sticking at it in the long run. Imagine how having that saved away in time for Christmas could mean to your finances, an easy stress free festive period.
Also when you choose to save with your Credit Union you also open up the door to a selection of our Loan products. For example, if you’ve saved for 52 weeks and put away £520 you would be eligible to apply for our Unsecured Loan*1. This would allow you to apply for double of what you have saved, £1040 to be exact. A great boost when a big emergency catches you off guard or a great bonus when it comes to taking that special holiday.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed our first weekly financial tip for January and hope to have more over the coming month so stay tunes and stay savvy!
To see our selection of Savings Accounts head over to our page here.
To see our Loan products head over to our page here.
1* Loan Subject to terms and conditions, for more information please review the loan product you wish to apply for or click here.
