New Year’s resolutions to help you save money

Here at The Vernon, we’re big fans of new year’s resolutions and even bigger fans of helping you save money, so we’ve put together three important resolutions that can help you get in control of your finances and save you money.

1) Create a budget

If you haven’t already, setting up a budget is the best way to stay on top of your finances.

While it’s important to know how much you make, it’s even more important to know how you spend it – and where. Look through your bank statements to find out where you spend your money and then break that spending down into what is essential and what isn’t. Essential spending would be monthly mortgage repayments, car insurance, etc. and non-essential spending would be things like eating out and streaming service subscriptions.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll get a much clearer picture of where you can save money. This may mean forgoing your daily coffee before work or your weekly takeaway - a budget can help you decide what you can and can’t live without. With this newfound knowledge, you can set realistic goals of how much you can save.

We recommend the budget planner from Money Helper; you can find it here: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/budgeting/budget-planner

2) Set savings goals

Setting a routine is important as it can help us stick to some of life’s most daunting tasks. It’s natural for your enthusiasm to wane as the year goes on – that’s why setting realistic goals is important.

Savings goals look different for everyone – there’s your standard ‘save a set amount of money each month’ method, which works for some. There are also savings challenges, like the aptly named 1p Saving Challenge which, as the name suggests, starts with you putting away 1p. On the second day, you put away 2p, on the third day, 3p, and so on. By day 365, you'll have saved a total of £667.95.

Whatever your goal is, it’s important to make it realistic – remember to account for extra spending, like around birthdays and Christmas. Ultimately, this may look like a less regimented, more flexible savings goal that changes depending on your monthly spend.

3) Waste less, use more

In 2018 the UK produced around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste with an estimated value of £19 billion. In 2022 why not challenge yourself to go zero-waste by planning your meals before you go shopping so you know exactly what you need to buy. Initially, this will require a lot of willpower as it requires writing a shopping list and sticking to it! But not only will it help you save the pennies, but it will also help reduce your carbon footprint – win-win!

We’d love to know what you’re saving for and how you’re doing it. Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.