It makes financial sense to keep on top of your money-related admin, even though I agree it is boring and a pain when there are so many other fun things to be doing. To make it easier, here are a few ways to make it run more smoothly in the future.
- Firstly make sure you are not paying too much on your credit cards. Switch to a lower rate or even better – a 0% balance transfer and aim to get the balance paid off before the 0% rate runs out.
- If you have savings, check the interest rate you are being paid. If necessary, switch to a different account with a better interest rate. This year, I switched my children’ savings accounts into a Cash ISA for them, as it provided a better rate for their money.
- Check your credit score. To find why this is important to improve your credit rating and get a free credit report yourself, visit ClearScore. If only to ensure that they have the most accurate information – occasionally you can discover things that shouldn’t be in your report like a strangers name added to your address where it shouldn’t be. I have found this in the past and had to remove the name both from my credit report and also with the local council for their electoral roll. Another useful blog on this can be found from ThisIsMoney.
- Have a document that lists all your household outgoings and the dates on which they are due. This way, you know what money is going out month to month, and you can easily see when the big things, like insurance policies, are due. This helps you stay on top of them.
- Know where your money is! If you have cash around the house – get it out and ensure that it is still legal tender. Today the new one pound coins were released from the Royal Mint – this is the most secure coin in the world! But today’s release means that the old round coins will go out of circulation in October so you need to spend them now! The same goes for the new £5 polymer banknotes – use up your old fivers asap!
- Set a budget. It is easy for money to flow out of the door without much to show for it so decide how much money you want to spend each week on things like food, petrol and entertainment and stick to it! Putting the earmarked cash into envelopes dedicated for that purpose is a good way to ensure that I have enough for the things I need and not overspend in one area.
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