Tips for adopting a healthy savings mindset in 2021

January 2021 - While money certainly isn’t the most important thing in your life, and shouldn’t be prioritised over other essential aspects of your everyday lifestyle, it can be a major source of stress, anxiety and general worry. Suppose you feel like you can’t afford to go out and socialise with friends, for example. In that case, it can feel isolating, and no one needs the feeling of impending doom when you have bills and financial expenditures/commitments looming over your shoulder constantly.

Especially in a time like now, where many people are struggling more than ever before due to the pandemic-induced job insecurity and uncertainty, it’s important that we as individuals do the most that we possibly can with our money. This means making sure it gets spent in the most efficient ways, and looked at closely to see where savings can be made.

Want to adopt a healthier savings mindset in 2021, to help with stress and worries? To help get started, here are a couple of tips that you might want to consider.

Plugging holes and trimming the fat

Many of us aren’t 100% aware of every single thing that’s coming and going out of our bank accounts. With smart saving and online banking apps in the modern-day, it’s easier than ever to start taking accountability for spending and stopping the unnecessary expenditure that you might overlook in order to rack up a few extra pounds in the bank at the end of each month.

Tip - Save your energy - Gas, electricity and water bills can be a huge ball and chain around your finances on a regular basis, trimming a small fortune from your monthly wage or lurking around the corner like a nasty surprise if paid quarterly. Prices can quite regularly fluctuate, and so it’s worth keeping an eye on these bills to make sure that you’re paying less than you need to be.

Another step you might want to take is to have a smart metre installed in your home by your energy supplier. That way, you can keep a closer eye on the amount that you’re spending and thus be more prepared for the bill when it comes around.

Saving and investing your money for the future

One of the best ways to escape that feeling of financial pressure is to save up a buffer or 'rainy day' fund so that in the event of a financial emergency, you have enough money to back yourself up and stop you from nosediving into your own personal economic turmoil. If you haven’t saved money properly before and aren’t sure of how to get started, there are a ton of savings challenges and games that you can find online to help make the process a little bit simpler.

Tip - Making an investment - If you have some additional money lying around - perhaps as a result of your new savings habits or through other means - and you’re unsure of what to do with it, another clever thing that you can do is to put that money back to work for yourself in an investment strategy. This could be anything as simple as using a smartphone app to round up the change from purchases you make in order to put them into an investment strategy for the future, for something more long-term and tactile, such as a property investment strategy.

With modern technology, it is easier than ever to get involved with an investment, even if you have never thought about it before. RWinvest, for example, a property investment company with offices around the UK, offer a range of online materials to help you learn about the different aspects of the property market. From simple terms and figures that you will need to keep in mind, to some of the best areas for investment and growth looking forward.