Looking after the pennies

It's probably something your Gran used to say; "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves". It's easy to regard this statement as an excuse for being over careful when it comes to money, but with the way things are at the moment it has never rung truer.

As inflation rises everything seems to be getting more expensive. The cost of your energy bills appear to be rising beyond recognition and your day to day expenses reduce your salary in the first couple of weeks of the month.

So, it's time to look after those pennies.

Planning for your long term future

Putting a personal pension plan in place may seem a long way off at the moment, but whether you've started out in your working life or you're a few more years down the line it's vital you take this step. Whether you're about to be auto-enrolled by your work or you're thinking of opening a personal pension there's no time like the present. Yes it may be difficult to part with your hard earned cash come payday, but this is the epitome of being sensible now and reaping the rewards down the line.

Planning for your short term future

A pension is one thing. You also need to think about opening a savings account and putting something away each month for the shorter term. If you have any debt, work on getting rid of this before you open a savings account as the interest you pay on this will outweigh any you earn.
Here are a few tips to get saving those pennies.

Putting a budget in place

For some of us, losing anything from our salary can make things a little more difficult. But you have to budget. If you're a little unsure where to start use an online budget calculator as this will help you work out exactly what you need to spend each month and how much you have left. Once you've worked this out you can start to look where you can cut costs.

Pack your lunch

Bringing your own packed lunch to work doesn't always seem like the most enjoyable option, but it's a necessity. Spending £5 a day in the specialist sandwich shop down the road from the office is just a waste. Bring a packed lunch as this way you can incorporate this into your weekly shop. You'll soon start to notice the difference.

Change your regular payments

When you're budgeting, there are certain payments that are always a necessity. Rent, mortgage, bills, insurance. Some of these you can do nothing about in the short term, but with others you can make a difference.

If your energy bills seem to be getting bigger and bigger, look into your options and consider changing supplier. If you quote your current tariff to a potential new supplier, they'll always look to beat it. When your car insurance is up, don't automatically renew. If you shop around you're bound to find a better deal.

Stop being lazy

Being lazy and buying lunch each day is one of the biggest money wasters we're all guilty of, but there are loads of things we all do which in the long run are wasting those pennies. Leaving the TV on standby, not checking what you need before heading out to the supermarket and buying everything, driving to work rather than taking public transport, and turning up the central heating to dry your clothes, or even using the tumble dryer.