When we finish school or university and have to become fully independent adults, our finances are an important thing to master. We may be getting paid weekly or monthly, as a salary or based on shift work, but however it is that we get paid, we have to make the decision of whether to save or spend. Here are some tips for how to save money in your 20s.
Set a goal
The first step toward saving your money is working out exactly how much you want to save, and what for. This can really motivate you if you’re saving up for something in particular.
If your goal is to save £1,000 by the end of the year, let’s say, you can have that bigger aim in mind, while setting smaller, achievable goals for each month or week. So for £1,000 that’s £19 a week, or £83 a month which can translate to something else you could cut back on such as meals out, a reduced phone contract or taking your lunch to work.
Work out your income and outgoings
A boring adult task, but it really helps to be on-top of this. These often won’t change too much so it’s not something you have to do every month. Sit down and write down your monthly income, against your outgoings such as rent/mortgage, bills, travel, average food cost.
You can then see whether you have anything left over, and can allocate that for savings. At any point in life, we might find that our income covers only our outgoings and there’s no extra for savings. This is completely fine. It’s important to remember that you are allowed to just get by and live payday to payday if that’s where your current situation places you.
Do a savings challenge
You could take on a monthly or yearly savings challenge, where each day one penny more comes out your account than the last into your savings. These challenges can see you save £667.95 over the year, and you won’t even notice the pennies coming out. Monzo do a savings challenge which you can find here.
Sort all your money the second you get paid
When your salary comes into your bank, you should transfer it all into the right accounts. You can find out more about how to allocate monthly income here.
Don’t fall into the trap of saving whatever’s ‘leftover’, as we all know that’s an unlikely story. Put your set amount (that you’ll have calculated from point 2) straight into your savings account and then you won’t be tempted to spend it before the month is up.
Put roundups on
Some banking apps allow you to roundup your transactions to the nearest pound, and the spare change goes into another pool of money. It goes out without you really knowing but can begin to add up quite quickly, especially if you’re using that account for everyday purchases.
You can then set aside this extra money, that you often don’t account for when looking at your balances, into your savings.
So there are some tips for how to save money in your 20s. Do you have any extra advice for saving in your 20s?
Check out the Mind The Gap Graduates finance section for more money advice.
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