Whilst I may only be 23, I'm already starting to think about planning financially for the future. George and I love taking the time now to go on holiday or have nice days out, but for us to carry on like that aswell as hopefully being able to own a home of our own one day, it's going to require a lot of saving. As we've put a few things in place recently to help us be prepared for the future, I thought I'd share them and maybe they might give you a few ideas too if you're in the same situation.
Budget every week
Setting time aside each week to budget has helped massively when it comes to having money spare each month. Before we did this we'd go a little crazy the week after payday and then towards the end of the month have no idea why we had nothing leftover to put away. Now each month we'll write down what's coming in on payday and what needs accounting for. We can then set money aside which is specifically for us to enjoy and also we can see what's spare to be put into a savings account. After this we then try to keep on top of it each week to check we're not overspending. I honestly don't know how we'd save for anything if we didn't do this so it's something I definitely plan on sticking with in the future.
Save money each month
The good thing with budgeting is that we can clearly see how much money is free to go into a savings account. Recently any spare money has been put aside for future trips we have planned, or towards a car but now we're definitely starting to think about saving for our future too. Whilst we won't be in the position to buy a house anytime soon, it's something we would love one day so for that to happen, we need to get started on that deposit! We don't save massive amounts as I think life is for living so it's just finding that balance. Making sure money is going away and building up but also being comfortable on what's left and enjoying it.
Pensions
When you're young it's easy to think you don't need to worry about your pension anytime soon but it's definitely something to be considered. George and I have thought many times about things we would like to do in the future, when we have children and they then leave home, and for us to be comfortable doing those things, we need to have a good pension. Your pension is what you rely on once you finish work so having a good one to pay into now whilst young is definitely something to look into.
Have a plan
I am an avid planner, I like everything in order and that applies to money too. When we know our amount to spend on us for the month, we plan days out, weekends away and more. By thinking about those things, we can work out a rough amount we'll spend too, again keeping us on track with our budget for the month and helping ensure we don't go overboard. It might sound like we're quite strict about it but we're really not, some months we're definitely a little too relaxed with money but putting plans in place really does help. By doing all of these things at the moment to save money, I think we're really going to be able to enjoy ourselves later on in life, aswell as now. We already have ideas of places we would like to travel to with our hard earned money and some of the stories I've seen on the SunLife website recently, prove that you can have fun and broaden your horizons at any age so that only inspires me to keep going the way we are.
Do you have any other tips for saving for the future?
*This post is in collaboration with SunLife
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