The Power of Financial Clarity: Reducing Monthly Bills
Managing money is something that millions of people struggle with. If you have many different incomings and outgoings occurring at various times throughout any given month, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture – and this can be disastrous when it comes to good spending.
By clarifying your financial life, you can make better decisions where your money is concerned. But what’s the best way of actually doing this? Let’s consider a few key strategies.
Track and Categorise Your Monthly Expenses
To begin with, you’ll want to compose a list of your outgoings. How much are you spending, and what are you spending it on? From there, you can begin to categorise spending. What do you need to spend money on, and what do you merely want to spend money on? The former category can’t be dispensed with; the latter can.
By cutting superfluous spending, you can contribute more to your savings account each month – which can help you secure the things that are really valuable to you.
In some cases, you might wish to simplify your outgoings – especially if you’re paying multiple creditors each month. Debt consolidation loans can help you to do this. They may even reduce your interest payments.
Assess Your Utility Bills and Negotiate Contracts
Just because a particular item of spending is essential doesn’t mean that you can’t reduce its cost. Look closely at your energy, water, internet and mobile phone bill each month. It might be that you can find a better deal elsewhere, especially if you are out of contract. You might renegotiate with your existing supplier, or use a price comparison site to find a better deal.
Eliminate Unnecessary Subscriptions
In some cases, looking through your subscriptions might reveal certain kinds of expenses that are difficult to justify. Are you paying for Netflix, but only watching a few hours of it every month? What about that membership of a gym you barely attend?
In some cases, you can pause a service you aren’t using – so that you can see what life is like without it. In other cases, it might be appropriate to simply cancel it outright. This could save you hundreds, or even thousands of pounds over the course of a given year.
Automate and Simplify Your Payments
If you have to pay your bills manually, then you’ll be spending not only money but also mental energy. If you can consolidate payments, or automate them, it might be easier to keep track of what’s going on. Where possible, try to have all of the money leave your current account on a given date. You might even set up another account for exactly this purpose – or use a specialised service to take care of everything.
