With job losses becoming a regular occurrence recently, people are becoming more anxious over their finances. Constant worrying about your money can lead to ill health and affects your loved ones around you. Finances can often feel like something you cannot control, however, this is not true. In order to resolve and ease any money worries, the first step is to act. This brief guide will provide some handy tips on how to control your finances and prevent you from worrying.
Review the situation
To get a better understand of your financial situation, it is best to analyse what is happening. A handy tip to help with this is to create a budget that lists all your outgoings and incomings. Be honest about what you spend and review what takes priority. Things such as mortgage and bills should be considered first and placed at the top of the list. Once you have done this, it will give you a better understanding of what you may need financially to help and where you can save money. Find out what benefits you may be entitled to, switch to a cheaper energy provider or see if you can reorganise any debts, if any.
Seek advice and guidance
We tend not to talk about our financial problems. The more we suppress the need to talk, the worse it gets. Financial advisers can help with debt management, or regular financial advice such as mortgaging or better finance management. Some online financial product providers can suggest excellent services to help with this (e.g. debt management) or guide you to lenders if you have had problems with your credit in the past.
Get organised
To help manage your finances better and to avoid the worry about paying bills, you should set up direct debits which guarantee those important bills have been paid, provided you have the money in the account. Some companies offer a discount if you are paying via direct debit and you can request a specific date the money goes out too. To help keep track of what is going out and what is going on, you should set up online banking that will easily allow you to see what bills have been paid and when they have gone out. They will also let you make quick and easy transfers and payments.
Debt management
While seeking the advice of a financial advisor is beneficial for debt management, this is something you can do too. Paying debts on time is vital when it comes to securing an excellent credit score and will prevent you from accumulating further debt. As with budgeting, review what you owe and organise the minimum payment to be taken out of your account via direct debit. Like with bills, this will ensure that you have not missed any crucial payments.
If you feel under pressure in any financial situation, you can sell any unwanted items online. This is considered a preferred alternative to taking out loans such as payday loans to cover strained periods. In any case, it is important that you review your situation carefully and choose your options wisely.
Harry Price is a taented young writer that lives on the south coast with his wife and 3 dogs. They all enjoy long windy walks by the sea.