In life, we are all guaranteed to experience events – whether planned or not – that will affect our finances somehow. Whether you’re expecting a significant life event to take place, such as a wedding, your first house purchase, save for international travel or a car loan, or an unexpected event takes you by surprise – all of them can be a blow to your finances.
Significant purchases or life events can cost us significant amounts of money, and ultimately, not every individual is a pro’ at managing their finances or budgeting. So, budgeting, financing, or saving for significant purchases or events can be a challenging affair for these selected few, especially if you’re not sure where to start.
However, with the right amount of control and determination, anyone can learn to budget, finance, or save their money better to achieve their financial goals. We’ve created this article to help you prepare yourself for these economic changes and outlined several of our best money-saving suggestions to help you budget, finance or save for the significant purchases or events coming up in your life.
Avoid Making Impulse Purchases
No matter how frugal of a spender you might be, we’d wager that at some point or another, you’ve fallen victim to an impulse purchase. Whether it’s a Starbucks coffee while you’re running errands around town or a pair of trainers that you spot in a store window for 20% off – you’ve succumbed to a few impulse buys in your life.
However fun impulsive purchases might be while you’re out shopping, indulging in them all too often can add unnecessary expense to your monthly credit or debit card bills. Not to mention, it can affect any savings that you may have. Think about it for a second, if you were to add together how much you spent on impulse purchases across a month – we bet it would be a considerable amount.
We’re not saying that you can never make another impulse buy in your life, but shopping in moderation and exercising more control when you feel the urge to spend can help you limit unnecessary purchases and put the money saved towards another expense or existing savings. You could also do this by making a list each time you go shopping, outlining a spending budget, not signing up for marketing emails and many more.
Take Out A Loan
Whether you’re trying to save enough money for a down payment on your first home, come up with a sizeable deposit for a vehicle or trying to save for your first family holiday. In an ideal world, we’d like to pay the total amount upfront; however, the reality for many people is that paying in full is not always an option.
Suppose you don’t have the time to wait until you can afford the purchase upfront. In that case, you might want to consider taking out a personal or payday loan to help you finance the purchase, especially if it’s a purchase that has arisen unexpectedly. There are a variety of loans available to individuals these days, all of which is a valuable emergency form of payment that doesn’t require individuals to clear out their entire savings account.
If you feel as though you would benefit from taking out a loan to fund your purchase, consider reaching out to a broker such as PayDay UK for more information. Peruse their website and follow their blog for more insight into their Pay Day UK plus other services, or consider contacting a member of their team to see how their services could help you today.
Open A Savings Account Dedicated To Your Intended Purchase
One of the best ways to help yourself budget, finance, or save for a significant purchase is by opening a savings account dedicated to your intended purchase. Doing so will help you avoid spending the money you’re planning to spend on your big purchase on something else, and depending on which provider you open the account with, you can also get reasonable interest rates to boost whatever you put in.
The beauty with these accounts is that you can transfer as little or as much into the account, and some accounts can be set up with as little as £1. We recommend looking at your monthly income and outgoings so that you can determine a reasonable, realistic amount that you can put into your new savings account each month.
You could start with £100 a month and increase it to £200 after the first month if you feel as though you can spare more expenses. But be wary of depositing too much, as some accounts may reduce your interest rate if you withdraw money from your savings.
Buy The Item Preowned
Although perhaps not a suitable suggestion for certain significant investments such as overseas travel or purchasing a home, if your intended purchase is an object such as a T.V, car etc., you could consider buying the item preowned instead of brand-new. We understand the appeal of purchasing something brand-new, especially if it is a significant purchase. Still, many preloved items have much more years of life in them and could save you significantly.
So make sure that you don’t overlook the idea of purchasing something preowned, or without first looking in charity shops, car boot sales or online marketplaces such as eBay or Facebook Marketplace. You could even ask friends and family members that have your desired item if they would be willing to sell it to you for a discounted price and use it until you can afford a brand-new one comfortably.
Consider Boosting Your Income
If you find that opening a savings account and reducing the amount you’re spending isn’t helping you reach your financial goals for your purchase quick enough, boosting your income may be a consideration that can help you afford more significant investments quicker.
Whether you decide to take part in a side hustle or have a hobby that you could turn into a small business, many options are available to individuals looking to boost their income. You could look online for income-boosting ideas that you could do from the comfort of your own home, or you could approach your current job and ask for a raise or extra hours.
Don’t be disheartened if your employer dismisses your request for a raise; instead, ask them how you could work towards achieving a better rate/position. You could also schedule a review for a couple of weeks/months for you and your manager to establish how well you’re working towards the goals that you’ve set in place.
While you work towards your work-related goals to boost your income, you could complete side hustles along the way, which will temporarily provide you with the extra funds needed until your manager approves you for a raise/new position.
Shop Around For The Item
Even the most frugal of shoppers realise that one of the best money-saving tactics for financing a significant purchase is shopping around for your desired item and comparing prices from different vendors. From well-known chain stores to online marketplaces such as Amazon, ensure that you explore every avenue before committing yourself to a purchase, even if it sounds like a good saving at the time.
Prices of items differ massively between stores, and depending on the cost of the item; you could find price differences between hundreds or thousands of pounds – which makes the effort of shopping around more than worthwhile.
