Lots of people struggle with their finances, so if that is you, you are not alone. The biggest problem for many though is facing they have a struggle and taking time to get it back on track.
Now I’m not going to claim to be an expert on this, in fact, we have had times where money has been hard.
When we got our first mortgage we were one of the last ones on the Northern Rock 125% mortgages. Not ideal however it is not something I regret as it allowed us to get on the property ladder and meant we could take a mortgage break when we had children to allow me to be on maternity leave.
If your finances are a bit tough or you have just found yourself overspending, why not take a bit of time out to do a few simple things to get back on track.
- Don’t bury your head in the sand – there is no point in trying to tackle your finances if you deny you have any problems. You can’t fix something if you can’t see its broken.
- Budget – Everyone needs to have a budget, whether it be on paper or electronically. You need to be able to check what you have coming in and going out to be able to focus on how much money you do have. This is a great starting point on whether you have money spare to pay things off or have a monthly shortfall to tackle.
- Be realistic – If your outgoings are more than your incoming them you are going to need to change something. No one wants to spend their life with debt following them, so why not use 2019 as a year to tackle it? If you are unsure how to do this why not head over to Creditfix for help on those first steps.
- Look at ways to increase your income – It’s not always easy to boost your income by just going and getting another job, there are many factors that you need to take into account. However, it doesn’t mean that there are not other ways to boost your income. One thing that got us through a sticky patch was Matched Betting and at times we were getting £500+ extra cash a month, you can read more on that here. Another option if you are short on time is survey’ from home, Savvy In Somerset has a great post on that here.
- Know you are not alone – Lots of us think our financial problems are just us and it can be a bit embarrassing. Don’t tackle debts and financial problems alone. Make sure you reach out to someone for help if you are struggling!
A new year is a great time for many to start looking at positive changes in their lives, in 2019 make it the year you tackle finances in a positive way!
This is a collaborative post