As costs for everyday items continue to increase, some of us may find it hard to actively budget for our day to day life. In fact, Aldermore’s own research showed that a quarter of Brits failed to save anything in the past year, while a further 29% were hoping to save more money in the year ahead.
We at Aldermore are firm believers in regular saving, and we offer personal savings accounts to help our customers do just that. Here, we’ll cover the many reasons why saving, even a small amount each month, is important.
There are three reasons why monthly saving matters:
With seven out of 10 Brits needing to dip into their savings in the past year, the importance of having a buffer to fend off uncertainty can be a real lifesaver. From unexpected expenses or emergencies, gradually building up a safety net as time goes by can act as a great reassurance as well as creating good savings habits.
Money is heavily intertwined with our mental wellbeing. Even without a cost of living crisis, financial stability is a major recurring part of our daily thoughts. Such stress can cloud judgement and impact other aspects of our lives.
While saving more won’t necessarily improve mental wellbeing, taking a conscious, active approach to saving can really help alleviate some of your concerns.
Interest is a core part of saving regularly. The process is simple: the more money you save, the more interest you earn every month (or year, if that’s your preference).
Consistently topping up your savings is the number one way to ensure your interest continually builds, as you also take advantage of compounding interest.
Figuring out how much to save per month can be a challenge. But, we’re here to help.
Of course, the exact amount you save each month will depend on loads of variables. The two main things to consider are the money you have coming in and out of your account.
In general, saving 20% of your monthly income is great, if feasible. So, if your salary is £2,000 per month, you should aim to put £400 aside each month – although, saving whatever you are able to is always a good start.
There are many theories and strategies to subscribe to when it comes to knowing how much to save, so giving a definitive answer to which one is best for you can be tricky. To help you choose, we’ve detailed the two most common strategies below:
The 50/30/20 rule is perhaps the most discussed saving strategy. It claims that 50% of your salary should be spent on necessities, 30% should go on wants and non-essential purchases, while 20% should be saved. It ensures an even, proportionate split that leaves no stone unturned.
The 1x salary rule is more of a retirement focused saving strategy. It suggests that by the age of 30, a person should have a savings figure equal to their annual salary. For example, if you earn £25,000 by the age of 30, you should have £25,000 in savings.
As a theory, it has strong foundations, but it can fall apart quickly when you account for things like fluctuating salaries - if you get a pay rise from one year to the next, your savings contributions will need to scale drastically. For stable salaries, however, the strategy works quite well.
Saving always sounds great in theory, but what does it look like in practice?
When it comes to monthly saving, your goals are best placed into long term objectives like buying a house, upgrading your car, or saving for retirement. Over time, your consistent monthly savings will make a much larger, more tangible step towards your goals compared to growing your savings in unplanned increments.
It’s always important to have eyes on your monthly outgoings. Different periods are more expensive than others, like Christmas for example, but having a running log of what your outgoings look like will go a long way in helping you make savings every month.
Budgeting in this way can mean over accounting for different costs, which can then be diverted into savings accounts with seemingly no major hit to your finances.
Despite monthly saving goals being more of a long term process aimed at larger financial obstacles, the best way of getting started is to start small with lower monthly contributions, which you can then use to scale over time.
One practical aspect to saving monthly revolves around the account you end up saving into. Specifically, you should be mindful of the minimum monthly deposit restrictions on various accounts, should they apply.
Given that there are loads of different types of savings accounts, each with their own benefits and features, some may impose limitations on either the number of deposits you can make, or the smallest/largest permitted deposit. It’s important to review the different types of accounts against your needs and circumstances when selecting an account to open.
At Aldermore, our goal is to make savings easy. We’re proud to offer a variety of different savings accounts, each one with its own features to make it suitable for different situations.
Want to save consistently? Find out more about our regular saver account. Think your requirements are different? Take a look at our range of accounts to see what suits you best.