Ramsgate Rooms tenants enjoy one monthly bill to help them stay on top of their finances, making it simpler to keep track of spending. Even if your own house-share doesn’t include this, staying in control of your personal finances as a young professional is easier than you think. Read on for handy tips about all things money – managing income, bills, savings and pensions as well as tips for getting into the budgeting habit.
If you and your housemates are responsible for paying the bills together, it’s going to be in everyones’ interest to use the utilities wisely. Decide together on how this is going to be done, even if you have to adopt a little give and take. In terms of the bills themselves, will you all just be splitting them equally or is it going to be divided up depending on usage? In a houseshare, another great way to economise is to take it in turns to do the cooking. Preparing food in large quantities will save money and help you resist expensive takeaways.
Aside from the house-sharing finances, managing your own day-to-day costs is so important. Getting into a budgeting habit is an excellent way of controlling your outgoings. Set time aside each week to go through your income and expenditure so that you can keep track of where you might be overspending. There are also government initiatives coming off the back of the Covid-19, such as the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which brings big discounts to going out for a meal. Another one is the Fix Your Bike pilot scheme, which has proved so popular that it’s currently on hold. Keep an eye on it though, as it may return soon.
As well as regular budgeting, making the effort to save regularly will stand you in very good stead. There are lots of ways to start saving, short-term or long-term you can be putting away small amounts of cash towards different things and soon build up a nest egg. Many young people will begin saving for a house deposit in a Lifetime ISA for example. Saving towards smaller funds as well for a holiday or a special event will ensure you treat yourself after working hard.
And finally, what about pensions? Yes it may seem a long way off, but it is never to soon to be contributing to a pension. Most employers now sign up to auto-enrollment, enabling you to put part of your salary towards a pension scheme independent of the state pension. If you are self employed, make sure you find out how to continue making National Insurance contributions towards the state pension as well as making provision for a private one too if you can. The earlier you start, the more you will accumulate.
Whatever you choose to do with your money, it will always pay off to be organised, especially if you are co-living. Ramsgate Rooms knows that it is the ideal opportunity to make your hard-earned salary work for you. Whether you are having to budget in order to navigate through difficult times or if you are saving for a house deposit or putting money aside for that round-the-world trip of a lifetime, there is a wealth of sound advice available:
