Everyone knows you need plenty of knowledge and undersꦡtanding to navigate the world, and nowhere is this m⛦ore important than on the issue of personal finances.
Getting clued up on money means developi💜ng the confidence required to make the most of your future earnings, no matter wha👍t comes your way!
Developing good money habits is especially important at that exciting stage of your teens and early twenties when 𝄹you move towards living independently, taking on new challenges like renting y♎our own flat or getting your first full-time job.
After all, before you get money, you ne🧔ed to ‘get’ money.
That’s the message behind ‘Get’ Money, a financial education campaign from HSജBC UK which this week focuses on helping young adults stay on top of their finances and plan for the future.
In this handy guide, we’ll touch on some of the key building blocks of financial literacy, from managing your household bud♉get and negotiating the world of work to smart spending and borrowing.
You may already have a current account, but there are many more miles to go on the road to financial independence. Are you clued up on how to look for the best interest rates? Are🥂 you making sure you have an emergency savings pot tucked away somewhere?
And if you do have that financial safety net, do you know how you’d go about investing? And what kind of investing is right for you? While riskier investments can yie🍬ld a higher return, there’s always the possibility you’ll lose it all and should therefore only part with what you can afford to say goodbye to.
Should going to university be on the cards for you, you’ll probably be relying on a Maintenance Loan to cover your living costs – which often doesn’t go far enough. Staying on top of💛 your spending is even more important when you have a strict budget to adhere to.
Turn the page for our top tips on making the most of your𓆏 bank account, saving money on bills, and lots more.
Embrace financial independence
While starting to manage your own money can seem dauntin🅷g, building good habits ear🅷ly on will make things much easier down the line.
To🔜 help you ‘get’ money, here are our hints and tips covering four important areas.
MOVING INTO A NEW HOME
You’ve got the keys to y❀our first flat… time to arrange a housewarming!
But while you get set up, 🍌it’s a good idea to make a checklist of all your regular expenses, including rent, utility bills and streaming subscriptions. That way, you can begin to create a househ💜old budget.
It’s usually easiest to pay your bills by Direct Debit, as you won’t have to remember to make the payments each month. But try to ge🎐t into the habit of shopping around every 12 months to make sure you’re on the best deal.
What HSBC UK always recommend is that people have a ‘moving in budget’ for things that you might need to get started in your new pad – this way you won’t derail 𓄧your normal budget on day one.
ENTERING THE WORLD OF WORK
Work isn’t one-size-fits-all. While lots of people are still employed full-time by a compღany, some choose to be their own 🥀boss – including influencers who are paid to promote brands.
Others boost their regular inco🥂me with a part-time job, like teaching a musical i💝nstrument or selling art.
If you are employed by a company, you’ll receive a pay slip – which shows y🦄our salary alongside deductions like taxes and student loan repayments. UK employers are usually required to enrol you on a pension scheme, so you’ll see these contributions there too.
Your take-home pay consists of your salary minus any deductions. Many companies also offer extra perks like gym memberships, so൲ be ꩵsure to check if there are any you can take advantage of!
SPENDING AND SAVING
Everyone loves to share their holiday snaps on social media, and being disciplined wi𒁃th saving can help you plan for that once-in-a-lifetime trip too.
One great way of saving little by little is rounding up purchases you make and⛎ putting the change into a savings pot. It’s easy to do with cash, but there are also services that can help you do so when paying digitally too.
You also c💫ould take on a challenge. Try the £1 a Day challenge which see🅰s you ending the year with £365 to play with.
Or there’s the 1p Challenge, where you add a penny to the amount you put aside each day – that’s 1p on January 1st, 2p on January 2nd, a𓂃nd💖 so on – which sees you eventually putting away £667.95 by the New Year
And if you’re feelingไ truly committed, take on the 12-month £10 🦂challenge, where each month you add a tenner to what you save. That’s £10 in January, £20 for February, and so on. This would save you £780 in one year.
The flip side of putting money away is cutting back 🔯on your daily non-essentia🐬l purchases – especially things like fancy coffees and takeaways.
Other useful tips for trimming spendingꦇ include making sure you never miss the end date of a free trial as monthly subscriptions can really drain🌼 your bank balance.
Make sure you’re a smart saver by setting up a fund containing at least ꦆthree months’ worth of living expenses that you can draw on in an emergency.
BORROWING MONEY
Most people need to borrow money at some point in their lives. The key things to pay attention to are how much you will be repaying in total, which can help you to decide if you really need the things y💟ou are borrowing for, and if you can afford to make the repayments.
If you do find yourself struggling with debt, it’s essential to reach out for help sooner rather than later – which in the first instance means contacting your 🌺bank.
Your credit꧃ score is a rating lenders use to work out how likely you are to repay any money you borrow, with a good score potentially giving you access to lower interest rates and better deals.
Ways to give it a boost include always paying your bills on tiꦑme, register✅ing to vote, and ensuring all your accounts have up-to-date details, such as the right home address.
For more information, visit
Staying safe online: How to dodge the dodgy dealers by banking safely
Technology h🦋as revolutionised banking, letting you manage your finances fro𓃲m almost anywhere.
While this has made life much more convenient, it’s also opened up new opportunities for criminals who use sneaky tri🉐cks to try and grab your cash.
Even though you’r꧙e a digital native, there’s always room to improve and, by following these tꦺips from HSBC UK, you can ensure you stay safe online.
Firstly, have yoꦺu ever noticed the padlock symbol in the address bar of your browser? This shows your web connection is secure and is especially important to look out for when you’re entering paym🅠ent details.
However, it doesn’t p༒rove the site itself is authentic, so always check the web address for any irregularities like subtle misspellings or extr෴a words.
To gain extra protection f꧙rom hackers, always keep the operating systems on your phone, tablets and computers up to date, as this will ensure you benefit from the latest sec🍸urity updates.
While they can be 🧜a hassle, complex passwords with plenty of numbers, symbols and unrelated letters are harder to crack while enabling biometrics on mobile banking apps adds an extra layer of security.
Another way you can safeguard your money is by ,ꦬ which can be fairly easy to spot💛 when you know what to look for.
A common scam is phishing, where criminals send emails pretending to be from a reputable company to try and elicit personal or financial information, while smishing is when they do the same💟 over text.
Always be wary of messages that ask for personal information or have a generic open๊ing including poor spelling and grammar. You should al🍸so avoid clicking on any links or attachments.
If you receive an unexpected phone call about money, there’s a good chance it’s another type of scam ca♏lled vishing.
In this case, hang up the phone, wait a minute or so, and then ring the co🍸mpany that the caller claimed to🐬 represent using a number you know and trust.
Learn more about fraud with .
AC66474.
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