For those of you fortunate enough still to be working but having to do so from home, you must be saving a fortune.
Most of us have to commute to work either by public or private transport. In the last 4 weeks that’s a big saving on rail, bus or taxi fares, petrol/diesel and parking.
Then before you get to work you pick up your takeaway coffee or snack. At lunchtime you have the sandwiches you brought in or you go out and buy a takeaway. After work you might drop in for a quick drink with your mates or maybe go out for a meal with family or friends.
Now I’m not saying you do this every day, but you begin to get the picture. I haven’t even started on trips to the salon, nail bar or barbers. I’ve not mentioned going to the gym, exercise classes or five-a-side footy, touch rugby, running or cycling club yet.
Of course, the figure will vary from person to person and where you live but there are some figures emerging that typically suggest you will save up to between £400 to £500 per month. And that’s without even trying.
Andrew Hannay, director of Edinburgh based IFA RobMac has recently published an article about all the other things we should be doing as a matter of course to both save money and stay healthy during these difficult times. You can read the article here
So now that you’ve saved up all this cash what are you going to do with it?
Given the current uncertainty of how long we are going to be in lockdown, the first thing to do is create a cash reserve for a minimum of 6 months. Sadly, some people will lose their jobs and they will need to still be able to pay utility bills, mortgage repayments, council tax etc. In fact, even beyond this unusual time, it’s something that we should be doing anyway.
Secondly, you could start to either increase your pension pot or invest in a stocks and shares ISA. These types of savings are for the long term, but a modest increase now will repay you very well in the future.
We know that talk of pensions and retirement is not a topic that is of much interest to people in their 20s and 30s but if there is one regret that everyone approaching pensionable age will tell you it’s “I wish I’d put more into my pension when I was younger”. Please feel free to pass this nugget on to the younger generation.
And if after doing both those, you have a little left over why not support some of the wonderful charities that are doing so much to help front line workers in the NHS who are helping to save people’s lives. We’ve all been amazed at the success of Tom Moore who has raised £13 million https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tomswalkforthenhs and Olivia Strong who has raised £2.6 million by initially just asking her friends to run 5k and donate £5 https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RunForHeroes You can also donate directly to NHS Charities Together here https://www.nhscharitiestogether.co.uk/
I hope this article is of some interest to everyone. If so and you would like to discuss your financial position further then please get in touch to make an online booking here>>
