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As we approach 2023, we are entering into the ‘New Year, New You’ mind frame and one of the most common New Year’s Resolutions is to manage money better. This week I’m going to give you three tips on better money management for 2023.

1. Prepare a Budget

• To prepare a budget, you will need to calculate your total income. Look at the net income on your payslip and this will show you your take home pay for every week/month, add this to any social welfare payments, rental income payments, or other income received. You will then need to calculate your outgoings.
• Firstly, regular expenses: These include your regular outgoings and include such things as electricity, phone, life cover, health insurance, car expenses, food shopping, childcare costs, TV package, etc.
• Secondly, debt: These include your mortgages, car loans, credit cards, personal loans, etc.
• Thirdly, occasional expenses: These include clothes, medical costs, holidays, TV Licence, back to school costs, birthdays, Christmas, home heating oil, socialising etc.
• If you have any money left over the first thing you should consider is paying off any debt, especially shorter-term debt with high interest rates such as credit cards and unsecured loans. The next step to take is to build an emergency fund. You should also study your outgoings to decide if you can save money or cut back on any of your expenses, especially your everyday expenditure.

2. Set Financial Goals

• If you set realistic tangible financial goals, you are more likely to stick with and achieve them. There are short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals.
• A short-term goal might be paying off a credit card, saving for Christmas, saving for a holiday, or building an emergency fund which will be available for any unexpected expenses.
• A medium-term goal may be saving for your children’s education, saving to pay a lump sum off your mortgage or saving for home improvements.
• A long-term goal may be paying into a pension to save for retirement, paying off your mortgage early or saving for long term financial security.

3. Shop Around and Save

• Shopping around for all products such as electricity, phone contracts, life cover, health insurance, serious illness cover, etc. can potentially save you money each year. You can also review the charges on your current account, investment products and pension products to see if it is possible to save money there.

By proper planning, budgeting, shopping around and perseverance it is possible to save money each year and as we come towards the end of the year now is as good a time as any to start preparing for next year.

Robert Downes QFA, RPA is a Qualified Financial Advisor. You can contact him through John F. Loughrey Financial Services Ltd. by telephone on 074-9124002 or by email on robert@jfl.ie