Just picture the scene – you breeze your way to an ATM thinking you’re secure in your finances when, after you’ve entered your pin, disaster strikes!
That bank balance you hold so dearly is empty, drained of finances until the start of next month.
Even trying to take out a tenner makes you receive that threat of a message: “You have insufficient funds.”
It’s a pinch that a lot of us feel before payday kicks in. But the “insufficient funds” message is something that thrifty spenders rarely see in their lifetime.
With the right kind of investment, you’ll find that you can stretch your cash that little bit further. So, have a look at these tips and stop the ATM being such a threatening place.
Plan for your death
As a rule, we try to block out the inevitability of death. But, as that feeling creeps at the back of your mind, you know that you should plan for it. While it can cause bouts of melancholy, planning for your death now can save you cash in the future.
That’s right – if you buy a funeral plan, you’ll freeze inflation, meaning that after a few monthly payments you won’t have to worry about it again.
To get the ideal funeral, set up a funeral plan checklist, ticking off every piece of the send-off as you prepare for it. That way, you know you’ll get the service that you want.
Schedule your cash flow
Plans are what good finances are made of – with a successful schedule for your outgoings, you’ll be able to map out when you have to make payments and have fewer surprises when you visit the cash machine.
Not only this, if you try to cluster as many of your payments as close to payday as possible, you’ll know exactly how much you have left for leisure time. It means that you can treat yourself without being left short at the end of the month.
Stop keeping up with the Joneses
See that new mobile phone being advertised on the telly? It’s not something most people tell you nowadays, but you don’t actually need it. The world is full of capitalist temptations. More than ever, our mind is flooded with sparkling ads and appealing promotions.
Where keeping up with the Joneses once meant having a decently trimmed garden, now it’s having expensive cars and widescreen TVs. And, frankly, it’s all gotten a bit out of control.
When you can take yourself away from that feeling of wanting what you can’t afford and don’t need, you’ll spend a lot less, making that bank balance a more bearable sight.