No matter how financially savvy you are, every now and again we all get the urge to spoil ourselves, after all “you can’t take it with you”. We all have different ideas of what qualifies as a treat; to some it might be that takeaway coffee once a week, to others it might be designer clothing; others choose to cut back in some areas to fund their travel habits. If you prefer the occasional large splurge, to spoiling yourself little and often, you are probably going to be saving funds with a purchase or destination in mind.
With interest rates being so low, there is little incentive for savers to keep their money in the bank. Whilst this is the point of keeping interest rates low, to encourage us to spend and therefore grow the economy, rather than squirreling money away for a rainy day (although you could argue that we’ve had enough of those recently to justify spending your rainy day fund on a bit of sun). It doesn’t look as though the Bank of England are planning to raise interest rates any time soon, announcing this week that their interest rate policy is going to be overhauled to take a wider range of factors that just unemployment figures into account, following a quicker than expected rise in employment figures.
Many High Street banks now offer a variety of tools to help you manage your money from tacking and categorising your spends, to allowing you to set a savings goal on your account to allow you to track your progress.
Once you have reached your savings target, a bit of savvy shopping can make your money go a lot further. Big savings can be made on traveling, and who doesn’t want a 5* experience at 3* prices; equally it is important choosing where to save and where to spend.
If long haul is your thing, you may choose to spend more on your flights not only for the extra leg room, but also for the airlines that offer the best in-flight entertainment options. Airlines have realised this and many premium carriers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading the entertainment systems in all classes.
Equally, you may prefer to scrimp on the journey but splurge on the destination, and many hotels and resorts now offer as good, if not better, prices to the independent traveller than you can get through a travel agent.
If you do decide to book your own holiday, the cheapest travel insurance may not be the best policy for you, and without a travel rep to assist and offer advice and support should something go wrong, you need to make sure you are fully covered.
Consider your journey, are there lots of legs, thereby increasing the risk of delays or missed departures? Are you planning on partaking in any sports while you are away (not just extreme)? Do you have adequate cover for your belongings, it’s surprising how quickly it adds up (clothes, phone, camera, tablet etc)? Once you have established what you need, shop around for the best price.