How To Save Money As a Young Person
Saving money is the hardest thing that most people find doing especially when there are many items that one desires to buy. As we all know, technology has evolved since the beginning, this means that buying online is very easy with just a few clicks. There are many advice and videos out there on how to save money for people 18+ however there aren’t many for under 18s so this advice is mainly for teenagers who are earning money or those who plan to start earning whether that be through part-time job or allowance. This is all from my experience since I started earning and I’m not an expert but these methods have worked for me well.
How to save money
- Do not trust other people by giving them your money to save for your
In my opinion, this is a big one especially if your 14+ and can have a bank account. So why do I think this is a big one, well this is a mistake I made and I wish I would have saved into a bank account from the start. In my experience, I trusted my parents with my money and although my parents are trustworthy people and are going to pay back the money I left in their safe hands, I wish I had just transferred my money to a bank account from the beginning because it is a lot more convenient and easy to do so once you have a bank account. This method will also save an argument further down the line which is a bonus.
2. Open a normal bank account and a saving account — through your parents/guardians
My dad opened up a bank account for me when I was 14 (I’m 16 now going 17 soon) through Santander 123 mini account, which was big saver because it meant I would a credit card and have my place for my earnings to be sent to instead of it being sent to my parents’ account. it saves a lot hassle by opening a bank account. You should ask your parents to open up these accounts for you. Through this, you will be able to use your credit card to spend on the things you and to transfer money to other accounts. Now the other point is to have a saving account. Your parent might already this opened for so ask them to use it to transfer your saving. I already had a savings account set-up for me and it was a TSB Easy Saver account and it is where I had my savings kept. If you have a savings account then I highly recommend you research the different types of saving account from different bank accounts and decide which one you want, also don’t be afraid to seek advice from your parent/guardian. As you can already realise having a savings account has a lot of benefits if you find the most suitable for you.
link to 123 mini accounts if you want to check it out
3. Decide how much you want to save out of your earning and set an automated saving
So once you have the accounts and you have started earning, the next step is to decide how much you want to save from the money you’re getting. This depends on how much you’re earning and how often. So for me, I earn around £180 every 2 weeks (not anymore due to the world pandemic) and the way I save is by saving between £90–£150 depending on how much I earned from my shift. Mistakes I made is not starting to save even a little bit when I started getting allowances from dad when my bank account was opened. I got £40 a month for allowance until I started my part-time job, although it is not a lot of money, looking back I wish that I could have saved a least £5 a month. starting to save a little every month is important for those who have a goal for saving towards. So if you get allowances, I recommend that you save a little of it every month depending on how much you get. Here is a link for TSB accounts and the saving account I have.
Another way of deciding how much you want to save is through the 50/30/20 if you want a more organised way of saving. So the 50/30/20 rule says that you should spend 50% of your earning on your needs, these are things you absolutely need not want. 30% of your earnings should be spent on your Wants this time and lastly, the remaining 20% is for saving. You can easily adjust it to meet your needs and wants. I don’t use this because I already have a specific amount I want to save every time I get paid.
That’s it for now! These are methods I have used and I’m still using and it has made saving money easier and it is set by my own pace so I decide how much I want to save. I also intend to continue using these in the future and try the 50/30/20 to save more money for my goal which is Travelling.