Finance Your Best Life

01/08/2023

Focus on saving or investing your money at the start of the month!

Otherwise it is all too easy to spend and then have nothing left at the end of the month...

28/07/2023

My top money goals! These are the top 3 things that I am saving and investing for.

🗺 I am planning to move to Australia in September for about a year! It terrifies me and excites me at the same time. I want at least £3,000 in my bank account so I can find a job and pay my living costs whilst doing this!

💻 Start my own business: I am definitely feeling like I need to tap into the world of running my own business. To be honest, I've never thought of myself as an entrepreneurial person and I still have a lot of blocks around it - but I'm feeling the need to try something new!

👩‍🦳 Even though retirement is still over 30 years away for me, it is a priority as £750,000 is a LOT of money and I need to start early to build this up. I invest my money via a pension and a stocks and shares ISA (as these are the most tax efficient ways)

26/07/2023

Make sure you are saving and investing your money for FUTURE YOU!

Over 60% of people earning over $100k still live paycheck to paycheck!!! You need to be saving and investing money for your future otherwise you will never escape this struggle

24/07/2023

Running out of money at the end of the month? Never have enough leftover to save or invest?

Try saving or investing a small amount at the start of the month instead!
Set up an automated transfer to a separate saving or investment account - you can start with a small amount and then gradually increase it

21/07/2023

Three ways I track my money:

📔 Notebook: I use a pen and paper to roughly workout my income, expenses, savings and investments each month. I am definitely a big notebook planner and I use this to write down my goals and estimate how much they cost

📱 App: tracking apps can be super useful to get a quick glance at how much money you have and what you've spent. I use my banking and credit card apps as well as an additional tracking app where I can connect all my accounts

💻 Spreadsheet: to go a bit more in detail, I've made a spreadsheet which shows me the key categories I am spending on, what my budget is and how I'm tracking vs my goals

Which method do you prefer? Or do you also use a combination?

16/07/2023

My first Youtube video! A step-by-step guide on saving for your dreams!

Welcome to my YouTube channel! In this video, I unravel the secrets to successfully save for your big financial goals. If you want to make your dreams a real...

30/06/2023

Have I hit my 2023 goals and am I on track?

1. Change jobs - YES!! And I am feeling so much better. For context, I was working in a data and sustainability role for a large fashion company at which I was completely overworked to the point of burnout. I was crying pretty much every day for about 3 months until I finally got the courage to quit.

2. Build a side income - not yet… I am feeling so excited about the potential for Finance Your Best Life but I haven’t generated any income from it yet. I have created an expenses tracker and some eyecatching CVs (which I used to land my new job doubling my previous income) and I’m selling these on my Etsy if you’re interested. I’m currently building out some other financial resources which I know will be a game changer for so many of you (stay tuned)!

3. Travel to Australia - YES! I travelled round Australia for 3 weeks and it was an incredible trip. I went with my boyfriend just after finishing my previous job and I felt so carefree and happy whilst out there. This trip cost me a total of £4,000 and was entirely worth it.

4. Increase net worth to £75,000 - not there yet. Landing my new job and increasing my salary has helped me make progress on this. But this is definitely a big stretch goal for me.

5. 35% saving and investing rate - last year I was investing/saving about 25% of my income and I wanted to increase this to 35% this year given my salary has increased. I am currently at 28% of my net salary (excluding pension contributions) but as I am now contracting, the pension contributions come out of my business so if I include these then I’m at £1,500 (>35%)

So 2/5 goals achieved, 2/5 on track and the 1/5 still requires a bit of work to get there… I’ll check in again in 3 months time

28/06/2023

Investing misconceptions:

1. I need a lot of money - not true, this is how you can build your wealth to get a lot of money but you can start with as little as £50

2. Investing is confusing - actually once you get started it is as easy as transferring your money into a savings account. There is a lot of financial jargon and pictures of complicated charts which make it seem intimidating but you don't really need to understand this to be able to invest.

3. Investing is like gambling - the stock market has historically provided an average 10% return on money invested whereas gambling has a very low chance of success.

4. Investing is risky - you can choose funds and stocks based on your risk appetite, the main thing to do is make sure you are investing in a range of different stocks and funds so you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.

You may already be investing without realising. If you have a company pension your money is likely already invested in funds, stocks and shares

26/06/2023

Four benefits of investing:

1. Grow your wealth - beauty of compound interest is that the longer you leave your money in the market the more it grows

2. Passive income - you can invest in stocks and funds that pay dividends which is an amount of money that you receive every month

3. Beat inflation - cost of items increase around 3-4% each year whereas investing has an average historical return of 10% each year

4. Reach financial goals faster - because of the higher growth rates, you can hit your goals faster by investing than saving (10% interest vs 3% interest)

24/06/2023

My monthly savings and investments...

This is how much I save and invest per month towards my goals!
Living abroad: £416 per month for 1 year
Starting a business: £333 per month for 2 years
Travelling: £251 per month for 1 year
Retirement: £500 per month for many years (invested in stocks, shares and funds)

22/06/2023

You don’t need loads of money to get started with investing!

If you start investing £50 every month at age 25…
your money will grow to £280,000 by the time you’re 65 from only £24,000 contributed. That is an extra £256,000!!!