Financial Matters

With David Frederick FCCA | Marcus Bishop Associates | marcus-bishop.com

A Year Of Financial Take-Aways

Christmas is just around the corner, followed swiftly by the closure of the year. The economic, socio-political events of the last twelve months may easily tempt us or tomorrow’s historians to conclude what an annus horribilis. However, let’s avoid becoming preoccupied with all things doom and gloom, at this time. Take a moment and allow ourselves to reflect on the writings of Noel Gallagher and in particular, the Oasis hit single, “Don’t look back in anger.” Despite the highs and lows of 2022, the year has provided a breadth of personal financial learning for many of the unsung heroes in society. In keeping with the spirit of Christmas and not looking back in anger, eight financial lessons, tips and take-aways from our unsung heroes have been shared below for our readers. “I reviewed my bank statement each month and categorised all my transactions; and compared against the budget I had set for each category. This allowed me to spot the fact that one month, I had spent £150 on Uber. Although I had no Uber budget!” “I signed up for a bank account that sends you notifications as you make a transaction and your current balance. This has allowed me to keep on top of my finances and always know my position.” “I downloaded a useful app called Snopp which has helped me budgeting and monitoring my monthly bills.” “Some months during the year I had a no takeaway challenge. This meant not buying any takeaway item, including tea, coffee, sandwich etc.” “I don’t use my current account for any online retail transaction. I have a separate bank account for all online transactions, to minimise fraud. I transfer funds to my bank account used for online transactions solely for that purpose. The regular notifications from that bank has twice in the year proved invaluable. On being alerted I was able to contact the bank immediately, freeze card and incur no loss.” “I no longer try and save money at the expense of paying off my debt. The interest earned from saving is invariably less than the interest being paid on my credit cards and loans. I now channel efforts into discharging my debt before creating a savings pool. I may lose 1% of savings interest but I am not building up 2% interest charges per month. It’s a no brainer.” “As a family, we have agreed to stop buying each other presents. We agreed that each member would contribute a fixed sum into a family pot and nominate one member to organise a family event with the pot of money. This enables us to create family memories and abandon traditional buying of presents whilst saving the earth from more stuff going into landfills.” “Following our discussion, I now check my bank balance twice a day. I can’t believe it helped the bank clawback a few hundred pounds for me. I had been online to purchase an item for £47.99 but since that purchase each month the supplier had been taking the same amount from my account. It was only when I started checking my bank account on my phone, did I notice this and worked with my bank to get a full refund.” The lessons from our contributors demonstrates that our personal finance and money management education continues to evolve irrespective of what is taking place in the wider local, national or international economy. An additional tip for 2023, don’t forget January is that dreary post-Christmas month. So rather than attempt to be financially frugal in January, as you go about your December spending, try and allow for some post-Christmas cheer for the month of January. Above all, let’s strive to make next year, annus mirabilis.