2022 New Year Resolutions - Expectation Vs Reality
In the New year there is usually an inclination by some to set themselves resolutions, those resolutions can range from living a healthier lifestyle, to starting a saving journey. For many, a new year is a chance to rewrite old wrongs, and to learn from past mistakes to become a better version of themselves than they were the year before.
There is a significant number of people who feel the year has been difficult. The year 2022 will be remembered on an international scale as a year with a lot of turbulence as the year had its fair share of international conflict, a deep economic crisis, a progressive critical climate urgency and is the first year where some degree of
“Any new beginning is forged from the shards of the past, not from the abandonment of the past”- Craig D. Lounsbrough
normality was restored in terms of COVID-19. The world may have expected more economical stability in 2022 as the economy fully reopened and COVID-19 was thought to be under better control but reality has painted a very different story overall.
Ipsos carried out a study which found that a typical pattern emerged which showed a noticeable difference between how people felt the year was for them and their families and how they felt it affected their country. Typically for the thirty-six countries accessed, more than half 36% described the year as terrible for them and their family. However, the percentage increased to 73% when it came to how terrible they felt the year had been in their country.
Nevertheless, these statistics are still an improvement over the previous two years as in 2021 58% and 77% were the figures recorded to the same question. And 2020 the figures were catastrophic with 90% saying it had been a bad year for them and their family members, and 70% saying it was a bad year for their country.
Moreover, the grand majority of people in the UK view the year 2022 as difficult because of multiple resignations from politicians, the highest inflation rate seen in more than 40 years, and interest rate increases by the Bank of England on several occasions in the past year. The interest rate as of today is 3.5% and the inflation rate is 10.7%.
In addition, Great Britain and Hungary had the highest number of people saying that their country had a bad year with 87% of respondents for the two countries reflecting this view.
Things to remember to do/maintain in the New year
1. Have a budget plan in place - Create a budget plan with a saving strategy
Creating a budget plan is a worthwhile investment of time as you can plan your saving and spending strategy within the budget plan. Intellisaving recommends applying your saving strategy before your spending strategy, which would mean you prioritise your saving method before spending one in your budget plan.
2. Track Expenses
To double up on your savings, you need to track where your costs are coming from; this can be done through an app that tracks expenses. Many people use apps which track expenses to figure out where they could start saving.
3. Check your credit score
Track your credit score through free credit check reports and monitoring; some credit score providers will even give you tips on improving your credit score. Checking your credit score may help keep you motivated as you work
hard to improve your credit score by adapting good financial management habits, which in the long term could go towards doubling your finances.
4. Send automatic payments from saving to the current account
Setting up regular monthly payments from your current account to your saving account is the best way to save, one recommended way of saving is to pay yourself first by saving first before spending or paying others
5. Set up an emergency fund
No one knows when they might end up in financial trouble, so having a savings account tucked away may help you if you end up in a financial loophole. And transfer money to this account as often as you can.
6. Save what you can
Start off saving what you can, no matter the amount and adjust the amount up and down depending on how your circumstances change. For example, if your salary increases through a promotion at work, increase the amount you save per month, but if your income stays the same but the rise in the cost of living is making it challenging for you to save the same amount every month then decrease the amount you save until your financial situation improves but still try to maintain the monthly saving habit.
7. Arrange a free overdraft with your bank
Due to regulation changes in 2020, the majority of banks had to adjust overdraft fees. Although you will not be fined if you go into unplanned overdraft, you will notice charges of up to 39.9% EAR which stands for (Effective annual rate) for accounts which become overdrawn.
However, on a brighter note, there are bank accounts which have free permitted overdrafts up to a specific quantity.
8. Seek ways of reducing your tax costs
You may be entitled to reducing tax bills through tax reliefs such as marriage allowance, rent-a-room, and possibly exempt transfers (PETs) could all add up to great savings, though not a lot of people know about them.
9. Cancel any direct debits no longer in use
Reading bank statements more regularly is useful for more than one reason and one of those reasons is that you are more likely to spot direct debits you no longer use and can cancel them.
Further reasons why it is a good idea to keep a closer eye on bank statements is if money for a refund has not yet been deposited or you do not recognise a transaction you will be able to act quickly.
Make it a habit of checking your account once every two weeks or once a month to keep on top of your account.
10. Spot the difference on price comparison websites
Using price comparison websites may be advantageous for comparing a wide range of financial products to increase the possibility of picking the best options for you at the best prices.
Comparison websites are ideal for several different purposes such as buying car insurance, credit cards and broadband bundle, there is usually a noticeable difference in prices being offered by providers from the most costeffective to the costliest, therefore it may be a worthwhile investment of time to surf comparison websites.
11. Download a savings app
If you have not already downloaded a saving app, it may be a good idea to download one such as Intellisaving as this will make it easier to track your saving accounts while saving for different saving goals. Intellisaving is a money-saving app which integrates multiple saving and ISA accounts into their platform to facilitate tracking. They also have several features that are suitable for different saving requirements such as saving as an empty nester, saving for education or a house deposit. These features include a personalised portfolio used as part of the tracking and management of your accounts, and a comparison feature to compare the best interest rates which are being offered by banks and building societies.
12. Revaluate your saving goals for the New Year
Saving goals can change so do look over your goals to see if those are still goals you want to save towards or if you would like to make some modifications. This is also important to do if your circumstances have changed such as you have a new edition in the family, were made redundant, or have an increase in income factors such as these may affect your saving priorities.
No one knows how the next chapter will be written for both the world and individuals’ personal life, however when Ipsos asked as part of their series of questions how respondents’ outlook for 2023 was the participants across the world shared their views. The results showed that the outlook for the global economy on average was that just 46% believed that the global economy would be more stable next year. In contrast, this figure was higher in the two previous years with 61% in 2021, and 54% in 2020. Citizens in Belgium displayed the most pessimistic perspective on the economy with about 27% expecting to see positive developments. Meanwhile, in China 78% and UAE 76% anticipated improvement.
There are obvious reasons for cynicism as a substantial amount (79%) think that the cost of living crisis will continue to increase 75% believe inflation rates will rise further, 68% expect higher unemployment and 74% anticipate that interest rates will continue to mount. Approximately half believe that significant stock markets will
collapse internationally, a considerable jump from the 2022 perspective where 35% anticipated a market collapse. Now 15% more people think this will happen in 2023.
Meanwhile, in the UK experts expect the yearly inflation in the UK to soar as high as 15% by the start of 2023 and are anticipating further increases in energy prices which will impact the cost of living further.
Despite all the different perspectives the world will have to wait until next year to uncover what is next in store.