How to keep your finances healthy and secure

Follow these suggestions for more secure finances.

10:27 24 May 2013

When it comes to finances, there’s a lot that can surprise us and leave us in a detrimental situation. Right now the farmers in Wales are waiting while their ability to recover from the devastating snowstorms is assessed. So many times in life we experience similar situations in a variety of forms that threaten to put our finances into chaos.

 

Each situation is different, but here are a few ideas to keep your finances from taking an unexpected plunge:

 

• Regular assessments—just like physical health should be checked regularly, your finances should also be checked on a regular basis. Any time a significant change happens, it’s a great time to re-evaluate the budget.

 

• Savings—whether you have Cash ISAs, Stocks and Shares ISAs, regular savings accounts, bonds or other forms of investments, you’ll want to keep up on interest rates and continue to contribute to the accounts, even if you are not seeing a quick return.

 

• Reduce debt—free up more cash for your month by trying to pay off a small amount that will give you the most money back in your pocket for the month. Even if you can only afford to pay off small amounts, it will eventually add up to more significant savings as you continue to pay off loans and other debt. It might take longer, but it’s a good move to protect the state of your finances.

 

 

• Maximize—you’ll want to make sure you take advantage of the best rates, combine any discounts when possible, and sign up for any programmes which can help your finances either for immediate benefits, or for future benefits such as retirement pay.

 

 

• Resources—in case something does happen, have a basic plan for how you might approach the scenario and know what your available resources are so that you have the opportunity to protect your finances.