How to spring clean your family finances

With spring, more sunshine and the end of lockdown just around the corner, now is the perfect time to spring clean up your finances. 

We could all benefit from taking a close look at finances and ask what can be cleaned up? For example do you have any direct debits or subscriptions you can live without? Have you got any finances in any extra accounts you may have forgotten about? And it’s a good idea to acknowledge any bad spending habits. If you manage to cut back on a few pounds a month, this could be invested in a Junior ISA or Young Saver Plan for little ones.

Shepherds Friendly carried out some research and asked 2,097 people the following question. ‘Do you currently budget your spending?’ (By ‘budget’ Shepherds Friendly mean monitoring your spending to ensure that you don't spend more money than you have coming in).

The results are as follows:

Yes I do– 65%
No I don’t – 32%
Unsure – 4%

If you’re looking to budget, start by looking through your direct debits and subscriptions and asking if everything is absolutely necessary, shake off any bad spending habits, get out of any debt and set regular savings goals with a view to putting a few pounds towards your child’s future.

Depending on your situation, Shepherds Friendly have a range of child savings plans. With the Junior ISA, an account can be opened from just £10 a month (or a £100 lump sum). Whilst the Young Saver Plan can be opened from just £7.50 a month, with the added benefit that anyone can pay into this account. Perfect if you have grandchildren, nieces or nephews or a friend’s child you’d like to contribute to. 

Saving from a young age can give them an amazing head start in life, whether they want to invest the money in their first car, get onto the housing ladder or towards their university education.

* Remember: When investing, your capital is at risk. In poor investment conditions a Market Value Reduction (MVR) may be applied.