Hub Controller Savings: How to build a savings habit

With over 10,000 homes in Ireland using Hub Controller saving on average €274 a year, installing a smart thermostat may save you money. With many of us often culling our household bills, switching service providers, and searching for better rates and deals, we are always looking for better ways to invest that money. When it comes to cutting costs and having that little bit of extra cash, what is the best thing to do with it? How about building a savings habit with those extra funds? The hardest part of starting a savings routine is getting started. So, we have some tips to help you develop a realistic habit to get those savings growing.

Record Your Expenses

It’s quite easy to let our spending habits run away with us, but extremely hard to commit to a savings routine. The first step to start saving money is to work out how much you spend, and where your money needs to go on a weekly and monthly basis. By recording your expenses, you learn where your money is going and can see where changes need to be made. Record everything from the small things including your morning cappuccino to big expenses such as your rent or mortgage.

Set Savings Goals

Saving money is not an easy thing to do when it’s so much nicer to spend it! To create a new habit that instills a good pattern of routinely saving money, think about your savings goals. Is there something specific you would like to save for? A new car or sofa? How about a family holiday? Figure out how much you will need to save and when you need it. Then work out how much you would need to save monthly or weekly to reach that goal. By breaking our savings goals into smaller amounts, it suddenly becomes much more achievable.

Decide on Your Priorities

If you have more than one savings goal, which many of us do, you are likely to need to prioritise your goals. Some may be short term and others may be long-term. Our long-term goals, such as a fund for our children’s college fees or retirement, will always seem more daunting and unattainable but the more we commit to our savings habits, the easier it is to reach those goals. But it is important to prioritise our savings without neglecting one fund or another.

Make Savings Automatic

It’s so much easier to save when it’s taken out of your hands. Setting up automatic transfers means your savings will seem to miraculously increase over the years! You choose how much to save and when you wish to transfer funds to your savings account.

Watch Your Savings Grow

Every so often it’s necessary to review your budget and check how you are doing with your expenses and your savings. From time-to-time adjustments will be necessary, whether that is an increase in household costs or a better deal for your broadband, changing how much goes where is important before any extra money becomes consumed into the household budget. Reviewing your plans, expenses, and incomings will help you balance the books and maintain your savings habit.