Everyone needs to save money at some point for a significant life purchase such as buying a car, putting down a deposit on a property or paying for a wedding. Whatever the reason, if you need to save money, you should read the advice below, which will help you to reach your financial goal.

Make a plan

Lots of people talk about saving money, but very few people are actually successful in doing so. The leading cause of failure is a lack of planning. While it is easy to say you are going to put a little aside every month, unless you have a clear plan on how you are going to do it, you will probably end up doing a lot of talking and not very much saving. 

The first step you need to take is to establish your income and spending. Write down every source of income you have and the average amount you will receive per month on a sheet of paper. Next, start a new column and write down essential outgoings such as rent, food, travel, etc. Subtract the outgoings from your total income, and you will be left with a surplus, which is the money you can place into savings. 

Adjust your lifestyle

The final step is to divide your target amount by the money surplus. Doing so will give you an idea of how long it will take to save the money you need. If you feel that the amount you have left over at the end of the month is too small or that the amount of time required to reach your goal is too long, you will need to make some adjustments to your income or outgoings. Typically, the easiest way of increasing the amount of money which is available to save is to reduce your outgoings. Over the course of a few weeks, you should keep a daily log of the money you spend. Many people are surprised that very small non-essential items they buy on a regular basis, such as takeaway coffee, drastically reduce the amount of money they can save. Once you have identified areas where you can save money by cutting out non-essential items, you should take steps to change your lifestyle. For example, rather than buying take-out coffee, you could make your own coffee and take it to work in a thermos flask.

If you would like further advice about how you can save money, you should contact a financial adviser today.