Saving, Investing and Talking to Friends About Money, With Kalpana Fitzpatrick
💸 Kalpana Fitzpatrick is the Finance Editor at Hearst Magazines. She writes for publications such as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Red and Prima, and her relatable, jargon-free articles cover a wide range of money management topics, such as how we can break down the taboos that surround money and the importance of financial literacy.
💥 Today on The Wallet:
1️⃣ Kalpana explains how we can open up the conversation around money with our friends, without judgement or shame, and how to overcome FOMO that leads to impulse spending.
2️⃣ Having saved £1,000 by reviewing her household bills and service providers, Kalpana gives her top tips for renegotiating deals to save money.
3️⃣ The pandemic has made many of us more attuned to our finances, and we’ve seen a rise in interest in investing. Kalpana shares her personal story of saving and investing money and offers encouraging words to those who want to start investing.
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1. Have the conversation and stand on your own two feet
No matter what happens in life, you need to be able to financially rely on yourself and yourself only.
When you have your finances in order, it inevitably helps you feel more financially secure.
‘Your rich might not be my rich,’ — don’t compare your successes and ambitions to others.
Having ‘stuff’ is not a reflection of your wealth. You never know what’s behind the facade, i.e someone might be in a lot of debt just to be able to afford that car.
Understand what’s important to you — don’t worry about the fear of missing out, because that’s just going to drive you into debt.
To start the money conversation with your friends, you first have to stop thinking about money as a taboo subject.
Then, bring up something simple like, ‘I’d like to go out, but I’m on a budget,’ can really help the conversation get started among your friend group.
If you don’t feel confident talking about salaries, that’s fine — but you can talk about pensions (eg. do you max it out?), ISAs, budgeting, or savings.
“Understand what’s important to you, understand what ‘rich’ means to you, and let that be the driver. Keeping up with the Joneses isn’t going to help you financially get to your goals at all.”
2.renegotiate your bills
Your bills are often something that gets left on the back-burner, but if you want to save money, it’s vital that you check what you’re paying regularly.
Review everything on a regular basis, from energy providers to your mortgage to your insurances. You can use Uswitch to help you do this.
Make use of cashback sites for things that you were going to buy anyway.
Review your subscriptions, too. A lot of us have signed up to various streaming sites and at-home fitness apps that we might no longer use, so make sure you’re not paying for anything you no longer use.
Use tech to help you budget and manage your money: from challenger banks to apps like Yolt, choose what works best for you and remember: it’s the small steps that count.
3. stop telling yourself you don’t have money to invest
Please note that this is not investment advice.
You can start investing with just your spare change, so take a look at digital providers that let you invest from as little as £1.
Just start — when your investments are automated, you literally don’t think about them and you’d be surprised just how much you can save with little to no effort.
By not investing, you’re losing money anyway because of inflation.
Don’t use your friends for financial advice: yes, talk to them about money issues, but always do your own research or, better yet, speak to a financial advisor (if needed).
RESOURCES:
You can follow and connect with Kalpana at:
Twitter: @KalpanaFitz
Instagram: @Kalpanafitzpatrick
We shared some resources in this episode, all the links are below:
Article Cosmo: How to talk to your friends about money
Article Good Housekeeping: How I saved £1,000 in one afternoon
Uswitch
Yolt
Starling Bank
Monzo
Money Week Magazine
Moneybox
Wealthify
Good with money blog
Clim8 Invest