How to Start Saving in Your Thirties
Turning 30 appears to one of those moments in life where it’s socially acceptable to have a good old-fashioned panic.
For example: when you were 29 years and 364 days old, life was good. You were a young, twenty-something with hopes, dreams and aspirations – and a sense of enthusiasm about life ahead. Now, 24 hours later, your youth is over, you’ll never be a twenty-something again and you’re assessing all the areas of life where you’re not where you thought you’d be.
That kind of mindset is far too common among those transitioning into the big 3-0, but that’s probably because life for millennials has been pretty tough. The high cost of living, inflated property prices and stagnating wages has left many heading into their fourth decade with less economic success and assets than they, and to some extent, societal expectation, anticipated – leaving many with no savings to their name at all.
If you fit that profile, fear not – you’re certainly not alone. The good news is, it’s never too late to start saving, so here are three ideas to get you started.
Reassess your budget
If you’re looking back on your twenties rueing the fact you spent so frivolously, there’s no need to worry – there’s still time. You don’t need to suddenly live a life of absolute prudence, but if you can change your spending habits around a bit, you should be able to find some money spare.
Look at your budget. You can do that via one of the many useful finance apps that are now readily available online, or use your banking app. Get a grasp of your spending habits and identify areas where you can cut down, and automate your bill repayments to go out on time every month.
This will help adjust your behaviours, which in turn will help you to have a bit of money come the end of the month to put aside.
Create goals
Struggling for motivation to sort out your coffers? One thing that stirs many people along is the ‘I should have bought…by now’ sort of thinking that tends to come with a big birthday. Forget about that sort of negativity, and instead think about financial goals you want to achieve by a certain date.
Buying a house. Buying a car. Saving for family life or a wedding. How much do you need for these things and how are you going to do it? Likewise, is now a good time to invest in one of those – in which case do you need to consider securing some help to get it?
Having clear life goals set out will help you keep focused on your money management.
Start thinking about retirement
No, not as in its time to hang up your work boots already, but rather financially prepping for when the time comes in 30-40 years’ time.
It’s never too early to plan for retirement, and it’s easy to forget about your pension while you’re young. You may well have been enrolled onto some form of minimum contribution scheme with work, but that isn’t enough to create a suitable windfall on retirement.
By putting away more than is required now, you’ll be helping your future self because you won’t have to chuck as much money at your pension further down the line. This frees up more money for future you, while also helping to modify those aforementioned spending behaviours now (i.e., if the money isn’t in your account to spend, you can’t spend it).
Should you be an official thirty-something and fretting on money, fear not – there’s still time to achieve what you want to. With a little bit of careful consideration to your personal finances and some adjustments to your spending behaviours, you can begin to build savings for the future – of which there’s plenty left ahead.
