Harris KhanHyperJar founder and CEO, Mat Megens, discusses how Brits can re-organise their money and launch their financial reset for 2021
- New research reveals 70% think their bank doesn’t help them to budget and plan their day to day finances
- 19% say they are in a worse financial position than ever, due to Covid-19
- 26% say that both before and after Covid they had zero emergency buffer funds*
- Looming negative interest rates leave savers searching for ways to protect and grow spending power
With 2020’s shattering impact on our national and personal finances, many of us now acknowledge the need to be better with our money this year. One in four consumers in the UK used a Buy Now, Pay Later credit scheme to pay for their Christmas shopping in 2020, totalling a staggering £2.3 billion. Equating to 40% of all Christmas purchases in the UK, the reliance on credit comes as almost 9 million Brits find themselves in their worst financial position ever.
To try and help the nation press reset on their finances, HyperJar’s CEO Mat Megens has revealed his top tips for budgeting our money in 2021:
1. Start by understanding just one spending category
Most spending happens in just a few categories each month, usually at the same shops or websites. Say you go to the same supermarket, cafe or takeout again and again. That’s a great place to start. Want to spend the same or less than that next week? Set aside your goal amount, pay only from this budget and see how you go.
2. Planning ahead doesn’t mean you can’t be spontaneous
Paying for Christmas out of your November salary, or for a family holiday from a July pay packet? No one has a monthly income to meet this kind of hit, so it’s easy to fall back on debt. Make 2021 the year you plan for the usual big costs and start putting small amounts towards them now. Naming your goals really helps: it’s easier (and works better) to pay into a Spain 2021 fund than into a nameless pot.
3. Get a Money Buddy to share goals
Sharing fitness goals works for health kicks and it works for money too. Save up with close friends and family for holidays and other expenses – even build that emergency fund you’ve been promising to start for a while. We know some of our customers who struggle with impulse spending share a jar with a friend who doesn’t.
4. Spending is a bit like crossing the road – look left and right
When you’re planning spending money according to where you want it to go in future – instead of looking back at where it went – it adds a fraction more friction to our spending. Reflecting on what it is you need and want to spend on helps cut down on regret spend. Like my friend who blew £800 on a cider press, made one batch of a disgusting brew, and then had to stare at the thing for two years before they finally sold it for £50.
5. Know your money monster
We’re all dealing with some habits that keep us from living happily ever after with our money and they start young! Our money personalities – at HyperJar we call them Money Monsters – are a combination of impulse spending, apathy, short-term thinking and sheer embarrassment. Once you understand the hang-up that’s most responsible for getting in the way of you feeling more confident with money, you’re in a better position to tackle it. Head over to hyperjar.com to find out yours.
About HyperJar:
By using HyperJar, account holders who choose to commit money ahead of spending with HyperJar’s partner brands get a 4.8% Annual Growth Rate on every penny, calculated and added daily. This locked-in money must be spent with the business it is committed to, but there is no time limit and the balance keeps growing for up to 12 months.
The app is now expanding its partner base to include SMEs, with local pubs, cafes, kids’ centres, speciality food shops and restaurants starting to join the app over the next few months.
HyperJar can be downloaded now from the App Store and Google Play Store. Account holders must be 18+ and a UK resident.
