With the madness of Christmas spending behind us, Mums Moneyhub are here to help us get into financial shape for 2019!

Thanks to Independent Financial Adviser Katherine Rowell for her guest blog this week.

Katherine, who specialises in advice for women and those with families is a Doncaster mum herself, with lots of experience in helping fellow mums who would like to know more about savings, insurances, pensions, banking and investment…oh and she can also write wills…which is a whole other blog article!

Here she is to share some expert tips and help everyone kick off their 2019 in the best financial shape they can.

The season to be jolly has well and truly come to a close and the new years resolutions are beginning, social media feeds have been filled with ‘2019 will be the year when….’

• I will lose weight
• I will repay my debts
• I will stop smoking
• I will retire

Here at Mums Moneyhub,  I have put together my 3 must do’s for January 2019, to help you reach your financial goals .

1. Understand where you are financially now!  If you want to borrow money either now or in the future your credit score will matter, as this is how companies decide if they will lend you money or not and on what terms they will lend. In  the UK we have three main companies who do credit scores, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

• Experian are generally recognised as the largest and you can access your report either through a 30-day free trial (remember to cancel it after the 30 days), or via a Barclaycard credit card where it is free!
• Equifax, the second largest is easiest accessed via Clearscore, which aims to keep the access to your credit rating free for life. They offer a card matching service where they receive a small commission payment, but this is not essential for you to use.
• TransUnion, which can be most easily accessed via www.noddle.co.uk. This works in the same way as Clearscore, in that you get access free for life and they get a small commission if you take out a credit card or loan via one of their links.

These reports will give you a breakdown of any debts that you have and any missed payments. The higher the score on your report, the better.

2. Decide where you want to be financially! Your plan of action depends on where you want to be! Are you looking to save for a holiday, repay debts, get a mortgage, save for a deposit or just live within your means?

• Set a target and set an end date. Here is a great example of a goal:

 In May 2020 I want to go to Disneyland with my family it will cost £2,000 so I need to save this by March 2020 when I pay for the balance of the holiday. To do this I will need to save £133.50 per month.

3. Make a plan! It is all about the budget and saving. This is the hardest bit and takes some soul searching, before you start you need to understand where your money is going.

• An app I love is Money Dashboard, it gives you a live breakdown as to your bank balances, credit card debts, breaks your spending down into areas so you can see exactly what you spend your money on and decide where you want to save. As you know how much you want to save for your goal you know exactly what your budget needs to come to.
• My other essential, is a savings app. I use Plum which links with both my Facebook and my bank account and the technology analyses my spending habits and then makes automatic savings a few times a week of small amounts that I wont miss. Most of the savings have been the equivalent of a cup of coffee but over the months this adds up. In my first month I saved over £50. You can also get extra savings bonuses for introducing friends. You can sign up to Plum here (please note that this is an affiliate link).

Understand where you are financially now

Decide where you want to be financially

Make a plan!

Repeat this process over time and you will reach your financial goals one at a time.

If you wish to join us at Mums Moneyhub we have more updates on money saving and financial education over on our facebook page.  You can also join one of our facebook groups. 

Thanks for now and if you have any questions please pop me a message via the Facebook page. 

Katherine xx