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How much money is in your bank account the day before payday? We’ve all heard the phrase “too much month left at the end of the money”! And whether you get paid on a weekly or monthly basis, it can be an increasing struggle to last until more money goes into your account. It’s easy to understand how the concept of payday loans originally started, offering people a little bit of money just to help them get through the rest of the month until payday.
But how can you break out of the cycle of only just getting through the month?
In this article we give you five useful tips as to how to make your money last till payday. Our tips are based on you being paid monthly, but they can apply equally well if you are paid weekly.
First things first. To be able to get on top of your finances you need to have a clear idea of how much money you have coming in (income) and going out (expenditure).
Examples of income are salary, wages, tips, bonuses and benefits.
Examples of expenditure are mortgage/rent, domestic bills such as council tax, energy, phone, TV/broadband, insurance, food, transport, childcare, clothes, pets.
We would recommend that you create a monthly budget that lists all your income and expenditure so that you know up front whether you have enough money coming in to cover everything you need to spend. If this is not the case, read through the How to balance your budget section below.
When you get paid, the first priority is to ensure that all your essential bills are paid. Things like mortgage/rent, council tax, energy, phone, TV/broadband etc. The best thing to do is to set up direct debits for as many of your bills as possible. You will usually be able to pay monthly so that the cost is spread evenly rather than you having to find more money some months than others. You will also have the reassurance of knowing that your bills will be paid without you having to remember to do so.
Another advantage of paying by direct debit is that some suppliers offer discounts if you pay this way. So setting up a direct debit is not only convenient, but may work out better value.
Once all your essential bills have been paid, it’s important to stretch out the money that is left. This is where things can often go wrong. There is quite a lot of pressure to spend all your money as soon as you have been paid. Some of this pressure can come from advertising: just think of all the PayDay and Pay Weekend deals you see around.
But you can also put pressure on yourself when payday comes. Perhaps there is something you have been waiting to buy and now you have the money to get it. Or maybe there is just the relief of having money in your account again so you start spending more than you can really afford.
Whatever the reasons, it is very easy to spend a bit rashly once you have been paid, which can lead to getting into financial difficulties later in the month. So the key thing to do is ensure that you divide the money you have left, once your bills are paid, into weekly amounts and do your best to save money for the rest of the month rather than spending it all at once. Even if this feels difficult at the beginning of the month, your end of the month self will thank you.
If you follow our suggestion of creating a monthly budget, you may realise that you don’t actually have enough money coming in to cover all your expenses. Whilst this is not good news, it is much better to know in advance rather than always be struggling towards the end of the month without understanding why. This can lead to a vicious spiral of debt that it is hard to break out of. But if you know that you need to do something about your situation, you have taken that first all-important step towards sorting things out.
In the short term, try to find immediate ways of topping up your income and/or reducing your expenditure. These could include:
But depending on how out of balance your budget is, you may also need to look at longer term solutions such as changing jobs, moving to a cheaper home, taking in a lodger or various other options. There are independent professional organisations who can provide help and advice with financial issues, and may be able to point you in the right direction towards a more solid financial future.
These include:
At the beginning of this article we referred to payday loans and the concept of borrowing a little bit of money just to get through the rest of the month. But what is the alternative to a payday loan? Say you have 4-5 days to go and have completely run out of money. What do you do then?
The first thing to do is not to panic. You’ve got this! Work out what are going to be the major issues over the next few days and where you either need to take action or need help from others. For example, getting to work and/or putting food on the table.
Then see if any of the following options might work for you:
It can feel embarrassing to ask for help, but others may also be in the same position and if you all help each other out, you will get through. Rather than lending you money, is there anyone who could give you a lift to work, or could have you round for a couple of meals in return for you doing some favour or odd jobs for them?
It can be possible to survive for a few days on very little money if you can harness the support network around you.
It is always worth checking around your home to see if there is anything that you could exchange for cash or goods. Many of us have either gift vouchers that have never been used, or an item that we have been intending to return to a store but have never got around to.
So do check if there’s anything like this lying around that you could put to good use in your hour of need.
The thought of selling goods online can sometimes be off putting. It can seem complicated and may also take a while to get your money. But it is now very easy to sell goods locally on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace. Items tend to sell very quickly, so you may well be able to find someone local to buy your goods and have cash in hand the very same day.
If you have goods – particularly valuable items such as cameras or jewellery – that you don’t want to part with but don’t currently need, you could make a bit of money from them. A pawnbroker will give you cash for your items and you can then pay the pawnbroker back within an agreed time period to get them back again. Try searching locally for a pawnbroker, or look online.
It is also worth knowing if there are local food banks in your area. The Trussell Trust is one of the key organisations who run food banks, but you will need to have a referral from a professional such as a GP, social worker, teacher or charity worker. You may be able to get help with this from Citizens Advice, either face to face, online or by phone on 0808 2082138. You can find more details on the Citizens Advice website.
There are also many independent food banks run by other charities and community groups so it is definitely worth checking out what is available in your area and whether they could help you at short notice.
We hope that the above tips will help you to sort out your finances and be able to save money to get through to the end of the month.
Do check back here soon for more financial and lifestyle tips from Loans 2 Go.
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