Feeling Financially Trapped? How You Can Be Better Off TODAY

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There comes a time where we start to feel like we are financially trapped in our circumstances. Sure, things may be ticking over just fine. Your bills are being paid each month, your income is coming in, you may have a little leftover and life may be fine. But is it possible to have a better than fine situation? The truth is, not all of us are financially savvy, and there is nothing wrong with that. Some people don’t like to have the money talk with their partners or understand their financial situation, maybe it scares you, maybe the idea of debt is taking over your life and subconsciously the whole situation couldn’t be stressing you out. You don’t just have to tick over, you can make things better and surprisingly to you, there are things you can do today that can start to improve your financial situation. Maybe even giving you more income for things such as holidays or those little luxuries in life we just can’t have all of the time. I thought I would share with you some of the things that you could do today to help you stop feeling so financially trapped.

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Understand your current situation
One of the first things you need to do is consider your current situation, and the best way to get a better understanding of that is to take your most recent bank statements and go through it transaction by transaction. It may sound extreme, but it could make the biggest of differences to how you see your financial situation. This will highlight the leaves your account each month, both with bills and also what you spend yourself on things like clothes or food. Having the right figures will help you work out what you can save and what you could do without. You may find that you are paying for things that you don't use or really need, which could automatically give you a saving on things straight away.

Is debt a big problem?

Looking at your outgoings you may have identified that debt is a big chunk of money leaving your account each month. Maybe you have a few different credit card's store accounts possibly or loans and overdrafts. These are normal parts of daily life these days, and it isn’t as uncommon as it once was to have debt around you. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t want to get that paid off or at least manage it better. Multiple credit accounts means multiple interest changes. So you may want to look at consolidating all of the debts into one loan payment. You could take some time to look at an OppLoans review or similar providers and see what could work for you. One loan means one payment, a payment plan to have it paid off and one lot of interest costs. However a quick look at your credit history first will highlight if this is an option. If it isn't, then you may want to concentrate on the one that is costing you the most.

Changing your habits when it comes to everyday spending

Maybe you have noticed that there are things you spend each week that you want to try and reduce. Perhaps you have just worked out exactly how much you spend on groceries each week. Combine the cost with how much you may throw out, or not use, and there could be a lot of wasted money there. A simple way to change this habit is to start taking control. Meal planning is a great way to do this. You then have a list of everything you need for that week, and it stops you from buying extra or spending more than is needed. You could also switch the place you shop, or swap branded items for supermarket own brands. These changes alone could dramatically reduce your food bill. But it doesn’t stop there. For shopping for food, clothes, days out or meals in restaurants you could also ring the cost down by using discount codes and vouchers.

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Are you paying too much when it comes to your bills?

The problem a lot of people have when it comes to changing their financial situation is time, or the perceived opinion that it will take a lot of your time to make savings. But it really doesn’t. You may have bills to pay like energy or insurance costs, and you may think that sticking with the same supplier is going to be cheaper all round. But the truth is they save the best deals for new customers. So actually loyalty doesn’t pay in this situation. Switching providers is not as complicated as you may think, and actually a bit of notice and a phone call is all it takes. With energy, they tend to do all the hard work for you. Changing providers for things and actively ensuring you are paying out what is needed can reduce your outgoing significantly.

Can you actively save money on bills

It may be worth mentioning, that also doing things like switching lights off and actively saving energy in your home could have a positive effect on your bill in the future. It is one of those things that could really help you save money, and it can be something that the whole family gets involved in. There are plenty of tips online on how you can save energy in the home.

Boosting your income

Finally, why not use your spare time to boost your disposable income and bring some extra cash in? Maybe your job gives you the chance to earn commission or earn overtime. If you don’t have that option, then you could always consider selling unwanted things online on platforms like eBay. You could also try other online side hustles that you could do from the comfort of your own home. This could help pay towards holidays or boost your savings figures.

I hope that these tips help you to not be financially trapped anymore.