My top 3 financial education resources
With a new year around the corner and a new ‘lockdown’ in the UK, thought I’d share the financial resources I use day in day out to ensure my finances are healthy. These tools will help you with different aspects of your finances and by no means will this be an exhaustive list of tools out there. Nevertheless I hope it helps you in some form or another. Let’s go!
Numero uno - YOLT
Yolt was an absolute gamechanger when I first started using different accounts for different purposes (e.g. a separate bank account for food costs, an account for my monthly spending allowance, etc.). It collates transactions from all your different bank accounts (e.g. Halifax, Monzo) and credit cards (e.g. American Express) into one place so you can clearly answer the question: ‘where the hell did my money go?!’ It automatically allocates each transaction into a type of expense (e.g. food, coffee, etc.). It’s not always perfect but it is easily changeable. It is great as it shows me where I’ve deviated from my ‘original budget’ and all those ‘ad hoc expenses’.
Link: https://www.yolt.com
Best for learning about: where your money goes
Numero dos - MONEYSAVINGEXPERT
In the financial education space, Martin Lewis is known to be a genius! He has his own website Moneysavingexpert and is frequently seen on TV talking about being savvy with your money. The layout of the website might feel ‘heavy’ at first but once you get your head around it is has an INVALUABLE amount of information about the different financial products out there (LISA, Regular savers, etc.) and then also frequently updates regarding the best bank accounts out there (e.g. due to conversion benefits, interest rate, cashback deals, etc.).
It is a fantastic resource for finding out the best providers for the financial product you’re looking for. For example, if I know I want to open a Lifetime ISA but don’t know who I should use I would go to the Moneysavingexpert website and find the article about lifetime ISA providers and read through the pros and cons of each provider and pick according to my needs.
Link: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com
Best for learning about: the best bank accounts and providers out there
Numero tres - MEANINGFUL MONEY
Learn. Learn. Learn. I can’t emphasize enough the power of education. Finance is a new language you’re expected to know how to speak fluently when you become an adult but NO ONE TEACHES US HOW TO SPEAK THE LINGO!! This is my biggest pet peeve and the reason I created This Girl Invests in the first place, a space free of jargon and telling things how they are.
The podcast that changed my perspective on this was ‘Meaningful Money by Pete Matthews’. He’s a financial advisor based in Cornwall and is really clear and concise in his message. I often find myself having to pause his podcast in order to write some notes about something I need to think about. He even has a whole series on Millenial Money so definitely worth checking out!
Link: https://meaningfulmoney.tv
Best for learning about: how to plan your finances for a financially secure future
Voila! You’ve got the resources to ensure your finances are healthy and you are en route to the future of your dreams :D