If your bank balance is looking a little stretched over the Christmas period, but you’re hoping next year will be the beginning of your home owner journey, we’ve got some tips. If we’re the product of the five people we spend the most time with, then it stands to reason that the social accounts we interact with on a daily basis will also have an impact on our attitude, aspirations and goal setting.
We’ve rounded up a few different accounts you can follow to motivate you. Whether you’re working on saving a deposit, cutting your outgoings or upping your salary, these accounts can help you stay on track.
Financial Diet
The Financial Diet is a series of videos and articles written by various people from different backgrounds, locations and with different goals. Their Youtube channel has lots of easy to digest content and their Instagram is full of helpful articles about saving, cutting down on debt and the emotional relationships people have with money. Whilst a lot of the articles are written by Americans, a lot of the advice around saving, budgeting and breaking bad habits is universal.
Find out more about the
Financial Diet
First Home Coach
Exactly what it sounds like – a coach to help you buy your first home! There’s some great articles, but more impressive is their app which helps you work out how long it will take to save your deposit and what you need to consider along the way. We’ve been keeping an eye on First Home Coach since they arrived on the scene and eagerly awaited their app – even if you just use the desktop version, it’s so fun to use!
If 2020 is the year you make a plan to buy your first home, this is the app for
you.
Find out more about
First Home Coach
Reallymoving
We couldn’t miss ourselves off this list! We’ve got a wide range of First Time Buyer resources, including our savings guides, our Snakes and Property Ladders game and our Deposit Generator (good for defending your spend on that morning cup of coffee).
You can also sign up for our first time buyer newsletter,
where we’ll send you savings tips and updates every couple of months, to keep you motivated!
We’ve also got a
first time buyer section in our forum, where you can share your worries, hopes and questions!
Which? Money
Which? have been one of the most trusted sources of information for years, and their Twitter feed is chock-full of useful money articles. They’re great for keeping up to date if you’re looking at changing bank accounts or trying to be more savvy with money making hacks.
Thinking more about what your money is doing sitting in your bank account can really make a difference to your saving goals – if you want to switch for a higher interest rate, get cashback or find out more about any other perks,
Which? Money is for you.
MoneySavingExpert
Martin Lewis’ website has long been considered a helpful and independent site full of hacks, tricks and tips to make your money go further. Whether you’re planning to change your services like broadband and energy, or downgrade your mobile phone contract, this site has so much to offer. But don’t miss out on their Home and Mortgage section – they’ve got great guides and a mortgage calculator to help you figure out how much you can borrow.
They also have a really active forum where you can meet other people saving, paying down debts or trying to buy property. You can also take part in savings challenges as part of the MSE community.
Check out
MoneySavingExpert
Refinery29 Money Diaries
These are really great for getting you thinking about your own weekly spend. The Money Diaries follow different people living around the country on different wages, and lets them note down what their day is like and what they’re spending on. It’s really an insight to see the diarist looking back on their week and noticing their own habits. You can also find a similar series done by the BBC, called ‘
My Money’.
It’s worth trying it out for yourself and seeing what you notice!
Read the
Refinery29 Money Diaries
Even just following the right kinds of social accounts or signing up to newsletters can influence your mindset and energise you for a year of getting closer to your goals. Add your own recommendations, we’d love to hear them!