Start by making a budget

List all of your expenses under the following headings:

• Fixed and essential  – such as electricity, mortgage/rent, groceries, insurance premiums
• Fixed and non-essential – such as phone, internet, petrol
• Discretionary – such as clothing, toys, subscriptions, charitable donations

If you don’t have 10% of your take-home pay left over, go through the discretionary items first and start culling or reducing allocation of funds, then move onto the fixed non-essential items.

• Or try reverse budgeting

Another option is to do the reverse – put aside 10% of your take-home pay and then live off what’s left. This then forces you to prioritise the rest of your money. You allocate what you have left to your budget, starting with your essential items and then anything left goes to discretionary items.

If you get a bonus, pay rise or tax refund, put the whole amount (or at the very least 50% of it) into your savings or investment account and watch your money grow!

Find out how much money you have to invest with our free cash flow calculator:

Download the Cashflow Calculator