Introduction
Whether you are saving for a specific goal or to have a safety net savings are a critical part of our financial lives. Neon offers the tools to get in control of your spending, allowing you to understand; the number of pay cycles you have until your savings goal is here, how much capacity there is to save, where you can cut down excess spend and the best way for you to save.
Topic Area
Scenario Guide
Relevant to users on:
Money Dashboard Neon
Not sure which App you are on?
If you are unsure if you are on Money Dashboard Classic or Money Dashboard Neon? You can find that information here
Disclaimer
All content is for informational purposes only and is the opinion of the author. Nothing on this website should be interpreted as "advice". Money Dashboard Ltd make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors or omissions or any damages arising from its display or use.
Types of Savings
People save for all different reasons. The majority of these savings can be categorised into 2 factions:
- Specific Goal Savings: Think saving up for a mortgage
- Rainy Day funds: We all need a bit spare to cover that unexpected car breakdown or vet bill
Unfortunately we can't tell you how much to put away and what accounts to put it in. What we can do is get you in the position to make that decision. We can reduce your spend so you can contribute to your savings in the amounts you want. So let's dive in.
Understanding your spend
At the most basic level Savings is the difference between what goes in and what goes out. With the exception of a lucky few, editing how much comes in can be a challenge. That leaves changing what goes out. To do that, we need to understand where we spend our money.
Main tools to use
Pay Cycle and Categorisation
Like everything at Money Dashboard you need to get your transactions categorised how you want them. Before you do anything get them set up. Next, is your Pay Cycle. Without these 2 things monitoring your finances is incredibly hard.
Scheduled Transactions
Set up your recurring payments, also known as scheduled payments in our app (eg Rent/bus pass etc). These are the transactions you have to make every month. This will help us to see how much you have left to work with AKA your discretionary spend.
Spending Plan
In the Spending Plan feature have a play around with some budgets. Budgets need to work for you, try different combinations to get your categories placed together in a logical order. Finally in the Spending Plan, does your expected wealth go below 0? Does it go below £100 when you want to put £200 in savings a month? These are important areas to look at.
Conclusion
Getting into the position to save is about understanding your finances. Ultimately if you spend more than you make you can't save. Working out where you can reduce spending or what a realistic saving target can all be done on Neon. Good luck :)