Many of us will just take our paycheck, spend it on the necessities we need and pay for all the things we have to and then enjoy what is left. However, there are better ways of using our money so that we can get more benefits form it. Buying things can bring us some pleasure but this may not be long lasting and there might be ways that you could get more pleasure from the money that you have.
- Pay off debts – if we have debts then we might have to be making monthly repayments or we may be able to choose when we repay them. It is worth thinking about whether you might like to use some of your money to make overpayments so that you can repay the debts early. This can save money in some cases, although you do need to check to see whether you would be better off repaying them or not. It might be that you have to pay a fee in order to repay early or that you will be better off if you spend the money or save it compared with paying off the loan. This will all depend on the interest rates. If you have very cheaper loan then it may be better not to repay it early. Some people like the idea of paying off early though, just so that they can be free of a loan. Some people do not mind having the debt or paying the interest and so would rather choose to do other things with their money. It is a very personal choice.
- Save some money – it might that you would like to save some money. This can be another way of getting a bit extra, as you will be getting paid interest on your savings. It is worth comparing savings rates if you plan on doing this though, as you need to think about making sure that you get the very best return on them. There are different types of savings accounts with different banks and so it is well worth researching them and finding out more. There may be conditions applied to savings accounts that pay higher interest and so you will need to find out about those. It might be that they will restrict how much money you can withdraw or how long you need to keep the money in the account. Consider whether your saving will have a specific purpose and if it does, then it may need to think about when you might see yourself drawing out the money and whether any restrictions would be problematic for you.
- Invest some money – you could invest money rather than save it. Some people get mixed up between the two but basically when you take out an investment you actually buy something with the money, whether that is a stake in a business, some stocks or shares, property or something else. You then have to rely on it increasing in value before you need to sell it. It is thought that it is best to keep investments for at least ten years if not longer in order to allow for temporary fluctuations in the market. There is always a risk that when you get your money back it could be a lot less than you put in, but the return can be higher than savings if you find the right thing to invest in.
All of these things give your money the potential to do more for you. You will actually be making money from the money rather than just spending it. This should therefore lead to you being better off. If you invest enough it might even pay you an income. So, it is worth thinking hard about what you are doing with your money and whether you could be doing something better. You will obviously want to try to make as much as you can but you need to consider the risks that you might be taking and how easily you want to be able to get hold of your money. It is good to give it all some thought though. It could mean that you will end up with a lot more money in the long term. This could help you out with all sorts of things and give you some security that you have something to fall back on, should you need it.
It is therefore worth thinking about whether you would rather spend your money now and get pleasure from it immediately or whether you want to save the money and use it for something in the future. It could very well be that you might like to do a combination of both so that you can have some fun now but also some in the future as well.