Steph McGovern's top three money hacks to boost your finances
She's on a mission to demystify the world of finance, and put more pounds in your pocket - and Steph McGovern's hit 'The Rest Is Money' podcast has already educated 7 million of us in its first year alone.
As the business journalist and broadcaster’s podcast celebrates its 1st birthday, Steph joins us in the studio this morning to tell us more, and she'll be revealing the three simple money changes we can all make to boost our finances.
WHAT ARE STEPH'S TOP THREE TIPS ARE FOR BOOSTING YOUR FINANCES?
1. MAKE YOUR MONEY PAY
Steph says: “I always think, when you’re paying for things, you should make your money pay as well. I always have a credit card that earns air miles, you can get bank accounts with cashback or with reward systems that can get you cheaper holidays. Even loyalty cards, if you’re going to shop somewhere anyway you might as well get a freebie out of it.”
2. SPREADSHEET YOUR LIFE
Steph says: “This one sounds really boring but the more you know about what’s going in and out of your accounts, the more control you have. There are loads of good apps to make it easy for you like Plum, Goodbudget and Spending Tracker. Imagine every month you see you’re spending £40-50 a month on coffee, I think most people would change their behaviour.”
3. MAKE SMART INVESTMENTS
Steph says: “A lot of people are risk averse when it comes to investing but it can be more fun than you think! You can start with as little as £10, obviously you could just put it in your savings but if you want to be more adventurous you can invest in startups through sites such as Crowdcube or Seedrs (website is now Republic Europe) and have a tiny bit of equity in a business. The return might be teeny tiny and there's the risk you might lose your tenner, but you might get product discounts and make your money back that way and if the business grows and suddenly becomes the next massive thing, your £10 could turn to £100.”