Your money is your money, and you can spend it how you like. But overspending can be harmful to your personal finances if it’s left unchecked.
Stay on track with these useful tips on how to use your on-demand pay wisely.
Tip 1) Use your on-demand pay for bills or essential items
It can be tempting to use your on-demand pay for little treats throughout the month. But try to use on-demand pay for bills that need paying now, or to buy something you can’t do without until your usual payday.
Using on-demand pay for essential things will help you stay on track with your money and avoid having insufficient funds at the end of the month.
Tip 2) Adjust your budget when using on-demand pay
When you transfer your on-demand pay, you’re accessing your earnings before your usual payday. But remember that you’ll get less on your usual payday if you’ve used on-demand pay that month.
Here’s an example:
Say you transfer £50 of your on-demand pay to cover an unexpected bill. You pay the bill (hooray!) but remember you’ll get £51 less on your usual payday (£50 of on-demand pay plus a £1 transaction fee).
This means you’ll need to adjust your spending when you get the rest of your pay, since you won’t have as much as you planned (in this example you'll have £51 less). You’ll need to rethink how much you spend on non-essential things like socialising or your daily coffee habit to make sure you have enough for important bills and payments.
Not got a budget? Try this online budget planner from MoneyHelper.
Tip 3) Don’t get too reliant on on-demand pay
On-demand pay is great for paying unexpected bills. But using on-demand pay too regularly can leave you short at the end of the month. If you access your on-demand pay several times a month, every month, then there’s two things you can do:
Reduce the amount you spend on non-essential items. This will leave you with more at the end of the month to cover unexpected expenses the following month.
Record when all your expenses fall in the year or month, like subscriptions, or annual expenses like insurance. This means you can budget for them in the appropriate month.
Tip 4) Start a savings habit
You can also use your on-demand pay for saving. This is a great savings hack, because you can put money away before your salary hits your account.
Some people find it easier to set aside money in a savings account. Keeping it separate makes you less likely to spend it and you can keep track of it more easily.
Tip 5) Ask for help
Managing your money isn’t that easy and we all need a little help sometimes. It’s always best to ask for help as soon as possible.
Get help with everyday money management or money troubles with MoneyHelper.