Better managing your budget is one of your good resolutions for 2023? Here is a non-exhaustive list of possible actions to achieve this.
Do you want to become an owner? Buy a new car? Have a nice trip? Finance the future studies of your children? Preparing for your retirement? Or, more simply, limit the impact of rising prices on your finances? All these objectives have one thing in common: achieving them requires anticipation and sound budget management. Here are some possible fitting tips to achieve this.
1 – Take stock of your bank charges
This has been an obligation since 2009. At the start of each year, your bank provides you with a summary of fees country the previous year. This will be attached to your December account statement, available at the beginning of January. Look at it carefully: you might be surprised by the total amount that appears there.
Some banks are heavy handed. On an average basket of products and services, the one we use to establish our ranking of the least expensive banks, the annual bill can range from a few euros in some online banks (2.78 euros precisely at Fortuneo Banque and Boursorama Banque) more than 260 euros. The difference is even more spectacular if you have a premium profile: from 0 euros in the most competitive brands to more than 310 euros.
Of course, price isn’t everything. These tariff disparities reflect, at least in part, the level of services offered, and in particular the access of in-branch advisors. Now may be the time, however, to take a step back from what services you actually need and, if so, take action.
In short, the New Year is an opportunity to take stock of what your bank rates for you and, why not, to test brands 100% online, currently the most competitive. It’s easy: all allow you to open a remote account in a few minutes. And it’s risk-free: everyday products and services (account management, bank card, etc.) are free or at low cost.
Compare offers from online banks
2 – Adapt your bank account to your needs
You don’t always have to change banks to save money. If you want to remain a loyal customer or change seems too complicated, you can promote internal competition. How? By changing, for example, the account formula. It is not uncommon, in fact, for bank advisers to encourage you to take out a group service offer. However, these packages are not always advantageous, far from it. They regularly include services whose usefulness is entirely relative, such as loss and theft insurance for means of payment. In fact, spend a card billingwhere you only pay for the services you actually use, is often more economical.
In addition, more and more traditional banks are launching basic offers, but inexpensive. This is the case at Crdit Agricole with the Eko account, at LCL with LCL Essentiel, or Ma French Bank from La Banque Postale. All these accounts are charged between 2 and 3 euros per month! Check if this type of offer is not enough to cover your needs.
The 5 tips to escape the increase in bank charges of January 1, 2023
3 – Watch your budget
It is unfortunately inevitable: 2023 will be a year of high inflation. According to INSEE projections, the rise in the cost of living should exceed 7% from January and remain at this level for a good part of the year.
In this context, it is recommended to show a little more vigilance and budgetary discipline. Objective: to avoid the end of the month in the red and, therefore, possible payment incidents, heavily penalized by the banks.
electricity, gas: reduce your bill with our online comparator
To balance your budget, start with monitor the evolution of your remaining life. That is to say, the money you have left after you have paid your recurring expenses, to eat, dress, entertain or save.
Stay alive: the alert thresholds to know to control your budget
4 – Play with the competition to lower your fixed costs
One of the solutions to maintain, or even increase, your remaining living expenses in a period of high inflation is to lower your fixed costs. Those, at least, on which you can compete. This is the case, for example, of insurance. Inflation in the sector in 2023 promises to be significant: +3%, at least, for housing and up to 5% for automobiles and health. Increases that can be neutralized, in whole or in part, by contacting the most competitive suppliers.
Compare car insurance prices
Another potential source of savings: theinsurance for your home loan. The entry into force of the Lemoine law on September 1st now makes it possible to change supplier at any time, the condition of opting for coverage at least equivalent to that offered by your bank. Enjoy: the market is very competitiveand the prospects for savings, over the entire repayment period of your property loan, amount to thousands of euros.
Borrower insurance: play the competition
Historically, two other budget items lent themselves to optimizations: energy (gas and electricity) and telecommunications. The situation, however, has changed the situation. On the energy market side, the crisis is such that market offers, those which competed with regulated sales tariffs, have almost disappeared. On the telecommunications side, operators, after fierce competition to capture customers, are now seeking to reap the rewards by increasing the price of their offers. Bargains are therefore likely to become increasingly rare.
5 – Don’t keep too much money in your checking account
Optimizing one’s rest of life allows both to continue to have fun, but also to maintain savings capacity. Be careful however don’t hoard too much money in your checking account. The latter, in fact, is not remunerated and suffered the full potential of the deleterious effects of inflation.
Here is our advice: keep in your current account the equivalent of one month’s expenses, plus a small mattress of 500 euros, for example, to avoid overdrafts at the end of the month. The rest: put it on a rmunr support.
How much money to keep in your checking account?
6 – Adapt your savings to your projects
First step: set up, if you haven’t already done so, what is called a precautionary savings, that is to say a savings that can be easily mobilized in the event of a hard blow. Three months’ worth of income will do. Place this money in a secure medium that is available at all times: a Livret A, an LDDS or an LEP if you are entitled to it. This falls: the remuneration of these regulated savings accounts, which have been rising sharply for a year, will increase further on 1 February.
Precautionary savings: how much, on which account or passbook?
Then, for your medium term projects (purchase of real estate, change of car…), you can open life insurance. Favor less risky supports, whose remuneration will go up in 2022. For longer term projects, such as preparing for retirement, integrating unit-linked (investment funds based on the stock market) into your contract can allow you to boost your savings, at the cost of some risk. Whatever direction you want to give your savings, avoid subscribing to life insurance for the general public from traditional banks… These are traditionally at the bottom of the yield charts and bear significant costs.
Life insurance: comparison of offers
You also have the option Retirement savings plan (PER). Launched on October 1, 2019, this new envelope notably allows a total capital outflow, which was impossible with a Perp or a Madelin contract. As to stock portfolios, these are therefore long-term or even very long-term products (10 years, 15 years… or more). Securities accounts and PEAs are only intended for investors who can devote a dedicated sum to them, which they do not need to carry out a specific project.