Managing your budget better is one of your good resolutions for 2024? Here is a non-exhaustive list of possible actions to achieve this.
In 2024, do you want to become an owner? Buying a new car? Have a nice trip? Finance your children’s future studies? Prepare for your retirement? Or, more simply, limit the impact of inflation on your purchasing power? All these objectives have one thing in common: achieving them requires anticipation and sound budget management. Here are some possible adjustment 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 summary of fees paid 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 listed there.
Some banks have a heavy hand. On an average basket of products and services, the one we use to establish our ranking of the cheapest banks, the annual bill can range from a few euros in certain online banks (2.78 euros precisely at Fortuneo and BoursoBank) to almost 280 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.
Obviously, price isn’t everything. These price disparities reflect, at least in part, the level of services offered, and in particular access for agency advisors. The time may have come, however, to take a step back from the services you actually need and, if necessary, to draw the consequences.
In short, the New Year is an opportunity to take stock of what your bank quotes you and, why not, to test brands 100% online, the most competitive currently. It’s easy: they all allow you to open a remote account in a few minutes. And it’s risk-free: everyday products and services (account maintenance, bank card, etc.) are free or at a low price.
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2 – Adapt your bank account to your needs
It is not always necessary to change banks to save. If you want to remain a loyal customer or change seems too complicated, you can do play internal competition. How? By changing, for example, the account formula. It is not uncommon, in fact, for bank advisors to encourage you to take out a group service offer. However, these packages are not always advantageous, far from it. They regularly integrate services whose usefulness is quite relative, such as insurance for loss and theft of means of payment. In fact, spending a billing the cardwhere you only pay for the services you actually use, is often more economical.
Furthermore, more and more traditional banks are launching basic but inexpensive offers. This is the case at Crdit Agricole with the Eko account, at LCL with LCL Essentiel or even at SG with Kapsul. All these accounts are billed between 2 and 3 euros per month! Check if this type of offer is not enough to cover your needs.
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3 – Monitor your budget
After almost two years of high inflation, the rise in prices seems to be calming down a little at the end of 2023.
The cost of living, however, remains higher than ever. In this context, it is recommended to demonstrate vigilance and budgetary rigor. Objective: to avoid ending the month in the red and, therefore, possible payment incidents, heavily penalized by the banks.
To balance your budget, start by monitor the progress of your rest of your life. That is to say the money you have left once you have paid your recurring expenses, to feed you, clothe yourself, entertain yourself or save.
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4 – Use competition to lower your fixed costs
One of the solutions to maintain, or even increase, one’s livelihood during periods of high inflation is to reduce fixed costs. Those, at least, on which you can compete. This is the case, for example, of insurance. Inflation in 2024 in the sector is expected to be unprecedented: +5%, at least, for automobiles and up to 10% for health. Increases which can be neutralized, in whole or in part, by addressing the most competitive suppliers.
Compare car insurance prices
Another potential source of savings:insurance for your real estate loan. Since the Lemoine Law came into force in 2022, you can 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 savings prospects, over the entire repayment period of your property loan, amount to thousands of euros.
Compare borrower insurance prices
Another budgetary item offers interesting prospects for optimization: telecommunications. Choose the most competitive supplier for your internet box or your mobile line can allow you to save tens of euros per month.
Compare internet box prices
5 – Don’t keep too much money in your checking account
Optimizing your rest of life allows you to continue to enjoy yourself, but also to maintain savings capacity. Be careful, however, not to save too much money in your current account. The latter, in fact, is not remunerated and suffers fully from the harmful effects of inflation.
This would be all the more unfortunate since savings account rates have started to rise again and several banks are currently ready to make great efforts to attract your money.
Here is our advice: keep in your current account the equivalent of a month’s expenses, plus a small mattress of 500 euros, for example, to avoid end-of-month overdrafts. The rest: place it on a paid support.
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6 – Adapt your savings to your projects
First step: create, if you have not already done so, what we call a precautionary savings, that is to say a nest egg that can be easily mobilized in the event of a hard blow. The equivalent of three months of income will do the trick. Place this money on a secure medium and available at any time: a Livret A, an LDDS, a LEP if you are entitled to it or a bank booklet.
Then, for your medium term projects (real estate purchase, car change, etc.), you can open a life insurance. Then favor low-risk supports, the remuneration of which will increase in 2022. For longer term projects, like preparing for retirement, integrating units of account (investment funds based on the stock market) into your contract can allow you to boost your savings, at the cost of some risks. Whatever direction you want to give your savings, avoid subscribing to general public life insurance from traditional banks… These traditionally appear at the bottom of the yield charts and bear significant costs.
Life insurance: comparison of the best offers
You also have the option Retirement savings plan (PER). Launched on October 1, 2019, this new envelope allows in particular a total capital outflow, which was impossible with a Perp or a Madelin contract. As to stock portfolios, these are therefore long or even very long term products (10 years, 15 years… or more). Securities and PEA accounts are only aimed at investors who can devote a dedicated sum to them, which they do not need to carry out a specific project.