Don’t Stress About Renting….. Please

5 Tips to Save Money and Stop Stressing About Paying Rent

If you are under the age of 40 in the UK, there’s nearly a 50% chance you are renting. And we have all heard somebody, probably our dads, saying; “rent is just throwing money away”. But look, we all live in the real world and renting is often the most affordable way to live independently today. So, first things first, please don’t stress about it.

Here are 5 tips to help you save money and stress a little bit less about paying rent at the end of each month.

1. Take a look at your regular outgoings. There are loads of great tools out there to help you track your spending, like Monzo or OnTrees. With a little organisation you can start to see how much you are spending each month on things like eating out, utilities, internet, tv and make any adjustments you want. Think do you really need a landline nowadays, or even a full range TV subscription package?
2. Look for better utility deals. This can be really complicated, but the fact of the matter is if you are interested and have the energy to do the research you can find deals. Go to any of the price comparison sites, or read up on advice on MoneySavingExpert. If you are living with friends, also have a think about using a utility management and splitting service, like ours DividaBill. This could help you make sure all your tariffs are being reviewed, your bills are being paid, and you can split them all between your housemates evenly.
3. Invest in reducing costs through products like Smart Thermostats. Tado, Nest and Hive are reputable products that will help you keep track of your energy usage so you can better manage your costs.
4. Definitely get in touch with your energy provider and ask them to install a Smart Meter. This is done free of charge and will mean that they more accurately charge you throughout the year. So, hopefully you will never get those crazy bills again where they make huge estimates and then refund you 6 months later.
5. Finally, we all want to hopefully live in our own place one day. This means saving now to try and get a mortgage and buy later. Fortunately, there are more and more low cost investment management services available today. Nutmeg is a london based service which can be easily set up online and can help you make the most of your ISA. These investments take a while to bear fruit, but could help you achieve your financial goals in the future.