Five Fab Finance Tips to Help Expat Savers

If you’re moving abroad then the financial pressure is really on, and at a time like this when there is not a lot of spare cash floating around for anyone, you need to be as frugal and as careful as you can be.

Alternatively, if you’re already living abroad and perhaps suffering the effects of a weak home currency and a now much more expensive lifestyle thanks to currency fluctuations, time can be equally tough and you may well find that you too need to be careful with every penny to make sure nothing’s wasted.

Well, in this report we have 5 fabulous finance tips to help expats and to help expats to save a little money as well.  After all, we’re all aware that money moguls say we need 3 months salary squirreled away just in case, so here’s how to be healthy with your cash so that you can stash some of it away for a rainy day.

Have a Financial Health Check

Just as we are all advised to have various medical health checks carried out as we get older, so you should undergo a financial health check as the very first part of your money improving ways.  You need to know your outgoings as well as your income, you need to compare them both and see where there is room for improvement.

You can have a full financial review for free with most expatriate financial advisers, because from what you learn together about the state of your finances, they usually have ways of helping you improve your fiscal wellbeing.  As a result perhaps you will take them up on their advice and then they will be paid a commission by whichever product provider they have recommended as the right one to meet your needs.  However, you are under no obligation to take their advice, and you can just use their services to help you get to grips with your current financial standing.

You can of course embark upon this activity alone as well – what you need to do is be ruthlessly honest about where your money goes each day of each month.

Strip Down to Basics

You now need to go through a process where you weed out all the junk that you waste your money on each month!  And here we are not suggesting you give up the weekly treat of a trip to Starbucks or you decide never ever to buy another pair of shoes.  Rather we’re suggesting you take a more mature long-term view of your finances and yes, you do cut out some of the frivolous spending.  At the same time however, you need to consider cutting up all credit cards bar one essential one, and you need to get rid of store cards that tempt you to buy things you don’t actually need. 

Another way you can potentially cut back is by looking at the insurances you have – now we’re not about to suggest you stop paying into your life or health insurance policies – but you never know, there may be areas where you are actually doubly covered.  Sometimes you have life insurance included within another policy or with a certain bank account for example, so make sure, with the help of an adviser if needs be, that you are not doubling up and shelling out more than you need to.

Begin to Build Back Up

Having stripped your spending down to the bare bones basics for life, you can now begin to build up a savings pot that will see you have 3 months salary to hand in case you lose your job, or some other financial untoward event looms on your horizon.

As an expatriate you’re in a great position to kick start your savings because potentially you can save tax free, or at least defer any tax you have to pay on the interest you’re earning on offshore savings and investment accounts.  Speak to an independent financial adviser about which products are out there to suit you, your requirements, the way you want to save and your attitude to risk.  You’ll be impressed and positively surprised I’m sure, because for expats there are just so many fantastic money saving products available offshore.

Don’t Be Hard on Yourself

Having worked to cut out the frivolous money frittering away activities you used to engage in, and having put suitable effort into saving so that you can be financially safe, you need to bear in mind at this point that life is actually for living and that there is a happy medium to be reached.  So, if you find you’re spending nothing on anything other than bare essentials and you’re saving all the rest of your cash, know that this is not an acceptable long-term situation.  It can work if you have a sudden debt to pay off, but it won’t work in the long-term, just like crash dieters can’t keep starving themselves for long.  You need to add back in a little sparkle to your life, so don’t cut out all treats, just be realistic and sensible about what you save and what you spend.

Earn More Money!

If you want to save faster or have more disposable income, there is one thing that you could consider – and that’s finding ways to earn more money!  Few of us think beyond our day job when we think about what we have to play with at the end of each month.  But what’s stopping you changing your job, doing overtime, pushing for promotion or even taking on another job?  You could even start up an online business in the evenings or just get out and meet more people after work by getting a bar job perhaps.

If you find you’re exhausted at the end of each day, then what about renting out a room in your house or even renting out a parking space on your drive?  Both are potential money making options available to you to help you have more money to play with and either spend on the things you want or to help you save more and save faster.