Wednesday 9th September 2020 Devotion
Scripture:- 1 Timothy 6:1-12
Topic:- 13 Common Money Mistakes To Avoid [3]
Text:- 1 Timothy 6:10
- Not Setting Financial Goals:
It’s hard to know exactly where you’ll be in 10 years time, but it is worth considering what some of your goals are long term. Do you want to buy a house? Do you want to set up a business? Do you want to travel the world? These are all dreamy ideas, but they all have one thing in common: they require financial planning.
Giving yourself some financial goals to work towards can be super motivating for kick starting your career, not to mention your mental health and self-esteem.
Sit down and write out a list of things to you want to accomplish. Work out a (realistic) timeline of when you’d like these things to happen and how much you’d need to save each week or month to get there. Keep the money for these goals separate from your emergency fund (if you can), and avoid dipping into it unless you really have to. You got this!
Forgetting to cancel subscriptions. When you sit down to review your budget, armed with your new personal finance skills, check if you’re still paying for any subscriptions for services that you’re no longer using.
Free trials are a great way to save money, but we’ve all been guilty of forgetting to unsubscribe to some obscure indie film streaming service before the trial ends.
Amazon is pretty good when it comes to refunding unused Amazon Prime memberships you may have forgotten to unsubscribe from. That said, you’ll have to contact them within the first month of the first payment being withdrawn from your account and not have used it to purchase anything! - Not Knowing How To Read Your Payslip:
When you do start earning, not knowing how to read your payslip may mean you don’t know when you can claim a tax rebate. If you’ve been affected by either of these common tax mistakes you could be due a tax refund.
Paying off your Student Loan too early. Make sure that your Student Loan repayments haven’t started if you’re not earning over the threshold:
• £26,575 a year for Students from England and Wales who started University in or after September 2012
• £19,390 a year for Students from England and Wales who started University between 1998 and 2012
• £19,390 a year for Students from Scotland and Northern Ireland after 1998.
If you’re earning under those amounts and you’ve been taxed, you could be due a refund from the Student Loans Company.
Another reason people end up paying too early is that SLC start deducting money before the April after they graduate (repayments should not be taken off your earnings before then).
This sometimes happens if you start earning above the salary threshold before you’re eligible to start making repayments. Sometimes this is due to an admin error, eg. a mix up of graduation dates.
If you do start earning over the repayment threshold the before the April after you graduate, check your payslip for any pesky SLC repayments that may have made themselves at home before they’re due! - Emergency Tax:
If you’ve been put on the emergency tax code, you’re probably paying more tax than you’re supposed to and could also be owed a refund.
This sometimes happens when you start a new job, or start working for a new employer after you’ve been self-employed and HMRC don’t have enough information on your income for the current tax year.
HMRC will temporarily put you on the Emergency Tax bracket which shows up as 1250 W1, 1250 M1 or 1250 X on your payslip. Think of it as a default tax setting on any income you’re earning above the personal allowance.
This means you might have been paying more tax than you should’ve been in the first place, and can claim this back when you’ve been put on the correct tax bracket.
Get more information on emergency tax here and tax codes here. For more reasons on why you could be due a refund, check out our complete guide here.
Prayer Point:- Oh Lord God, help me to manage my resources well henceforth by fire, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Happy Mid-Week!
