5 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR MONEY GROW

It pays to adopt these smart financial rules - literally.

The key to building a bigger bank balance isn’t simply crossing your fingers and hoping to score a windfall or win the lottery. It’s about adopting simple, savvy financial habits that are easy to follow (and remember).

“If you understand the whys, you’re more likely to stick by these rules because they make so much sense,” says Jean Chatzky, whose book, Money Rules: The Simple Path to Lifelong Security, is packed with bite-sized wealth-boosting tips.

Here are five simple money mantras to start fattening up your wallet today...

RULE 1: FIGURE OUT YOUR HOURLY EARNINGS

“Here’s a quick and crafty way to compute your hourly rate,’ says Chatzky. Remove the last three zeros from your annual salary and divide the remaining number in half. For example, if you earn £30,000, that gives you an hourly rate of £15, assuming you work a 40-hour week. “Use this handy formula, in combination with your enjoyment or hatred of the task at hand, to decide when it’s OK to hire someone and which tasks aren’t worth doing at all.” Could you hire someone to weed your garden for £15 an hour, say? If you hate it and earn more then hire away. If you love it and earn more, do it yourself. “And if you earn less, roll up your sleeves and start digging!”

RULE 2: NAME YOUR PRICE ON THE OPEN MARKET

Are you worth more than you’re earning? Or, dare we suggest it, less? “If you’re under-earning, you’re losing money every single day,” says Chatzky. “But if you’re over-earning then you’re ripe for the chopping block and you’d better update your skills or improve productivity.” Compare the size of your wage packet to your peers’ at salary checker sitepaywizard.co.uk. Those figures could be handy as a negotiating tool if you decide to start angling for a pay rise too.

RULE 3: DON'T CLASH OVER SHARED CASH

According to a study by the University of Michigan’s Early Years of Marriage Project, the leading cause of arguments in the first ten years of marriage is, you guessed it, money. “When we talk about compromise and cooperation, it can be abstract,” says financial therapist (yes, that’s a real job nowadays) Amanda Clayman. “But money gives us a quantifiable tool.” To help keep your cool (and your relationship), schedule a monthly check-in meeting where you pay all the bills and tally up the month’s spending. Do it somewhere public, so there’s no raised voices – and, ideally, somewhere nice so it feels like a treat. Just make sure it doesn’t cost too much as that kind of defeats the purpose.

RULE 4: NEGOTIATE ON EVERYTHING

Walk into a retailer with a fistful of ads from competitors such as Amazon, to remind the sales person you can get the same product elsewhere. Then “dive in with your price,” says Terry Bacon, author of Elements of Influence. “Try 20% below the lowest price you’ve seen elsewhere as a starting point for negotiation.” As for that awkward opening gambit, try: ‘I like this but what can we do about the price?” This makes it seem like you’re working together, says Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D and author of The Silent Language of Leaders. And always offer to pay in cash. It will save the store the cut it has to give the credit card company, which can be up to 7% of the item’s price, adds Bacon.

RULE 5: NET FREEBIES WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

“Many brands and retailers use Facebook and Twitter to post special deals or previews of sales,’ says Melissa Littler from discount fashion e-tailer Brand Alley. “So make sure you ‘friend’ your favourite brands on Facebook. Twitter, meanwhile, is a great source of completely free stuff, with brands giving away goodies in return for your tweets. Or use a hashtag (the # symbol) to hunt down giveaways. Just type ‘# freebies’ or ‘# free stuff’ into the search box to pull up all freebie-related topics. Kerching!

http://www.womenshealthmag.co.uk/life-skills/money/241/trap-your-money/