New ways to save, budget and borrow as the cost of living crisis bites

theguardian.com:

Financial experts have always talked about the importance of saving, setting a budget and borrowing sensibly, and it’s easy to feel with some of the time-honoured advice that you’ve heard it all before.

But with the current cost of living crisis testing many of us like never before, it is useful to go back to the basics.

Fortunately, there are new tricks that can help – from having regular money chats with friends on Zoom to some financial apps that bring the “Couch to 5K” model to saving.

Forget products from your high street bank – here are other ways to build financial resilience over the coming months.

Find an accountability buddy

It is easier to stay motivated to do things we find unappealing if we have someone with us – the fear of letting someone down, or breaking a pledge, can be a powerful reason to keep going.

Stacey Lowman, a money coach for Claro, the digital coaching app, suggests you apply this approach to budgeting and financial admin. During lockdown she created free Friday finance sessions on Zoom. A group would drop in and each introduce what they needed to focus on, sometimes prompted by a question from Lowman such as: “What is your biggest money challenge right now?” They would then use the pomodoro technique, setting a timer for 25 minutes, to separately focus on whatever admin they needed to get done, paying a bill, filling out a spending spreadsheet, switching banks.

“I generally find that people tend to put those little practical money things off,” Lowman says. “Having a dedicated space, especially for people stressed about money, can make a difference. If you wake up thinking: ‘Oh no, I forgot to do that thing’, you can think: ‘OK, I’ll deal with it in Friday’s session.’”

You could set up something