Talk Money Week: 10 Small Steps to Improve Your Financial Wellbeing

What is financial wellbeing, and how can you improve it? Read our Talk Money Week 2024 blog to find everything you need to know. 

Talk Money Week (November 4th – 8th), run by Money and Pensions Service, is an annual awareness campaign dedicated to encouraging people to have open conversations about money. 

Financial anxiety and shame when talking about money are unfortunately common experiences, and this is especially true during the cost-of-living crisis when many of us are struggling. Research by Money Helper found that one in three of us say thinking about our financial situation makes us worried. 

It’s difficult to even learn about money management if you live with financial anxiety or feel overwhelmed at dealing with financial matters, so it’s important that we feel able to have honest conversations about money without shame. This can help us to develop better relationships with managing money. It can also enable us to have important conversations about money with young people so that they develop positive experiences with money management that will support them through life. 

What is financial wellbeing? 

Financial wellbeing, also known as financial literacy, resilience, and confidence, means having a good relationship with your money. It means feeling secure and in control of your finances, able to make the most of your money while also being able to cope with the unexpected. 

This year’s Talk Money Week theme is around financial wellbeing, and encouraging everyone to do one small thing to help improve their financial wellbeing. 

Improving our financial wellbeing can be daunting when taken all at once, so by picking just one thing — whether that’s discussing our money worries with others or checking the status of a pension — we can take small, meaningful steps that don’t feel overwhelming. 

Making money matters easily digestible is at the heart of what we do at Mental Health and Money Advice, so we wanted to provide you with some ideas you can use this Talk Money Week, and beyond, to improve your financial wellbeing. Choose as many of these ideas as you like, or spread them out over time to make it easier overall. 

How to improve financial wellbeing

1. Use this free budget planner

Planning a budget might feel overwhelming, but this free budget planner, brought to you by our friends at MoneyHelper, can help break it down for you. Simply enter how much you spend and what you earn, and the calculator will give you a breakdown of your finances along with personalised tips to help you budget.

2. Talk to a child about saving money

If you have young children in your family, have a conversation with them about saving money or pocket money. Our dedicated conversation guide to talking to young people about money contains advice and resources to help in their financial literacy and confidence. We also have a conversation guide for talking about mental health and money in general.

3. Start an emergency fund

Whether it’s car trouble, broken appliances, or unexpected bills, financial emergencies can happen and, if you don’t have a plan in place for dealing with them, they might leave you short and stressed. Starting an emergency fund is a smart way to plan for the unexpected. Generally, an emergency fund should consist of between three and six months’ salary. Even if you don’t end up using it, having the safety net there will bring you peace of mind.

4. Check your credit score

It is recommended that you check your credit score once per year. Contrary to popular belief, checking your credit score will not affect your credit score. This is known as a “soft inquiry” and is not visible to lenders. Checking your credit score can help you to understand your financial health, identify potential identity fraud, and bring your accounts into good standing.

5. Contact service providers to renegotiate and lower your bills

Our bills — particularly phone, internet, and TV services — can sometimes increase over time. If it’s been a while since you checked how much you’re paying for your services, you should check your bills and call to renegotiate your terms. You might be able to renew your contract for far less than you’re currently paying, for example, or change the service you’re paying for if you aren’t using it to its fullest extent.

6. Check and cancel unused subscription services

With so many subscription services and free trials, it’s easy to forget to cancel services we aren’t using. Check your outgoing payments for monthly or yearly subscription services you aren’t using. There are even apps available that automatically do this for you, though they are often paid.

7. Track bill due dates and consolidate and spread them out

It can be difficult to remember when bills are due, but knowing these in advance can help you to ensure you have enough money in your account when they are due. Depending on your needs, you can also ask companies to change your due dates, consolidating them or spreading them out as you need. Even so, knowing when they’re due can be extremely helpful, and you can combine this step with one of the previous steps to reduce your overall outgoings.

8. Set up a low-balance bank alert

Many banking apps allow you to set up a “low balance alert,” sending you a text message or notification when your balance falls below a set amount. This can be helpful if financial anxiety makes it difficult to check your bank account, or simply to ensure you always have enough in your bank to meet your needs. To find out how, check your banking app or contact your bank account provider.

9. Check the status of your pension

If you have an employer pension, checking the status of your pension is important for a number of reasons. This can tell you if you’re saving enough for your retirement, check what fees you may be paying, and its long-term health. You can also use the government’s website to check your state pension forecast.

10. Seek independent debt advice

We know that debt can have a significant impact on your mental health, but help is available. Mental Health and Money Advice has dedicated pages to help you understand your options for dealing with debt, including how to seek independent debt advice.  

The conversation around money doesn’t stop with Talk Money Week. Mental Health and Money Advice has several tools to make managing money easier. Get started with a guide to beginning to save money for the things you want in life, and our regular “Top Tips” blog about money and mental health. 

We believe in the importance of having genuine conversations about money, debt, and welfare benefits, and the effect they can have on mental health.  Beyond having conversations with our loved ones, organisations such as the National Debtline and Citizens’ Advice offer independent advice, or can point you in the right direction. If money worries are affecting your mental health, you can also seek help via a referral to the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) from your GP.

Please share these guides across your networks to encourage others to talk about money and mental health with people they trust using the hashtag #TalkMoneyWeek.