Financial Fitness: Money Management Tips for Men in 2024

Today I wanted to share with you some money management tips for Men in 2024, that I think will help you keep on top of your finances. During the beginnings of lockdown I had a complete self-audit of all my outgoings and I got a lot of great comments from you all. I put all of my findings in a YouTube video here, and I belief a lot of what I said back then is still relevant now. 

A study published by the Office of National Statistics in February 2023 show half of adults (49%) who reported that they were behind on energy bills between 14 September and 8 January 2023 also reported high levels of anxiety, compared with a third of those who were not behind (33%).

Many of us are wearing our financial burdens on our sleeve and it's having a detrimental effect on our mental health which in turn, is affecting those closes to us. So let's get into it. Here are my key tips for money management in 2024: 

Lose the ego

What I mean by this, is if you know you're in a financial pinch, take that second job delivering Pizza. Take that not-so-glamourous job that doesn't look good on social media. The other I spoke to my friend, he is in his words 'flat broke' and whilst it all quiet in his line of work, he's had to take a second job as a goods delivery driver helping to move paintings. But Carl, he told me, whilst this wasn't the job I planned for when I left school, and whilst it's not something I go around telling everyone, it's actually worked out for the best. He told me he got to meet new interesting people moving paintings around, he got to see the inside of some fabulous buildings such as foreign embassies in London, and he got learn something too. Such as taking paintings off canvases and dismantling the frames, because sometimes the paintings are too big to fit up the stairwells. 

Now normally, people are too proud to get that second job that they think is beneath them, or it just doesn't look good on social media being a white van man, but you're only plugging the gap. Or as I like to call it, stopping the dot balls. In Cricket, a dot ball is when the batter fails to score a run, and the bowler achieves a dot ball. Too many dot balls cripple the run rate, puts added pressure on the batsman and inevitably the victory target gets further and further away. My friend only earned £50 for the morning's work, but that's prevented another dot ball. That's paid his water bill for the month. And the next day, he can swing for the fences again. So swallow your pride, lose the ego, and do what you have to do to get through the financial drought. 

50/30/20

Back in 2021, CNBC published a series of videos detailing one minute money saving hacks. In one of those videos they talked about the 50/30/20 rule, a rule that I subscribe to and is still relevant for men looking to save money in 2024. 

50% of your earnings should go towards the things you need. Energy bills, food, etc. 30% of your monthly income should go towards the things you want, hobbies, dining out, that special suit jacket and so on. And finally 20% of your wages should be put towards savings and investments. According to that same article,

Experts typically recommend aiming to have enough cash in your emergency fund to cover between three and six months worth of living expenses. Some also suggest building up your emergency savings first, then concentrating on long-term investments.

Do your research

By this I don't mean simply Googling how to make money in 2024. But I mean, start lending an ear to the podcasts that you wouldn't normally listen to, because they're too challenging or just not as much fun as those podcasts that predict the weekends football scores. Start talking to your friends who you know have success in their investment portfolio and ask what are they looking into this year. Maybe ask them, what websites or journalists are they paying attention to. 

I asked a friend recently who always likes to talk money, investment strategies, and he put me on to two podcasts that I like. The Jay Martin Show and Thoughtful Money with Adam Taggart. I also look at different news channels to try and get differing opinions on the market. And what are the so called big boys saying? Warren Buffet for example, gave Nasdaq his top 5 money making investment tips for 2024, and in there he advised to go with brands and companies that offer intrinsic value. Apple for example. Yes the phones might be expensive, their TV subscription channel might just be another subscription you can't afford, but they have truly cornered the end to end user market in the digital space. Your iPhone will always need a Mac to connect and update. And so on. 

Lastly lose the screen addiction

We spoke earlier about managing your subscriptions and figuring out exactly what it is that you're paying for in your monthly outgoings. A study put out by Recurly in March 2023, asked How much do Brits spend on subscriptions? It revealed that the average Brit pays out nearly £500 every year on subscription services. But out of those 45% admit they have signed up for a plan using an introductory offer with the intention of cancelling as soon as it ends. Now what happens when you forget to cancel it, or even stay on with the subscription that you didn't fully intend to do.

So be ruthless with your outgoings. Go through your bank statements and calculate what you are spending, and what are really using versus, what are you just holding onto for rainy days. Do you need the TV licence, SKY movies, Netflix, Amazon Prime and the cinema pass? Seriously how much time do you need to spend sitting on your arse watching a screen. Get up, make some fucking money for a change. 

That's it from me, I hope you enjoyed this article. We all need to tighten our belts during this time and I know how hard it can be. But remember stay positive, look for angles, talk to friends and get your projects off the ground this year.