It’s an important life skill, like driving, holding down a job, reading etc.
It’s been always shrouded in dense lingo and ‘a man’s job’. So don’t feel too bad about not knowing much about it.
It’s also very personal and circumstantial, so it needs to be tailored to your circumstances.
I’ll briefly tell you about mine, and gladly answer any questions you might have.
I’m on a slightly higher than average salary. I didn’t chase promotions because my DD was small and I was already working full time, I thought it would take up valuable time and headspace. The minute she became independent, I went for promotion and got it. In the space of 10 years I doubled my salary and I am on a trajectory to further increase my salary by another 25-30%.
I have a mortgage. And insurance through my employer (they would pay off my mortgage if anything happened to me). I used a financial advisor to get my first mortgage, because I didn’t have a credit score, all the financial stuff was done (badly) by my ExH. I always overpaid, it chips away at your interest.
I have credit card ‘debt’, I simply use a 0% interest for large expenses and pay it off over time. BUT. I already have that money in savings, I could pay it all off tomorrow. I pretend I’m paying it in full, and bung the money in high interest accounts. When it comes to the end of the 0%, I pay it all off normally. There is a balance transfer fee, about 3%, if you want to bung the rest of the balance into another 0% credit card, and I don’t like paying that 😂. Plus, paying it off increases your credit score. Never use more than 30% of your credit limit.
I get paid in a FD account. I can recommend FD as a bank, they’re amazing.
From there, I feed my various accounts: one for my mortgage, one for bills (I use NatWest, they give you 3% back from your bills), one for every day expenses (food, petrol etc).
Right after the bills, I pay my savings. I love regular savings. FD has one where you put a max of £300/month and the interest is 7%. After 12 months you saved £3600. Lloyds has one at 6.25% and the max amount a month is £400, which gives you nearly £5000 after 12 months.
That’s the basic of what I do.
HTH