Do you often find that plans don't go your way? Do you involve your children in your family goal planning? This blog explains how you can do it and why it's so important.

Do you want to start saving for your children but don't know how? Do all the options confuse you? This blog explains all the options on savings for children.

In an ideal world you should set yourself up with different money pots so that you've got access to your saved money when you need it. Planning Using a zero based spending planner you can decide where you are going to put your savings and plan towards the goals that you have chosen. (please read my previous blog on the zero based spending planner if you missed it!) In an ideal world you would want an emergency fund of money, which is a certain amount of saved money that will pay for unexpected expenses things. For example when your washing machine breaks down unexpectedly, or your boiler has an issue which needs fixing urgently and it may cost more than you would have available that month, as you won’t have planned for it, and historically you would have just put it in a credit card and paid it off later or over a period of time. Emergency funds Most people typically hold between £1,000 - £2,000 in their emergency fund. As an emergency fund you will need to be able to access the money instantly because it's an unexpected expense. I would recommend that you put the emergency fund into an ISA because you don't envisage the need to touch it, but if you do need to access it then your money is easily accessible in an ISA. Essential funds Then the second type of money pot that I believe everybody needs is a 3 – 6 month expenses pot. This is the minimum amount of money you need to live on. So if you don't have an income this will cover your essential bills and your food. This won’t include all your direct debits and other bill, but your essentials and food. A premium bond is a great place to hold this amount of money because you can access it in less than a week which will give you plenty of time. So let's say you're unfortunate enough to lose your job, you know you're going to have to lean on these essential funds until you find a new job. You' can access that money through Premium Bonds fairly quickly, but it doesn't need to be completely instant access like the emergency fund would be because the chances are you're going to get some sort of some headway on that. Other money goals If you're looking at saving (in addition to these emergency and essential funds) for different money goals, you first need to consider where you can place the money and how long it will take to reach your goal. So if it's a longer term goal then you can maybe tie it up for a little bit longer in an account or investment, or if it's something that you're working towards for the next 6-12 months then again I would recommend Premium Bonds. They are a great place to hold your goal money, or in an ISA so you may want to think about what money you are aside for the car, or holidays, or for the children’s expenses, for house renovations, for landscaping your garden, etc. Think about what your money goals are to help you decide what different pots of money you need. Regular Saver At this stage I do just want to make you all aware of a product that most people don't know about actually and it's not widely talked about is called a Regular Saver. Again most banks do offer this product, but they may call it something different, but it's basically a savings option. You commit to save on a monthly basis for 12 months, and then at the end of the 12 months you get a whole lot back, plus the interest you've earned. A a lot of the banks do offer a slightly higher interest rate – for example 3 – 4 – 5% interest, so certainly much more than what you'd get on an ISA or an instant access savings account. What's really great about the Regular Saver is that it gives you a commitment to a set money goal. This is a great place to put for example, holiday saving. If you can tuck a certain amount of money away into a Regular Saver and leave it until maturity, you will be able to pay for your holiday or money towards your holiday expenses. Have a look around and see what offers your banks has as they are bound to offer around some kind of programme where you can save money on a regular basis and get rewarded for doing so. Shop around and do your research! So in summary, there are a few options available so please take a look at your bank and their offers and shop around. See what is available and explore the different ISA options, interest rates and regular savers. For Instant Access savings accounts, some of them offer online savings accounts but don't get too caught up in all the titles as they can be confusing. Just look at the product options and remind yourself what you are looking for. Take this as an opportunity to review not only your child’s savings, but your own savings as well to ensure that you've got all your bases covered, and that your money is placed in the best place it can be. I hope this clears up some of the jargon and let me know how you get on with your money pots! Have a great day.

This philosophy has not only been created to help understand your own approach towards money but also can be really useful to share with partners, family members and friends. Once you understand their approach to money you might find it easier to approach them when talking about money. This is a big part of our mission at Savvy Peacocks to remove the taboo from money together. Once you’ve completed the quiz you can take a decision around the areas you’d like to change. The reality is a balance of all five money languages is the optimum, or what we like to call a Savvy Peacock! The Ostrich This is likely to be somebody that hates looking at their bank balance, doesn’t check the bank statements, Spends frivolously and worries about it later. They likely have a lot of anxiety around money and therefore choose to bury their head in the sand rather than taking a more proactive approach. This is the one money language that doesn’t have many positives aside from being temporarily fulfilled by the spontaneous feeling of buying something without over thinking it. The problem is this feeling is often followed up very quickly by regret. The first step to changing your approach to money is realising you are an ostrich and accepting that it is not a sustainable way of life that will help you grow and flourish into bigger and better things. The Money Maker If you are striving every day to increase your income and find ways to make more money then this could be you. This person often doesn’t look at their outgoings and focuses predominantly on their incomings. However, the risk with this approach is that they could be living up to their lifestyle and missing out on an opportunity to grow their wealth. Focussing on income instead of wealth is often the mistake many make; it’s not how much money you earn, it’s how much of it you maintain for your own wealth. When you focus on the money coming in and not necessarily how you spend, it can often end up in creating the lifestyle that spends that income rather than creating more wealth. Someone can easily have a high income and not be wealthy, just the same as someone earning a ‘mediocre’ income can be extremely wealthy. The Penny Obsessor This language might sound worse than it is, but this person is very strood with money, they know where every single penny goes and the minute it leaves their bank account. They are highly likely to keep receipts and check their bank accounts every day as a minimum. Funnily enough they are highly likely to be anxious about money which is where this behaviour stems from. Even though this person might come across as organised with their money as they’re so tight to the numbers, it is often seen that they don’t handle unplanned expenses well, even if they have emergency funds etc in place. Having to spend money is uncomfortable for them, particularly in an emergency so this can be a difficult time for this person. They don’t like to spend money on things that don’t add value or enrich their lives even if the purchase is essential. The Goal Planner Being highly driven towards goals, particularly money goals can sound idealistic, this person will often be found working towards short-term medium and long-term goals. They’ll be driven to achieve them regardless of what else comes along in their life. This may mean that they miss out on things and certainly aren’t spontaneous. Sometimes when you’re so focussed on a goal you can miss what’s right in front of your face, maybe a better option or idea. If you can balance this money language out with having room to flex the goal or take the opportunity to enjoy the moment if it arises then you could easily have the best of both of worlds. There is no better feeling than setting out a goal and working towards it, especially as you get nearer to it. Interestingly these people probably work in a target driven or sales environment and then takes the same approach in their personal life. Kudos should be given to any goal planner as it’s not easy to stick to a goal with temptation to deviate all around us. The Impulsive Spender If you fall into this category, you may feel like you are enjoying the spontaneity and loving that you have freedom to do what you want to do with your money. This person likes to buy what they want and buy it now, worry about it later. Unfortunately, this means that they could end up towards the end of the month with nothing! Like an ostrich that feeling of excitement from buying something you didn’t even know you needed doesn’t last very long and is certainly not very fulfilling. It often leads to regret. The best thing an impulsive spender can do is turn off the advertising option within their phone, stop your gadgets listening to your conversations and your thoughts and creating a 24hr rule; if you see something you’re tempted by then leave it in your basket for 24 hrs before completing the transaction, chances are you won’t feel the same after 24 hours to go ahead with the purchase. This is probably the hardest money language to change but it’s also the most rewarding when it does change. Click below to take the quiz today to find out which money language you are and start your journey into becoming a Savvy Peacock which is a balance of all five.