Summer is often an expensive time of year. The kids are on school holidays and we all want to take time off to get a bit of sunshine. We can find ourselves spending more than we planned and then -  before we have time to recover - Christmas will be upon us. 

Salary Finance is a salary-linked employee benefit available to you and they offer solutions to help you manage your money.  

To help you navigate the summer, and prepare for the expensive end of the year, they've prepared 3 top tips: 

1. Be honest with yourself - the reality check chat 
   If you want to feel like you're in control of your spending, and not like your money controls you, you need to take the time to work out what you're spending right now and what's important to you. While this may not be a fun exercise, it's critical to spend time writing it all down to understand what you can cut back on or where you could be saving.  
2. Set realistic goals. To set yourself these goals, ask yourself these questions: 
   1. How would you like to feel about your finances come January?   
   2. What changes can you make now to your spending (and earnings) that would enable you to put aside some money each month to reduce any debt and build funds to reach your other money goals? 
   3. Do you have something special to save up for? 
   4. Do you have any unwanted possessions you could sell online to free up cash?
3. Adopt a smart spending system
   Once you know what you're trying to achieve, you can start putting a method in place. To make sure you don't overspend, you need to set a realistic budget and stick to it. Something that may be able to help is the Salary Finance Smart Spending System. Watch The Smart Spending System video which explains how it works. 

Salary Finance, provides Falkirk Council colleagues access to a range of financial benefits. These include affordable loans repaid through salary, simple savings accounts and money insights. To find out more, visit: Salary Finance. 

Important: This is an option, not a recommendation. Falkirk Council does not benefit from offering this service and all your communications will be with Salary Finance. Loan applications will be assessed to ensure the loan is appropriate and affordable for you. "Learn" content is for guidance and educational purposes only and is generic in nature. Salary Finance does not offer regulated financial advice. Please seek independent financial advice.