According to a recent report from the Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) at the University of Bristol, saving regularly helps improve your wellbeing by removing the need to borrow money, preventing hardship by having a pot of money to draw on and building financial resilience and positive money management behaviour.
Don’t know where to start? Bedford Credit Union have some tips on how to start saving money in Bedford:
- There’s plenty of free things to do in Bedfordshire; there are three museums in Bedford’s Castle Quarter with free entry- The Higgins Bedford, The Panacea Museum and the John Bunyan Museum. Plus there’s Moot Hall in Elstow, Woburn Heritage Museum, Ridgemont Station Heritage Centre and Stotfold Watermill.
- Download some apps to help make saving money easier! Olio and Too Good to Go are apps connecting you to local people and businesses who have surplus food, while 50 things to do app has a lots of activities for under 5’s in Bedfordshire.
- Get stuff fixed at a repair café. There is Bedford Repair Café currently operating at Project 229 in Kempston and Share: Flitwick and Ampthill, who not only run a repair café, but also a Library of Things where you can borrow ladders, tents and all sorts of items for a very small fee. So there’s no need to go and buy expensive kit for a camping trip or a bit of DIY!
- Bedford Credit Union offers a savings account for anyone living or working in Bedfordshire and is marking UK Savings Week with a special £100 prize draw for PrizeSaver Account holders. Anyone with £1 or more in their Bedford Credit Union PrizeSaver Account by the end of UK Savings Week on 15th September will be entered to win, so there’s never been a better time to start saving!
Plus, every £1 saved in a PrizeSaver Account is automatically entered into a national draw every month to win 1 prize of £5000, 10 prizes of £50 or 10 prizes of £20, so the more you save, the more chances you have to win.
“I was drawn to the East Sussex Credit Union due to its community focus. Especially for young people like me who maybe haven’t got into a routine of saving regularly. The PrizeSaver account is a great incentive because you have the excitement each month in seeing if you have been lucky.” –Prize winner Eve recently won £5000
“We’re delighted to celebrate UK Savings Week by offering our savers the chance to win prizes, simply by having savings with us in a PrizeSaver Account. Our members love knowing that while their savings are safe with us, they are also supporting people within their community with loans and banking services.” –Bedford Credit Union Chair Ian McEwen
You can apply online for a Bedford Credit Union savings account. Anyone living or working within the BCU area of common bond can apply.
