Money plays a key role in many people’s new year’s resolutions to change their lifestyle, so we asked five people to tell us about their financial goals for 2022 and how they plan to achieve them.
The rising cost of living and the uncertainty over the pandemic are just two of the challenges that people are having to deal with, so what are some of the things that individuals are planning to do differently this year?
‘I’m hoping to support my activism through Patreon’
Natalie Evans’s financial goal relates to 2020, when her life changed after she filmed a racist incident on a train. The video went viral and Natalie, 32, and her sister Naomi ended up setting up the Instagram account Everyday Racism to help educate people about the issue, teach them how to become anti-racist and offer resources they have created.
After accruing 190,000 followers, it has become such a huge platform that last month Natalie quit her job at a youth charity, while Naomi went down to three days a week in her role as a teacher to focus on the account.
To help her survive financially, Natalie’s focus for 2022 is to attract people to their newly set-up Patreon account, where people can donate to support their work on Instagram. Patreon is an online platform used by musicians, artists and others where people can fund someone’s creative work via monthly membership.
I’ve gone from a full-time wage to being freelance, so I need to cut down as much as I can in terms of personal spending
“People kept telling us to set one up. I wasn’t sure but it takes time to write up resources and do the things we want to do, and we need support,” Natalie says. “It’s a great way of having a safety net.”
The Patreon platform will enable the sisters to create more exclusive content. “It would be great if there was enough of an income from it for me, and then potentially for Naomi for the two days she’s working for Everyday Racism,” she says.
Their Patreon membership has various tiers of access with different prices. Those signing up for the £3 a month tier receive a monthly newsletter plus resources, while a £10 subscription gives supporters access to a monthly Zoom Q&A focused on different topics. There are guest speakers and the chance to ask questions about anti-racism work and discuss current affairs with the sisters.
As a result of quitting her job, Natalie says that another goal is to rein in her spending this year. “I’ve gone from a full-time wage to being freelance, so I need to cut down as much as I can in terms of personal spending. I’ll be cutting down on things like buying new clothes, meeting people for coffee, eating out and other subscription services.”
‘I’m going to give away 10% of my income’
Martin Hall, 25, has made a big commitment for 2022 – and beyond. The data engineer from Manchester has signed up to give away 10% of his income to charities for the rest of his working life. Hall has joined Giving What We Can, an organisation that encourages members to give 10% or more of their income to charities that have been found to have the most impact. It offers information to help members choose causes and organisations to donate to, and provides a list of charities it says are effective. A calculator on the site shows you how much impact your 10% donation could have. Everyone who has made the pledge – including Hall – is listed on the site, to encourage other people to add their name.
View image in fullscreenMartin Hall has signed up to give away 10% of his income to charities for the rest of his working life. Photograph: Martin Hall
“I’ve understood the arguments to do this for a while but now I feel like I’m at the point where I can commit,” says Hall, who will organise the payments directly from his bank account.
“It feels like the right thing to do. I am fairly comfortable and my needs are met, so 10% doesn’t make much difference – a nicer car or more takeaways doesn’t make much difference to me, whereas the money could have a huge impact on someone else’s life. I’ll stick to the pledge through continued belief in the value of what I’m doing, budgeting, and having a wider community around me that have taken the same pledge.”
Hall has picked six organisations – which he can change later – including the Global Health and Development Fund and GiveDirectly, a non-profit organisation that allows donors to send money directly to people in poverty with no strings attached.
“It’s a nice balance of global health and development but also long-term solutions to reduce global catastrophes such as reducing the risk of human extinction,” he says.
What did friends and family think of his pledge? “My parents said it was a good idea. But for me, it’s primarily a thing you do for yourself and decide on your own.”
Giving What We Can is part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, a charity.
‘I’m going to manage my finances better and scale back spending’
After recently switching from being a sole trader to setting up a limited company and hiring her first employee, Leila Hrycyszyn, 32, says that this year she plans to be more rigorous with her finances and set aside money for her tax bill.
View image in fullscreenLeila Hrycyszyn plans to set monthly targets to cut back on spending. Photograph: Leila Hrycyszyn
“I’m usually frantically saving for my tax bill at the end of the year,” says the owner of a PR agency. “I often find I’ve spent most of the tax bill rather than putting money aside throughout the year. I need to manage my finances a lot better, so at the start of 2022 I’m planning to pay myself a salary and then put the rest in savings accounts for the tax bill. I know I need to deposit money into different accounts as, at the moment, everything goes out of the current account.”
Hrycyszyn, who lives in Alton, Hampshire, says she has been focused on spending rather than saving during the past few months. “I plan to cut back and put some real plans in place, like monthly goals to stop my spending,” she says.
To help her cut back, she plans to track her spending on a finance and spending calendar. “This will make me more mindful about what I’m buying and make me think twice about purchasing things in one click online.”
She adds: “I’ll be thinking about whether it’s really an essential purchase or not, and if not, won’t buy it. I spend quite a lot on platforms like Asos’s Premier Delivery, and Amazon Prime. I need to stop thinking I need six different things today. I’m going to cut back as much as I can. I’ll be looking at subscriptions and whether I need them. I don’t think I’ll stop using Amazon – I find it incredibly useful but what I have done is removed the app from my homepage.”
Looking ahead, she is feeling positive. “Marketing budgets have kicked off again and I’m the busiest I’ve ever been,” she says. “Even if there’s another lockdown, I don’t feel like budgets would go again like they did last time. I’m hoping the business will continue to thrive.”
‘I’m looking to focus more on using cash’
Tristan Verran, 49, a performer and educator living in Plymouth, wants to spend 2022 exploring alternative ways of transacting. For him, this means going against the cashless trajectory and paying more with notes and coins. “I like cash,” he says. “There’s no privacy issues. It’s not really traceable, there’s more anonymity with it, and it’s not micromanaged by some unseen AI somewhere.”
“Although spending cash might be tough as more places are turning card-only, especially after the pandemic. I’m an academic and I deal with books but this is a social project I’d like to do. I know little in the way of finance but all I know is that it’s become clear that the global finance system is incapable of meeting the material needs of the majority and is instead committed to systemically transferring wealth upwards.”
View image in fullscreenThe performer and educator Tristan Verran has started bartering. Photograph: Giulietta Constantine
Verran is keen to explore negotiation and exchanging services, and see who is willing to participate. “I’m definitely going to step up and be more vigilant, and look at where things come from, and shop local more,” he says, adding: “I’ve started bartering. I taught someone’s kids in exchange for their parent sorting out the plumbing.”
He says he would also like to look into creating a local version of the Bristol pound, the city currency that is in the process of transforming into a new scheme called Bristol Pay. “That model has been interesting. I’ve already started putting feelers out about creating something similar in Plymouth,” he says. “I want to invest in communities, not extracting wealth and giving it to some unseen billionaire to build spaceships. I’d like to push for that kind of model in Cornwall and possibly Devon. I just think what is happening right now isn’t working – we need different ways of doing stuff and exchanging services. We need more community engagement.”
Verran hopes to knock £10,000 from his £27,000 student loan debt in the first six months of the year.
“This is optimistic to manageable as I am seriously curtailing my weekly expenses on food and travel,” he says. “I will be baking more, and all bills are included in my studio, so I know exactly how much my monthly spend will be. However, [any] lockdowns are going to mean that I rely more heavily on online teaching. I will still be required to complete teaching courses online, so that money is guaranteed, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find new teaching work, or even venues to perform live. I’ll be performing outside with rural sites for free, regardless of lockdowns, and hoping to get some donations from patrons.” Verran expects to pay off about £1,500 to £2,000 a month from his student loans.
‘I’m setting up a green and ethical pension’
A committed environmentalist, Alexis Bushnell, 33, is on a mission to make her finances green. After moving from northern France to St Athan, south of Cardiff, last year, Bushnell needed to open a bank account but, rather than choose one of the traditional high street banks, she opted to open one with Monzo.
“The big banks are known for not being green, so I opened a business account with Monzo, but in 2022 I plan to open a savings account with Triodos Bank and spread my money between the two,” she says. “I like the fact that Triodos’s website is very upfront about the fact they care about people and the planet, and they’re clear about who they invest with.”
View image in fullscreenAlexis Bushnell wants to make her finances green. Photograph: Alexis Bushnell
Bushnell’s goal is to invest in a pension for the first time. “It’s incredibly difficult to live off a state pension, so it would be nice to have something to top it up with, so I know I’m not going to be working until I die. I don’t want to reach my late 50s and realise I don’t have any way to support myself outside the state pension.”
Adhering to her strong principles, Bushnell is going to scout out an ethical pension provider to help her save for retirement. She says she will be seeking advice via Facebook groups for ethical business owners, and asking on Twitter and LinkedIn for recommendations from people who already have ethical pensions.
“I’m looking for a pension provider that doesn’t invest in fossil fuels or things I’m morally opposed to, and isn’t helping to destroy the planet,” says Bushnell, whose company offers social media services. “I’m vegan, I buy from zero-waste shops, I don’t drive … I try to do everything from a personal level, which has a limited impact, but where I invest my money makes a bigger impact. Money talks.”
