Turbo charge your money habits and 2020 could be your year to save ­thousands of pounds.

It doesn’t matter if you manage to get the lowest price for your utilities, if you are spending more than you are earning, you’ll never be in control of your cash.

So – Take Control. Become a money planner.

Here, award-winning­ financial planner Warren Shute, author of The Money Plan book, shares his proven steps to making this year one to start boosting your cash flow.

Know your numbers

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If you set off on a journey not knowing how to get there you’d probably end up lost.

In the same way we need a plan for your money – a financial satnav for your journey this year and beyond.

For starters, list your ALIE. That means your assets, liabilities, income and expenditure.

We can change your whole financial future with these four things.

Assets can be physical or monetary assets like money in the bank, ISAs, your workplace pension, your home.

There could be intellectual assets like skills and trades. They’re all deemed as assets as they can produce you an income.

Make a list of all your assets, starting with your monetary, then your intellectual.

Your liabilities are things like loans or accounts payable where you are obligated to pay-out.

Your expenditures can be totalled if you go back over several months of bank statements to look at household bills, card repayments and loans.

Find the right savings accounts for you

The best savings accounts available at the moment are with Shawbrook, who are offering 1.4 per cent and Marcus, who are offering 1.35 per cent.

I like NS&I Premium Bonds. Not because they give you a great return but because they are out of arm's reach, so you’ll be less tempted to spend them if you have a bad day.

They are also backed by HM Treasury so it’s as safe as it gets.

And while interest rates are so low you are not giving up much interest from the banks to hold them. See www.nsandi.com.

Make sure you also have enough held in savings for emergencies.

If you’ve worked out that your expenditure – bills and spending money – comes to around £2,000 per month, so £24,000 a year, aim to keep around half that amount on deposit.

That is, hold £12,000.

If you lost your job it may take six months to get employment.

The same if you were seriously sick or hospitalised. It’s a core financial planning practice to help cushion you should you need it.

Know your pension rights

One asset every employed person should have is their workplace pension.

You should have been auto-enrolled. Get a valuation on this and add it to your asset list.

If you earn £10,000 per year and are 22 or over you are automatically put into the pension.

If you are paid less you can tell your employer you’d like to join.

If you don’t join you are probably giving up free money because most employers will pay some in for you.

If you are self-employed, look at pension providers such as Vanguard and Lexo.co.uk. Both offer excellent online options to save for your retirement.

Deal with debt

Credit cards – I call them debt cards – make it far too easy for the average person to get into financial trouble.

If you don’t pay them off every month you need to know what that is costing you.

Make a list of all your card balances, loans and overdrafts and search the internet using sites such as uswitch.com and money.co.uk to find the lowest rates, or interest free periods.

Some of the best rate switches are Barclaycard Platinum offering 0 per cent for 18 months or Halifax Balance Transfer offering 0 per cent for 25 months but has a 1 per cent balance transfer fee.

I don’t want you to consolidate your debts because it makes it seem a bigger task to achieve to repay them. If you have multiple debts, I want you to use my snowball repayment method. Here it is.

1. Pay off the minimum on all debts.

2. Any additional payment is made on to the SMALLEST debt, called debt No1 – NOT the one with highest interest.

3. This repays debt No1, the smallest, quickly so gives you motivating boost.

If it took too long you may give up. As humans we like rewards and gratification.

4. When debt No1 is repaid, use what you would have spent on it to pay debt No2.

5. You repeat this until debt No2 and all the others are repaid.

You may pay slightly more interest than if you repaid the highest interest one first but you are more likely to stick with the plan. It is all in the psychology.

Ways to increase your earnings

Each year ask yourself, what would need to happen to earn more? Could you ask for a pay rise? Could you train or skill up and get a promotion, or maybe change jobs?

Consider a side-hustle. That is a business you run alongside your main job to bring in extra money.

It should not be in conflict with your employment contract. This could be part-time waiting or bar work, driving or delivery work, or even selling items online with sites such as eBay and Facebook marketplace.

Many people are also not claiming the benefits they are entitled to. I like to use the site entitledto.co.uk which in a matter of minutes, will give you a summary of the benefits you could claim.

Don’t dismiss this. I am often surprised at what benefits are available by law.

Be a smart shopper

Price comparison sites such as Idealo.co.uk can help you get the best deals.

Idealo is a clever little site that will search the internet for the best prices on items. Handily, it also shows you the price history.

Once you know you have the best price, use Honey, joinhoney.com, which searches the internet for any discount coupons and applies them automatically. You’ll be surprised what’s available.

Use cash back sites such as topcashback.co.uk and QuidCo.co.uk to get paid when you shop.

They pay a small commission on any purchases made through their site.

Also assess any of your subscriptions to magazines and gyms. Do you attend? Could you get a similar experience for less?

Look at TV packages, insurances, rent or mortgages.

Use an ofgem.gov.uk accredited comparison site such as uswitch.com.

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