‘Payday routines have helped increase my net worth by €60,000 this year’

Carlotta Aringhieri is a financial content creator who - just days after payday - only has €100 left in her current account. But not for the reasons you might think.

The woman behind the popular @OnTheMoneyWithMe Instagram page is a huge advocate for having a payday routine to keep control of one’s finances.

Almost as soon as her salary is paid, her direct debits leave her current account, her pension is already deducted at source and the remainder of her monthly income is allocated to various accounts according to their purpose; mortgage repayment, savings account, investment portfolio, household bills and various fluctuating expenses like grocery bills.

With the advent of digital-only banking and the ease of moving money from one pot to another, the budgeting habit has exploded in popularity on social media as a way of helping people to stay in control of their money and keep their financial goals on track.

How? By automating the processes of saving for your future, paying off debt and running a household before you’ve had a chance to leak money in typical ways – expensive lunches near your office, for instance; impulse spending, or ordering takeaways when you’re too tired to cook.

After tracking her numbers, Aringhieri has found that by sticking to the payday routine she designed for herself, she has managed to increase her net worth by a significant margin. (While you might associate “net worth” with the Forbes rich list, everyone can calculate theirs by totting up the value of assets owned, minus the value of their debt).

“What I like about tracking my net worth is seeing it grow – it’s really motivating. So I started the year with a net worth, and now I’m tracking it and we are in October, and I’m plus €60k compared to January, and that is so motivating.”

But with various commitments, unexpected bills and economic uncertainty to deal with in life, how do you keep a payday routine on track?

While it’s taken Aringhieri years to get to this point, she shares her story and explains how listeners can come up with their own routines, designed around their financial reality.

“It removes decision fatigue from you. It lets you be more confident and less stressed about, ‘Where did my money go last month?’ I find it very helpful for your wellbeing as well,” Aringhieri adds, “because if you know that your future self is taken care of, your pension, your investment, your savings is taken care of, you can spend more, guilt-free.”

You can listen to the conversation on the player above or search for Better with Money wherever you get your podcasts, but please note this show is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

This episode is brought to you in association with Standard Life