As a junior doctor, you may face a lot of responsibilities and challenges at the same time. For example, you have to maintain a balance between your personal life and your exams and assessments.
Along with this, you have to decide on your further qualifications and diplomas.
The financial aspect for junior doctors
As junior doctors, you have the additional responsibility to carter and manage your finances and that. You may receive a regular income, but it is important to manage your paychecks and secure your finances.
You can either find the best mortgage or invest your money in a long-term source. Along with various investment options, you can also opt for fast loans that need no guarantor to get financial support.
These are the short-term loans suitable for getting urgent funding. The direct lenders in the UK have added no guarantor feature just to make lending more comfortable. However, these may attract a slight high-interest rate than the standard loan option.
Steps to money-saving for junior doctors
- Claim all your expenses against tax
As a junior doctor, you can claim all your expenses against tax. If you do not claim the amount, you will end up paying more tax. Some of the allowable expenses are:
- GMC registration
- BMA membership
- Royal College membership fees
- Indemnity
- Cost of sitting Membership exams
To claim your refund for a lesser amount than £2,500, you can directly contact HMRC or complete the form P87. In case of a higher amount than £2,500, you have to either set up an HMRC personal tax account or complete a self-assessment form.
You can benefit from the retrospective claim and claim for the previous 4 years if you have not claimed in the past.
2. Claim travel expenses
While on a study, you can claim for your travelling expenses if you are attending any course. This is possible only if you are pursuing work-related mileage such as home visits by GP registrars.
If you are doing shifts in hospitals that are far away from your base hospital, you can claim your excess mileage. There are certain rules for claiming your excess mileage, such as submitting a mileage record and completing the claim within 1 month to settle them within the deadline.
Claiming your business mileage can make a difference in huge money and can increase your take-home pay.
3. Plan in advance your leave/budget
There are many courses organized by your senior management that are available at a local cost. To book a seat for yourself, you have to make a quick move. Else you will be charged a higher or full price elsewhere.
If you plan in advance, you can get a course of your choice, which is significant to your professional development.
4. Do not pay for things that are available to you for free as a junior doctor.
Working in NHS is getting access to numerous journals via OpenAthens account. You can learn and have access to knowledge about healthcare to augment your knowledge. These journals are free of cost and of high quality.
5. Focus on the maximization of your ongoing subscriptions
As junior doctors, you have access to thousands of books for your preparation for membership exams.
Along with the books, you can have access to various courses on topics such as communication skills, safe prescribing and complaint dealing, etc.
6. Claim your discount that you get as an NHS employee
Many companies offer discounts but are not advertised. Companies such as Apple and Nando’s may offer a discount to avail yourself as an NHS employee.
Along with these brands, local service providers also offer discounts such as your gym membership, broadband connections, etc. You can always ask before buying their subscription.
7. Get various cash-backs on various things.
You can always check with various websites for cash-back options available for you. Websites such as Topcashback and Quidco offer carious cash-back schemes.
You can get access to hundreds of pounds every year. You can check for cash backs on services such as hotels, flights, broadband, mobile phone contracts, and more.
Many people who are not an employee of NHS are not privileged to get access to such cash backs. There are other options for non-NHS and unemployed people, such as loans for the unemployed with no fees.
8. Tap on the option of childcare costs with the government
Having young children can be profitable for you. You can access the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme.
This offers an additional 20% top-up for your scheme up to 12 years old.
Conclusion
As a junior doctor, you can benefit from various schemes available by the government and private service providers. By tapping multiple opportunities, you can save a lot of money per annum and get an increased take-home pay every year.
