Savings Tips

Create a goal - think as big and crazy as you can. What’s your ultimate dream? What would you love to do? Is it going on all that all expense paid cruise? Hiking the PCT? Buying a house with a white picket fence to raise your family? Getting your doctorate and working to solve the homeless crisis? Retiring comfortably at fifty? Whatever it is, we applaud you for having dreams, let’s make those dreams come true! When you have a vision in mind, you have something to look towards - just saving to save isn’t a strong enough motivator. You need to know the reason you are saving. Know your why.

You cannot save money unless you know how much you have to save. Start by looking at your expenses each month and determine how much you can save. 

Once you have your budget set, you should always pay yourself first. Don’t wait until the end of the month and save what is left over. Determine how much you can save and save money for yourself first before paying your bills. Your future and goals should be the most important things in your budget, make sure you are treating your money like they are.

When you automate your savings, you don’t even think about it... it happens automatically! There are different ways to automate your finances. You can set up your bills for automatic payment so you never miss a bill and have to pay a late fee. Some companies will even give you a discount if you enroll in automatic payments; Take advantage of that if that is an option.

You can automate your transfers to savings and/or investment accounts. Set up reoccurring transfers to happen for the beginning or middle of the month. This will ensure you are paying yourself first, not with what’s leftover, and that it happens every month.

Finally, check your retirement investments. One out of five workers misses out on free money from their employer by not setting up their 401k to automatically contribute the minimum required for matching. Don’t leave free money on the table. Look into these things and invest to meet the minimum requirement if you can. By setting up automatic investments, you are taking advantage of compounding interest over time and letting your nest egg grow larger.

One of the keys to success is to continue learning. The more you know, the better decisions you can make. Investing in learning about finances is investing in yourself. You will always have to deal with money, so take the time to continue learning about it and how to make it work for you.