If you’ve ever tried to get started saving your money and living responsibly, you know how hard it can be. Your normal routine involves spending money, not saving. How do you break that routine and get your money working for you? Well, one quick way is by following our tips in this very article! Here are some of the best ways you can start saving money today.
This is the only hard part: be critical about your finances. Sit down and write up a budget. Be serious with this, and don’t lie to yourself or hide your spending from yourself. It’s critical that you get your handle on your finances and understand where every dollar is going.
When you see your spending habits in black and white, it makes it harder to justify them. This can help you give every dollar of your paycheck a job before you see it. You’ll know how much is going to bills, how much is going to savings, and which portion will be your spending money. It’s critical that you don’t dip into your savings for spending money!
Once your budget is laid out, get an emergency fund going. You want to have around $1,000 (at least) put back in case of an emergency. Ideally, you want to really have three months of your pay put back somewhere for the event that you lose your job.
This is in addition to other savings, of course. This doesn’t include your retirement savings, any stocks you’ve invested in, and similar smart savings strategies. This is just a subset of the “normal” money you have at your disposal.
You might be reading this thinking “there’s no way I could ever save $1,000!”
That’s a normal reaction! These are just goals to keep in mind. Starting small is okay, as long as you’re targeting those big benchmark goals. If you’re not saving towards something, it’s difficult to keep saving. You should consider setting up automatic savings drafts from your paycheck with your bank. This can help make saving a simple process that you don’t even have to think about!
No matter what your income is, you should be saving. You might think there’s no room in your budget for that to be possible. You’d be surprised at what frugal living and a sensible budget can do for your savings account, though! So, hop to it: start saving today!
