Now you can make a budget: Be sure to include savings goals and how long it will take to achieve each. Short term goals of say, setting aside $20 a week or month, rather than long term savings goal of $200 per year, tend to be easier to achieve. ($20 week x 52 = $1040.00 yr; $20 month x 12 – $240.00 yr).
For additional budgeting information see Budgeting for Mere Mortals
Some common savings goals which can usually take 1-3 years are:
Some common long-term goals that usually take more than 3 years are:
Get the whole family involved in saving, even the children!
For additional budgeting information see Budgeting for Mere Mortals
Some common savings goals which can usually take 1-3 years are:
- Starting an emergency fund to cover 6 months to a year of necessity living expenses (in case of job loss or other emergencies)
- Saving money for a vacation
- Saving to buy a new car
- Saving to pay taxes (if they are not already deducted by your employer)
Some common long-term goals that usually take more than 3 years are:
- Saving for retirement
- Putting money away for your child's college education
- Saving for a down payment on a house or to remodel your current home
Get the whole family involved in saving, even the children!
Save Loose Change: Save your loose change in a jar.
For many people, that could add up to well over $100 a year. Think about it, if you have fifty cents per day of loose change, over the course of a year will allow you to save $182.50, nearly 40% of a $500 emergency fund.
- Every couple of months, check it for purer metal coins. Generally these are coins dated 1964 and earlier. (For a complete list of metal contents of US coins see http://www.usacoinbook.com/coin-melt-values/.)
- - Set these coins aside in a safe place that is easy to get to. They will be worth much more than their face value in a SHTF environment.
- Put the rest of these coins in your savings account.
For many people, that could add up to well over $100 a year. Think about it, if you have fifty cents per day of loose change, over the course of a year will allow you to save $182.50, nearly 40% of a $500 emergency fund.
A Family Experiment for Saving Money
One easy trick is to have a family meeting and decide that for the next two weeks, every time you get ready to pull out your wallet to purchase ANYTHING;
At the end of the two weeks, have another family meeting and count the money in your money jar. Most of us will have $20-50 dollars in that jar!
Continue with this savings method if it works for your family, just put the monies in a savings account every couple of weeks so you can watch your savings grow.
Accumulative Saving Money Plan (per week for 1 year)
Or you can try one of the Weekly Savings Goals for 1 Year Plans. The nickel and dime are great for children and super tight budgets. The quarter and dollar are for those of you that have more unallocated funds available on a weekly basis.
Again, be sure to periodically transfer the monies from your money jar into a savings account
Next week we will cover Bank and Credit Union potential savings
One easy trick is to have a family meeting and decide that for the next two weeks, every time you get ready to pull out your wallet to purchase ANYTHING;
- Stop and ask yourself if you will die in the next month if you don’t purchase this item right now.
- If the answer is NO, every OTHER time don’t purchase that item, be it a meal out or a movie ticket.
- When you get home, put this money into a household can or jar.
At the end of the two weeks, have another family meeting and count the money in your money jar. Most of us will have $20-50 dollars in that jar!
Continue with this savings method if it works for your family, just put the monies in a savings account every couple of weeks so you can watch your savings grow.
Accumulative Saving Money Plan (per week for 1 year)
Or you can try one of the Weekly Savings Goals for 1 Year Plans. The nickel and dime are great for children and super tight budgets. The quarter and dollar are for those of you that have more unallocated funds available on a weekly basis.
Again, be sure to periodically transfer the monies from your money jar into a savings account
Next week we will cover Bank and Credit Union potential savings
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