I met a friend for coffee at Starbucks the other day. Over our $7 drinks she told me that she was having a hard time saving money. She lets herself have little treats like Starbucks because she tries her best to stick to her budget, but when it comes to actually saving money she finds that it’s hard to do. She knows that she needs to save more, but between all of the things she needs to do for work and her family, it doesn’t actually happen.
Maybe you’re like my friend and find it hard to save money. I get it. I, personally, think that spending money is way more fun than saving, but saving is a financial priority for me. For this reason I set myself up with systems that make saving money easy and virtually effortless.
By now I think most of us know how important it is to save money for a rainy day. Emergencies happen, and when they do having cash on hand not only saves us from using credit cards, but it also gives us peace mind. The reality is, that people don’t save as much money as they should. This happens for any number of reasons, one of them being that saving money is just one more thing to do and it’s easily forgotten about.
How can we make saving money a priority without giving up a lot of our time to do it and how can we make it as easy as possible? Here are three tips for how to easily save money.
1. Have a separate account for your savings
Having a separate account is key to your success. Most of us don’t have enough willpower to make sure that we have extra money for savings in our primary checking account. It’s easy to open up a separate account just for your savings. This gives you a place to put your savings and it will be easy to check track your progress. Stash your extra cash in a separate account where you won’t be tempted to spend the funds.
2. Make it automatic
Then make your saving automatic. Every month, or even whenever you get paid, have your bank automatically transfer money to your savings account. This way you put money away in savings right after you get paid. There’s no chance you’ll forget to save if you make it automatic.
3. Sweep any “left overs” into your savings account on payday
The day before you get paid look at your checking account. Do you have any funds left over from the prior pay check? Are there any extra funds available in that account? If you have money left over from the last paycheck, move those funds into your savings account. This gives your savings an extra boost. You also ensure that you aren’t tempted to spend that money.
Saving money can be difficult, but by putting a few simple practices into place, it can be easy. Just remember to make saving money automatic and simple. I can guarantee you’ll thank yourself later for setting up these money saving practices.