One of the biggest areas where you can save money is on your home mortgage. Are you aware that if you can make just one extra payment a year you can shorten your mortgage by 10 years? If you are making only minimum, payments to your credit card purchases, check out your statement. It now shows you if you continue making the minimum payments it will take twenty to thirty years to pay it off, so in reality you will never pay the credit card off. On the other hand, it also shows you just by increasing the amount you are paying you can pay the card off in three years. The wisest thing is to get yourself down to one major credit card and only use it if necessary, stay away from impulsive buying.
If you are serious about saving money, there are things you can do to get yourself on track. One of the easiest things is to to start with your ATM card. We have all learned to use ATM cards for everything. Check out your statements and see the extra charges for using your ATM card. When you use your ATM card to buy gas, there is usually a fee associated with using the card. If you withdraw money from a ATM machine that is not associated with your bank, you will be charged an extra two or three dollars. Find out what the extra fees are associated with your ATM card and change the way you use your card.
Check out your cell phone charges every month. One of the first things you can do to save money is keeping your cell phone bill under control. There is a lot of advertising on the TV about their newest plans available, the truth is they do not advertise their cheaper plans that are still available. If you have a lot of unused minutes on your cell phone every month, you can buy a very inexpensive phone and pay for the minutes that you actually need and use. If you do the addition over a 12 month period, it adds up to a lot of money.
Everyone wants to save money but many people fail to take the time to do the little things to save those few pennies that add up over time. Those few pennies start to add up and the time spent is well worth your time and effort. Are you wondering how to get the most out of your paycheck and have some left over to put into a savings fund? You have to make a conscious decision to be careful with your money. Stop worrying about competing with your neighbors or other family members. Learn to be happy with what you own and be proud of your accomplishments. Material items will not buy you a road to happiness and having no back up money is the road to disaster.
Building good habits and learning to stop wasteful spending is a must. Learning to go without things is hard, but it is a better choice to have enough money to pay your bills, especially your mortgage. Cutting corners can save you tons of money and build a saving nest in case you need it. It is no fun to live paycheck to paycheck and there needs to be money available to you in case of emergency.
How is your financial health? How much of your income do you actually keep? Your answer is probably not very much. Before you pay your bills, buy food, purchase gas and clothes, pay yourself first. Even if it is a small amount, it is a start to saving money. If you do nothing at all, you will have nothing. People who end up with little savings at retirement have made a conscious choice to save less and spend more during their working years. It is very easy to spend money in our American culture and not spend much time thinking about savings until it is too late.We are a nation of procrastinators and keep putting off saving until things get better. The problem with that type of thinking is that tomorrow never comes. There never seems to be the right time, and we just keep putting off saving. .
Do not stash cash in your house like your grandmother did. Open a savings account where it will earn interest. Even with the current economy conditions, a little interest earned is better than no interest earned. Then appreciate your money is earning interest, and even the interest is earning too.
Get yourself a journal and set a goal. Do not set unrealistic goals but something you know you can attain. For example, let’s say you want to save a $1000.00. There are 52 weeks in a year, so you will need to put away $19.23 a week. Keep that journal somewhere you will see it all the time. Every time you make the deposit check it off and watch your savings grow. It makes you feel good inside to know that you have money put aside.
A simple way to have some extra money to put away is simply stop buying those fancy little coffee drinks, bottled water, candy bars. Pack your lunch a few times a week and maybe only buy lunch twice a week. If you save $4.00 a day that gives you $1408.00 a year. That is more than enough money to reach the goal you set to save a $1000.00 a year. Learn to stay away from vending machines. The foods that are purchased in a vending machine have huge markups and it usually not the highest quality for the money
With the price of gas think about ways to cut down on the miles you drive . Plan your trips and cut down on wasted trips or repeated trips. if you have children, take turns with your friends driving the kids . If you manage to save even $4.00 a week ($4.00 X 52 weeks = $208.00). This shows how small amount of money adds up.
Give up the credit cards. Choose one credit card for emergencies and pay off the others. You need to cut them in half and have a plan on how much you will pay to get the balance down to zero. This means you will need a plan to pay more than the minimum payment. There are credit counselors who can help you get your bills under control if you are over your head in debt. Look for a reputable non profit agency and they can assist you to get the cards paid off. It will feel so good when you actually have more expendable income and make it much easier to save,
A big step you can take is when you pay off a credit card or a car loan, take that money and put it in a saving account. When you want to purchase a large item you will actually have the cash to pay for it. Get out of the habit of buying everything on credit.
Another way to save money is every time you get a raise, take 1/2 of it and put it away in your 401K or personal saving account. If you do this for the next 10 years you will be amazed at how much money you have saved.
Do you like to read books? Book are very expensive to purchase, especially if you are on a tight budget. Go to your neighborhood library and borrow the books and then return them. You will also eliminate storing books once you have finished them and eliminate taking up storage space in your home.
It is not easy to start saving, it is like the diet where you want to lose weight and never do. Once you start saving, you will feel good about yourself. After awhile the saving actually can become addictive as you continue to see gains. No one is going to do this for you, and your chances of winning that lottery you dream about will probably never happen. Learn to take control of your financial health and you will reap the awards. Learning to say no to the things you do not need takes discipline, but not having to use every penny to pay bills every will give you piece of mind.