Are You Saving Your Money?

If you are over the age of 18 your answer should be, duh who isn't? With all of life's obstacles and hardships and this crazy recession, it can be hard to build a hefty savings. Believe me, my savings account has gone from loaded to drained to loaded then back to drained. I was constantly dipping my hand in the cookie jar, mostly because I was spending money like there was no tomorrow. If you are spending like there's no tomorrow and you make less than 50k a year, you need to stop it. If you are making over 50k a year you need to stop it as well, even though the majority of Americans don't make that much, with the economy these days it's not a lot. But I'm talking to the people like me, the 50k and under club. What are you doing with your money?

The most trouble I've had in the past with saving money is temptation. The temptation to go out and spend my money at the bar, club, mall and restaurants. Even though I was putting money into my savings I had to pull it right back out to cover the bills I should have paid with my drink money. Spending before I had it. If you really want to build a savings here are a few things I had to learn for myself.

1. Work out a budget. Set aside some time to sit down and go over your monthly income and bills. What goes out vs. what's coming in. What is your monthly income and how much of that do you need for groceries, rent/mortgage, bills, etc. Now take that balance and figure out how much of it you want to put into savings. The left over money you can hold onto in your checking account or spend on whatever. Give yourself a limit though, just because you have a savings account doesn't mean you should be okay with having $10 in your checking account.
2. Save before you spend. This means exactly what it says. When you get paid, the next thing you need to do after paying your bills is put that amount of money you decided on into your savings account. Go straight to the bank, do not pass go, but collect $100 if you can. You need to save right away because it's payday and your friend is going to be calling you to go out, your kids want to go to the movies, you girlfriend wants you to take her to dinner. If you don't save right away, you will spend that money before the weekend is over.
3. Get new friends. Now you don't literally have to get new friends or stop talking to the ones you already have, but your friendships will definitely change when you are dedicated to saving you money. We all have those friends who don't have a savings account and live by the motto YOLO. These friends go out every weekend, spend $100 at the bar and go out to eat 6 days a week. Don't forget your shopping buddies! These friends might begin to scatter when you aren't out spending money with them. They might even see you as lame or boring. Don't let the pressure get to you, you know your finances and what your goal is. Watching your money grow will be way more fun than waking up with a hangover. I PROMISE.
4. Plan your fun. Just because you aren't going out every weekend or buying a new pair of shoes everyday. Doesn't mean you can't have fun. Remember all those fun activities you never get to do because you blow your money at the club? You know, the play you wanted to see, the concert you wanted to attend, the Falcons game you wanted to go to? Well now you can do those things because you have the money to do so. If you plan out one really fun event to attend every month, it wont drive you crazy to not go out every weekend. The anticipation of the upcoming activity will be enough to get you through the weekends.
5. Find free/cheap things to do. You can still hang out with your friends every weekend if you want, just set a budget on how much you can spend with them to still be in the confines of your savings agreement. For most people this means not seeing your friends as much, because lets face it...as an adult sitting in each others bedrooms gossiping about the opposite sex is less appealing now. We want to go out and have fun with one another. Look in your local newspaper or Creative Loafing to find some free events in your area, if you live in a city like Atlanta there is always something going on. Movie nights and game nights are always a great idea and very cheap. Everyone will either bring a game or movie to watch along with snacks and drinks, plan who brings what and the night will usually run you less than $10. 

For the serious saver (like myself): 

    6.  Set up an extra savings account. Your main account should be an emergency savings account, money you have saved up in case the pipe burst, you need a new water heater or have to pay for an ER visit. The extra savings account is for a specific goal. My extra account is for a vacation. I never take vacations out of the country. I have before but in my recent years my vacations have consisted of either VA or SC. Some of my friends who have money ask me all the time to go on vacation and I never could because I didn't have the money. Now this upcoming summer I can actually go on a real vacation because of my discipline to save up for what I want. Your goal doesn't have to be a vacation, just something that's important to you like starting a new business or saving to buy a house. Having two savings accounts may seem like a lot at first but once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze. 

If you haven't been saving I hope these steps will make it easier for you to begin saving. Of course you will have slip ups from time to time, but they become less frequent once you start making progress. A tool I use to help me save is mint.com I swear by it. You can add all of your accounts, credit cards & investments onto the site. It will show you how much you owe on each account, how long it will take you to pay it off. You can set up goals and make budgets with your money. This is the best thing ever and has helped me on my financially fit journey. 

HAPPY SAVINGS EVERYONE!!