Are you saving your money for a rainy day, but feeling as if you are always struggling to get ahead of the financial storm? You are certainly not alone. Prepare your financial umbrella with this quick, no nonsense guide to saving money in five minutes.
- * First and foremost, stop making excuses because no excuse is good enough for you to be spending all of your money rather than putting something, anything, into savings. Not making enough money or resolving to do it later is simply not good enough. Do it now.
- * Start your savings by creating a plan. How much money are you bringing in, and where is this money going? Where do you want this money to be going? Write all of these things down. There is plenty of information out there about budgeting for savings, so start formulating your plan now.
- * What are your savings goals? What are your short term dreams and how do those dreams translate into savings goals? Make sure that your financial goals are actually obtainable, otherwise you are going to find yourself discouraged really quickly. Use a savings calculator in order to determine your short term goals, so that you can figure out how much money you are going to need to save in order to achieve those goals. Make sure that you are always paying yourself first by putting money into savings before you do anything else. Also make sure that you are beginning an emergency fund because you should always have between 3 and 6 months of living expenses saved up so that if an emergency ever comes up, you will be able to handle it.
- * Even if you are carrying debt that you need to pay off, you should make a point to put something into your savings account each and every single month. When you are finally debt free, then you should also take the money that was going to paying debt off, and put that money into your savings account as well.
- * Make sure that you are paying off you credit cards. Pay off the credit card that has the highest interest rate, and then pay off the credit card that has the lowest balance. Work on chipping away at your balances until they are gone. If you have cards that are near their limits, carve them done quickly so that you do not end up with exorbitant interest rates and fees, as they will only make the entire process that much more difficult.
- * Once your credit cards are completely paid off, you need to cut them up and start operating with cash only. Cash makes sure that you are only spending the money you have, and not a penny more. This is the best way to keep yourself from overspending and to make sure that you always have money to put away for a rainy day.
Start saving now.
Photo Credits: twenty_questions
Originally posted 2009-06-18 15:54:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Saving Money with Your Credit Cards pt 2 Continued from part 1… Another type of credit card that you can use to save money is one that offers frequent flyer miles or air fare rewards. Airfare is expensive, and if you fly relatively frequently then you are probably well aware of how expensive it can be to fly……. -
Customizing a Budget …
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