Everyone wants to save more, I mean who doesn't want more money in the bank? But most of us don't seem to be saving nearly as much as we would like to, if at all. So what do we do about it? Where do we start and how do we make our savings dreams a reality? Here are some practical tips to help you get started:
Open an Account: There are tons of ways to save, with apps, savings accounts, and many more. If you wanna keep it simple, set one up with a bank that doesn't charge you any fees or have a minimum required balance. If you don't feel like going into a bank you can do it online. American Express Personal Savings is a great option that you can set up online, and it even gives you a small amount of interest for letting money sit in the account, who doesn't love free money? If you want to get creative there are tons of other apps our there like Digit, Acorn and many more, but my advice is don't get overwhelmed and keep it simple with a savings account to start.
Start Small: Savings is a life long journey, start with a small amount that you're not going to miss. My recommendation? Start with $5 a week, it may not seem like much but at this stage its more about developing the habit of saving, rather than racking up big bucks. It's like lifting weights in the gym, start with 5 lbs before you break your arm trying 50 lbs and give up forever.
Automate: Set up an automatic savings plan to take money from your bank account every week. It usually takes less than 10 minutes and the best part is you only have to do it once and it continues forever. Automation is great because it is one less thing to worry about. It also guarantees that the savings gets done on time every week with no excuses. It can be annoying to figure out how to set up the plan at first but you can do it, we have faith in you.
Relax: Kick your feet up and relax knowing you are now financially secure and have some savings in the bank in case something comes up. It may be a small amount now but watch it grow. In a month that $5 a week will be $20, and in a year it will be a cool $260. It may not seem like much but hey it's $260 more than you had last year.
Increase: Whenever you feel comfortable, double that $5 to $10, then again to $20. Take your time though, don't ever make the amount so high that it leaves your bank account dry for paying bills or enjoying life. The goal here is to make savings something you barely notice. The only time you want to notice $20 missing from you bank account every week, is at the end of the year when it transforms into a cool $1040.
You can do it, and best of all you have nothing to lose. Don't feed into the thought of "what is $5 a week gonna do anyway"? or "I'll save when I have more money to save". Right now focus on creating the habit of savings. If you have the plan in place, then when you make more money you will already have the savings process ready to go.