SELECT YOUR LANGUAGE

When you get a paycheck, pay yourself first.  Don’t be unrealistic about how much money you can afford to save.  Remember, your bills matter, too.  You have to pay your bills, so don’t go overboard when paying yourself first.  Most financial gurus suggest that you pay yourself 10% of your income.  If you have excess funds that will allow you to do that, then save that percentage.  However, if you cannot afford to save 10% of your paycheck, save what you can.  Remember, anything saved is better than nothing saved.  If you take a percentage of each of your paychecks and allot a portion of your money to go into a savings account (that you will not touch, unless you need to), you can build an emergency fund for yourself.    

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If you have repairs that come up or you lose your job, you can use the funds you save to help offset some of the cost, after you have saved enough money to help in times of need.  Before you say, I don’t have anything extra to save after I pay all of my bills, honestly think about all of the money you spend on buying lunch almost every day, dining out, at happy hour, playing the lottery, entertainment, cable, memberships fees, subscriptions, vacationing, donations, and other people’s birthday gifts, etc.  If you have money to do any of those things, then you have money to save at least a portion of your paycheck.  I am not saying do not enjoy your life, I am saying enjoy your life, but also save money as well. 

 

You never know when you will need it and you don’t want to get in debt trying to recover the money you might not always have.  If you have an amount that you can afford automatically withdrawn from your paycheck each month, you usually don’t miss what you don’t see.  Through the payroll department at your job, You can set up to have a specified amount of your paycheck to be automatically deposited into your savings account.  It is best to not put the funds in a different checking account, because we normally utilize our checking accounts to pay bills or make retail purchases when using a debit card. 

 

The savings account is the account that you will only withdraw money from when you need it.  Too often, we work hard for money that we only make enough to pay bills with, and we usually do not have much left over to live and enjoy life.  So,  saving the funds can enable you to make good investments that will help your money make money.  Start saving what you can now, even if it is only $5-$20 dollars a paycheck.  If you save at least $10.00 a month for three years, you will have saved $360.  The more money you save, the more you will have long-term. So, start paying yourself first.

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By Jason Torrents