How to Establish a Habit of Saving Money

If you were not taught how to save money early in life, it can sometimes be difficult at first to establish the habit as an adult. In this article, I'll show you how you can do this.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• The desire to start saving some of your money

1. First, one way you can seem to "find" money you didn't know you had is to get on a budget. This can be done in a very simple and practical way, and skipping this step will just result in more money flowing out without you being aware of it. Personally I think that Dave Ramsey has the best system on learning how to do this. If you have a problem with debt, doing this will also get you to a point where you are living on less than you make--giving you stability where you can start saving.

2. Start a savings account. I suggest credit unions because they tend not to charge you $5-7 fees each month just for having a savings account less that $100, something I've seen many banks do. You may have to pay a one-time membership fee, but in the long-term it's well worth it for less hassles.

3. You can give yourself an initial boost for your savings account several ways. You can find a large jar and start collecting all your change you have around the house--which can sometimes surprise you. You can sell some things you aren't using anyway. You can designate any unexpected money you get (birthday, Christmas, bonuses, etc) toward savings without missing your regular income.

4. Make efforts to learn ways to increase your income and lower your debt and overall expenses. This will open up more and more cash flow to you over time. Start at a managable level and put a designated amount into your savings that you won't miss, even if it's a few dollars a paycheck in the beginning.

5. When you get to the point you feel comfortable with it, you can have it a set amount automatically drafted from your checking account to be put into your savings account--this will save you time if your checking and savings are at seperate locations. Again, pick an amount that you won't miss.

Tips & Warnings

• This does get easier over time. Just focus on daily and weekly decisions, and over time it does make a big difference.
• Having some long-term goals and a "why" behind doing this will cause you to make choices you wouldn't do otherwise.

Resources

• More How-to Articles by Cougar1002

[TheHabe]

on 12/1/2008 Excellent article! 5 stars and a recommendation from me! Therese