Do you ever feel embarrassed when someone talks about ‘dipping into their savings’ and you realize that you have never had any? Don’t worry your are certainly not alone and in fact there is a great deal which you can do to change things around so that you too have some savings to count on when a rainy day comes. Of course if you ever are need of some quick cash you can always look into online payday loans but to ensure that you have some savings to ‘dip into’ here are some ways in which you can get started.
Coupon Hunting
If you have already booked and paid for something such as holiday then you will no doubt be worried about starting a savings plan. The key however is to look out for as many deals and promotions as possible. I was in this boat last year after booking a trip to Florida, yet we were able to save loads on Disneyland discount tickets, hotel coupons, heavy discounts on restaurants and various other promotions which kept our costs low down, and enabled us to kick start our savings plan.
Go Tech
Many of us struggle greatly with our spending so the first step to making sure that you have some cash to put away each month is to utilize your smartphone. There are a huge number of apps out there which you can use to set savings goals and to track your income and expenditure. My favorite apps are those which have a spending tracker, with many offering a function that allows you to simply scan a receipt, and it will add the value to your tracker. Use an app like this for a month to track your spending, and then you can see where you need to spend less so that you can put the money aside as savings.
Lump Sum
If you have a lump sum that is on its way to you, perhaps a bonus from work, a large chunk of overtime or perhaps even after a bereavement, consider this as your savings starter. It can be tempting to start thinking about what you are going to spend the big figure on but it makes more sense to use this as the savings starter. When we only have savings of a few hundred dollars it can be easy to spend it but when there is a bigger sum in there, it will encourage you to add to it.
Working Hard For The Money
The best way to get started on a savings goal is to add as much as you can from the outset and if you don’t have a lump sum on its way, you should consider a tough month of extra work. If you can put in a month of plenty of overtime or even additional income, you can dedicate this money straight to your savings. Not only will this feel rewarding given that you have worked hard for it, whilst you are working you also won’t be spending as much money. Doing this will allow you to create a foundation for your savings which you can then add to in future months, it will also give you great pride that you worked hard to get things started.
Savings are not difficult to make, just be smart, plan well, track your spends and be disciplined when you are paying money into your savings account, and when you are tempted to take any money out of it.
