The Big Simple Secret to Saving More

Saving is hard!

There are so many things that I want, and that my family needs!

How do I meet all my bills and obligations and still save money?

I struggle with saving money for my own retirement and other goals. Being self-employed makes it really hard to save money and allocate payments for taxes. (Did I ever tell you I hate taxes?)

If you work for someone else, you have the luxury of your 401(k) deducted directly from your paycheck. It makes it super easy to take care of retirement, your biggest lifetime expense.

How do you save money for all those other goals besides retirement? You know, like college, weddings, down payments for a home, or even a dream vacation. The exciting goals that make life rewarding. I want to share a big simple secret for saving for those goals.

Before I share The Big Simple Secret to Saving More, let’s go through a few ways to save money.

First, let’s talk about when you have a windfall. It’s decision time. Maybe it’s a tax refund, or a gift from a relative. What you do next is very important. You may be tempted to spend that money on all of those things you and your familia need. This is a great opportunity to set this money aside for all of those goals we mentioned earlier. Again, not everyone will get get this extra jingle in their pocket.

Second, save the extra money from a raise at work. Whatever the amount may be, you have lived life without it so far. Why not save the extra? Allocate it toward your college savings accounts. It may just be the right amount to put toward that dream vacation. Again, not everyone will be lucky enough to get a raise this year.

Third, sell some of your crap. What I mean is, one man’s crap, another man’s treasure. Right? Have a garage sale and raise a few hundred bucks. Go online and sell old books, clothes and household items. Everybody has some stuff they don’t want or need anymore. This probably won’t be enough to reach large goals but at least it’s a start. You will be surprised how much this will jump start your savings.

Now I’d like to share The Big Simple Secret to Saving More:

Automate your savings. This has been the only way I’ve been able to save money for my goals over the years.

Here’s why this works:
1. It comes out of your checking account before you spend it
2. It’s treated like a bill
3. There’s no effort required by you
4. It becomes a habit

I would encourage you to determine your goals, then decide how much each goal will cost. Then, take that dollar amount and divide that by the number of months before the goal. This is the amount to have deducted from your checking account. Do that with all of your goals.

Remember, if you don’t automate your savings, there is a high likelihood you’ll procrastinate and never save the money. It happened to me. That’s why I call it The Big Simple Secret to Saving More. If you liked this article, subscribe here for free! My virtual paperboy will deliver them to your email inbox every Friday.