| Most
people know they should have a nest egg, something for a rainy
day, an emergency fund, or just plain savings. But they don't.
Some say they'll start with their next pay raise, or when the
kids are out of the house, car paid off, or...There always seems
to be an excuse. The solution is to start slowly, penny by penny.
They add up faster than you think.
There
is a TV commercial that shows a happy mother using her check
card to buy groceries. The voice over tells us that she's
actually adding to her savings account because the banking
company rounds up the charge to her checking account and deposits
the difference to her savings account. You can do the same
thing without opening new accounts. At the end of the day
take the change out of your wallet and pockets and stash it
in a jar. Once a week count it up and deposit it into your
savings account.
Another
way is to save every five dollar bill you get. Crease it,
fold it, or put it in a different part of your wallet, then
once you get home, stash it in an envelope. At the end of
the month you may be surprised to find yourself with an extra
hundred dollars to deposit in your savings.
Finally
look at one small expense you could easily give up and save
the difference. If you always stop for a gourmet coffee drink
on the way to work, you easily spend £20 a week. Make
the coffee at home or switch to a fast food brand coffee.
Actually put the savings in a desk drawer, in three weeks
or so you could have an extra £50. Deposit it into your
savings account.
And that's
an important step: "deposit into your savings."
Keeping the money in the jar or envelope is too tempting.
It's easy to take £20 dollars out promising yourself
you'll pay it back when you hit the ATM machine. Of course
you never do.
If your
work offers the services of a credit union, sign up for an
automatic payroll deduction to be deposited in a separate
credit union account. Don't be overly ambitious and deduct
an amount that will have you tightening your belt too much.
You'll just have to withdraw the money out to make ends meet
and that's a bad habit to start. Start with £50 a paycheck
and increase it every few months.
Saving
for a nest egg doesn't have to be a major challenge if you
do it penny by penny.
|
