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Saving Money

Save Money For Important Things

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Save Money
Save Money More Easily

Save Money

Some say that saving money is difficult. You make personal finance choices every day, most likely without any conscious thought about the end result. Whatever you choose, it is going to use more of your money or less. If you begin to make conscious choices, you can take the steps that will put more money in your pocket.

The truth is that having more money means spending less.

Setting Money Goals

If you are determined to add to the asset side of your ledger, it is wise to choose a specific goal that requires more money. What you really want can be the motivator to put your dreams into action. And you’re the only one who knows the purpose that will be worth the effort.

Think of the possibilities: Retirement needs, starting a business, buying a home or car, making improvements to the home you have now, making provision for future medical needs, planning a special event for your family, building your emergency fund. Your money, your choice.

When you have narrowed the list to one specific goal, it’s time to begin.

Analyze Your Financial Situation

Begin at the beginning. Analyze your current income/outgo patterns. Sometimes as life goes along, it is easy to lose track of specifics. Look at last month. Were all your basic bills paid in full? Look at your bank statement closely. You can’t start setting money aside for your goal if you are already losing ground.

Even families with healthy financial practices can find themselves in debt and needing to save money. Not paying off credit card bills monthly will build a negative balance faster than you would suppose. Habitually spending more than you earn is fatal. Debt is not neutral. It costs. Sometimes it costs so much that you sacrifice your ability to work toward your chosen objective.

Create A Budget

Set up a budget that will take care of your main living expenses. If you are serious and there seems to be no wiggle room in your budget, consider how you can cut corners. Find a cheaper place to live, if necessary. Brown bag instead of eating out for lunch and eat at home for breakfast and dinner. Plan less expensive entertainment and more cheap outings. Avoid payday loans and tax refund anticipation loans. Live on what you have without mortgaging your future.

Start Saving Money Now

With a goal in mind and your finances under control, you’re ready for the next step.

Budgets Should Include Savings

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Recording every penny you spend lets you know how much goes to non-essentials.
Recording every penny you spend lets you know how much goes towards non-essentials.
Personal financial security almost always is built upon a foundation of creating and sticking to a budget. And a budget line dedicated to savings is extra insurance that you are on solid ground, no matter how much you make.

Tracking your spending is a necessary preliminary to creating that budget. Start by recording every penny you spend. And be prepared to be surprised at how much of your money is going into such things as movies, potato chips and other non-essentials.

Sticking To Your True Needs Leaves More For Savings

Once you have a true picture of how you are spending what you earn, the next step is to set a realistic budget that covers all your needs. That is needs, not wants. Needs vary from family to family, but for almost everyone, they include housing, food, water, shelter, clothing and education. The list of “wants” is long and variable, but often includes fast foods, meals out, expensive clothing, over-expensive cars, fancy cell phones and electronic gadgetry.

Engage Your Family In Setting The Budget

Let them help make up the shopping lists and then go through them to see what you can realistically do without. An occasional “fling” can be accommodated, but be sure they stay occasional and don’t become embedded in the budget by default.

Start A Savings Plan

Through your employment you may have access to a 401(k) account. Or set up an IRA (Individual Retirement Account), which is another way to enjoy tax benefits while you save. Keep retirement in mind. It comes sooner than you’d think. Save as much as you can and increase the amount as children grow up and leave home or as your earnings increase.

Consider What Is Practical In The Way Of Education

Too many Americans face retirement with student loans still weighing them down. It may be that you can achieve career goals without a four-year university degree. If you have to borrow to pay for higher education, keep these figures in mind: The typical monthly payment for loans escalates with the type of training you desire, from $54 for vocational school; $60 for an associate degree; $184 for a bachelor’s degree; $220 for a master’s degree; $280 for a college professor; $530 for a professional degree; and $840 for a physician.

Certainly don’t settle for less than you desire, but approach higher education with your eyes open. Start planning early, warn children they may have to work while they go to school, do your best to encourage them to perform well in high school as a springboard to scholarships and other support.

Finances Change With Divorce

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Knowing how to manage money after divorce is essential.
Knowing how to manage money after divorce is essential.
Unfortunately, in a society where divorce is common, no one expects women to be expert in personal finances. They tend to know more about weight loss, cooking and other traditionally feminine matters.

But, according to DivorcedMoms.com, knowing about money and how to manage it (especially when a divorce may have drastically cut your resources) can become absolutely essentially in your new reality. Here are some tips to help in the process.

Hope For The Best, But Be Prepared For The Worst

Though your ex may be as generous as he promised he would be, it often happens that support money begins to lag. Insist on discussing money issues as the split occurs. You’re better off, if possible, to plan on taking care of yourself financially. If you get all the help you are promised, you’ll be pleasantly surprised, and if not, you won’t be devastated.

Educate Yourself

Financial training for women should begin in high school, but it seldom does. If possible, plan to do your own taxes and hone your budgeting and investing skills. Find a consultant, research online or get advice from someone you trust.

Regular Savings Plan

If work is part of the equation for you, be certain that some set percentage of your income goes into savings. Take advantage of employer participation in a retirement savings, if that is feasible. If you still have dependent children, buying a home may be very desirable. But be sure that it’s affordable and leaves you enough for other necessities, including education for the kids. If you need to upgrade employment skills, there are agencies that offer free services or can steer you to affordable options. Don’t be reluctant to explore any options, including government support, if it is necessary to provide for your family.

Have A Strategy

Create long-term goals, including concrete plans on how you are going to achieve them. Get rid of what you don’t need in favor of the things that will help you reach your goals. Be sure your goals are realistic, seeking counseling if necessary to stay within reason. Most women have some assets, such as jewelry or over-expensive cars, that they can convert to cash if necessary. Incurring more debt trying to become financially self-reliant is not a wise way to go.

Live Within Your Budget

It may even do your children good to be forced to expect less. Teach them to live realistically within the new budget now in place. They could thank you for it later. Keep in mind that the old saying is true: You can’t buy happiness. Look for free entertainment, such as board games at the kitchen table, home movie nights, visits to the library, nature walks, local parks, etc.
Love and attention don’t cost anything and they’re the greatest gifts you can give your child. Don’t let your emotional fallout become their problem.

Seek Mediation If Necessary

Resist going to court with your ex-spouse for every dissatisfaction. Lawyers are expensive and courts not cheap. . With divorce child support orders can be changed if your circumstances change, but don’t make money a constantly divisive issue that too often puts children in the middle.

Look around you at all the women who have divorced and succeeded. One needn’t automatically exclude the other. Divorce creates challenges, but it isn’t the end. Learn from it, plan for success and stick with the plan.

When To Begin Social Security

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Social security main source of income for retirees.
Social security main source of income for retirees.
A growing number of Americans are starting to withdraw Social Security benefits before reaching full retirement age, according to a research poll conducted by Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs and reported by the AP.

Forty-four percent of those polled said they will look to Social Security for their main means of financial support after retirement and they will start collecting before they reach 65 or 66, the benchmark for receiving full benefits.

Benefits Reduced If Collect Early

Social Security regulations allow retirees who were born in the period from 1943 and 1954 to begin collecting as early as 62 years of age, but the benefit is reduced by up to 30 percent. That can have a significant effect on the long-term benefit.

Retirees who wait until they over 66 years of age see considerable increases in their monthly benefit, according to experts at the AARP Public Policy Institute. For each additional year past 66, the amount of retirement pay rises by 8 percent. The benefits top out at age 70, at which time the retiree is receiving the maximum amount.

Individual Circumstances Affect Retirement Decisions

But many Americans can’t or don’t want to wait that long to begin collecting, depending on their individual circumstances. Health and other considerations may weigh heavily in decisions to retire. Some people who lose their employment while approaching retirement are not able to get another job and early withdrawal of Social Security funds is a necessary option.

Social Security Main Source Of Income

Social Security is becoming more and more the main source of anticipated income for the retirement crowd. Fewer companies are offering standard retirement plans, opting to offer employees 401(k) and other plans to provide for their old age years. Only 43 percent of those polled said they are expecting a traditional pension.

Supplementing Social Security

Some workers, about 50 percent, reported that they also have other padding, such as a regular savings or IRA account, but some Social Security is by far the most commonly anticipated source, the survey found. Some 86 percent of those polled said they expect Social Security to contribute to their retirement income.

Retirement Age Rising

The average retirement age has been rising, as more Americans, particularly women, see the necessity for working longer to make retirement affordable. The average age for males is 64, and 62 for females. Compared with other countries, the American retirement ages still are relatively young.

Many factors enter into the retirement decision, including life expectancy data that show there are differences between rich and poor and among ethnic groups.

Questions about the solvency of the country’s most–drawn on retirement finance source have been a troubling aspect of the issue for some time. Since 1984, the program’s trust fund has run a surplus, but that is expected to end by around 2020 when the Baby Boomer generation hits the retirement ranks. The Social Security Administration believes interest income from the fund should be able to handle the increase until 2034, but at that point, the possibility of shrinkage in benefits could become a reality unless the issues are addressed. The matter is part of the current presidential debates taking place before the November elections. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton sees a need for expansion of the program, while likely Republican candidate Donald Trump has declared it should not be changed.

Plan Ahead For Retirement

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What you should already be doing in planning for your retirement.
What you should already be doing in planning for retirement.
The decisions you make early in life can make a huge difference in what your retirement cushion will look like. Waiting until you are about to head out the door of your employment is way too late to start thinking about it.

Stay Married

It’s common to hear from both parties to a divorce that he /she “lost everything” in the process. That isn’t mathematically possible, but it’s safe to say that it’s rare that either partner benefits financially when there is a split. If you fall into the divorce pit (and some 50 percent of American couples do) remember to calculate the future needs of retirement as you divvy up the goods. Applying some sound common sense in the relocation process will help. Wiping out the entire proceeds from a divorce while setting up independently may leave little for the retirement years. A smaller living space, fewer immediate “wants,” a more economical car may be good alternatives.

Spend Less Than You Make

This bit of wisdom has been bandied about forever, but not enough Americans pay attention. Debt is simply impatience expressed through money. If you save the amount of a monthly payment for as many months as the purchase takes, you can pay cash and avoid interest.

Live Frugally

Used vehicles serve well for every day getting where you’re going. Mow your own lawn, make your own repairs when possible, make eating out a rare option. Just keep thinking about how good life will be when you are retired if you don’t spend it all when you aren’t.

Invest

Take what is left when you have lived frugally and put it into a savings plan that will offer some tax advantages. An investment counselor is a good idea if you aren’t really savvy about the market. Making changes in your savings program just for the sake of change may be counter-productive. It can be tricky. Before you sign up for something new, think first if it will fit into the long-standing plans you have been pursuing.