Some people just seem to be better at handling money than others. It can be frustrating to go through life living paycheck to paycheck with nothing in savings. It doesn’t have to be that way. There are ways to make yourself better at saving money. Let’s look at how to become a natural saver.
Make Room in Your Budget
First things first. You can’t pour from an empty cup. You need to sit down and go over your finances. This begins with tracking your spending for at least two months. Once you do this, you’ll be able to look at where you can make some cuts. Once you cut some unneeded expenses, you’ll have money to save.
Start by Saving for Something You Want
One of the best ways to start encouraging yourself to become a natural saver is to start saving for something you really want. It might be a vacation, a new TV, etc. Create the goal by writing down how much money you’ll need to save.
Now, the real key to making it happen is to set a date for yourself. For example, create a goal to save up for a new TV over the next six months. If a new TV costs $500, you would need to put back roughly $20 a week to meet your deadline.
Start Small
You want to start small. Don’t think about saving $100 a week. Instead, start with saving $5 or $10 a week. The idea is to get used to putting money into savings. One popular method is to use the 52 Week Savings Challenge which has you put $1 in the first week and $2 in the second and continue until the last week where you save $52.
Do It Automatically
Setting up an automatic savings plan allows you to think of the amount saved as any other bill you might have to pay. You don’t even have to do anything once you set up the plan. The money will be moved from checking to savings automatically. It makes life so easy.
Put Extra Money Toward Savings
Last, but not least, when you happen to get extra money, put the money into savings – at least part of it. Those bonuses from work or your tax refund can add a nice bit of change to your savings account.
Saving money can seem hard at first. It almost feels like a chore at times. However, with a bit of work, you too can become a natural saver.
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