Take a moment. Think about being your best self — living your best life.
What do you really want to do with your life? Raise a happy family? Travel the world? Buy a nice house? Start your own business?
Reality check: To accomplish any of those things, you’re going to need to save money.
Develop Savings Goals and Strategies You’re probably asking yourself, “How much should I save?”
Your first move is to set specific savings goals for yourself — emphasis on specific. Naming your goals will make them more real to you. It’ll help you resist the temptation to spend your money on other stuff.
Think Long-Term and Short-Term
What exactly do you want to save money for? How much will you need to save? And what do you need to save for first? Think short and long term:
Short-term: Save for travel, or your next car. But first, save enough to have a decent emergency fund — three to six months’ worth of living expenses, in case you run into an unexpected car-repair bill, lose your job or worse.
Long-term: This involves big-picture thinking. Here, you’re saving for your house for example, or university debt.
1. Analyze Your Income
How much can you realistically save for these goals, now that you’re making them a priority?
Write down your income and expenses — all of your expenses, from utility bills to your Netflix subscription. You need to know what you’re spending in every category. Pay special attention to what you’re spending on non-essentials, such as eating out.
Establish a Budget-Conscious Lifestyle reality:
To save more money, you’ll need to spend less money. (Or make more money, but we’ll get to that next.)
2. Set one financial goal to achieve it by the end of the year
An important part of financial success is recognizing where you need to focus your energy in terms of certain financial goals, like having a fully-funded emergency account, for example. Whatever your goal is, the most important thing is to get started. Given a bit of time, those few dollars here and there really will add up.