Follow this advice, and you’re almost sure to save a lot of money.
The secret to saving money
Building an emergency fund, creating a nest egg for retirement and socking away money for your children’s college fund are fundamental steps to ensure long-term financial well-being. But how do you actually save money? It’s easy to say, “I’m going to save money,” but that’s an empty promise, without a plan.
Thanks for reading this post and Brass Ring also thanks those whose content is shared here on our website. We present it in order to pass on their knowledge to our small business clients so it can help them remain informed, healthy and growing their businesses. Please bookmark our site, subscribe to our newsletter and come back for more marketing, small business & WordPress tips, advice, tools & news! - Edward A. Sanchez
We’re going to give you a plan. The secret to saving money, really, is to adopt several money-saving strategies and actually carry them out. Easier said than done, absolutely, but if you’re looking to pad your savings, try these expert-backed strategies.
By Geoff Williams, Edited by Jennifer Ortiz, Sept. 26, 2022 – Read the article HERE in its entirety on US News’ website.
1. Make a game out of saving.
Jacqueline Gilchrist, who manages the personal finance website, Mom Money Map, suggests employing a “no spend” challenge.
“A no spend challenge is when you don’t spend money for a certain period of time. It could be a weekend, a week or a month. You can set rules to spend only on essentials or other allowances,” she says.
By participating, “it forces you to be creative with what you have and learn new skills to avoid paying for a solution,” she says. “When you feel like you have no money to save, doing a no spend challenge can possibly open your eyes to more ways to save.”
2. Modify your income tax withholding.
If you receive a sizable tax refund every year, Elio Alfonso, an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Tampa, suggests that you look at adjusting your withholding allowances.
“Basically, you are giving the IRS an interest-free loan during the year for absolutely no reason,” Alfonso says. “You should have more of that money in your bank account earning interest and working for you.” If you opt to withhold less from your paycheck, just make sure that you put some of that money aside from each pay period to go into savings.
3. Tweak your retirement accounts.
It isn’t enough to regularly put money toward your retirement. You should also be looking at your retirement accounts at least once a year and seeing if you can improve how you’re saving for the future. For instance, do you have an employer-sponsored retirement plan?
“How much are you contributing? Are you contributing enough to get the full employer match? Can you increase the amount you are contributing?” asks Mark Williams, CEO of Brokers International, an insurance marketing organization that provides resources and support for agencies and financial professionals.
“This might seem like a no-brainer, but you might be surprised how many people put off saving for retirement,” Williams says, adding that the longer you put off saving for retirement, the more you miss out on the math magic of compound interest.
4. Pay off high-interest debt.
You can’t save money if you’re shoveling most of your money into interest.
“Pay off all high-interest debt such as credit card debt immediately. The high-interest charges are destructive to wealth accumulation,” says Barry Spencer, a co-founder of Wealth With No Regrets, a financial planning firm in Alpharetta, Georgia.
So what about the house? That’s debt. But it’s low-interest, and it appreciates in value over time, Spencer points out. So don’t worry about getting the house paid off early…
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.