We all know that we should be saving money for a rainy day. However, saving money may not always seem easy. I want to help you reach your financial saving goals. The first step in saving money is setting a goal- how much money do you want to save? Do you want to save $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 dollars? The amount of money you want to save will depend on your financial situation. Financial experts advise people put away or save three to six months of expenses for an emergency fund. This is the first thing that I think you should save money for, an emergency.

If you are not sure how much money you need to run your household per month, you will need to create a budget prior to creating a savings goal. After you set your goal for how much money you want to save, you will need to set a deadline.  I know what you may be thinking, “I don’t want to set a deadline, what if I don’t make the deadline?” Don’t think like that, you need a target. When people set goals, they tend to talk about creating S.M.A.R.T goals.  S.M.A.R.T is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound. Let’s say, I have a savings goal of $12,000, this goal would not be considered a S.M.A.R.T goal.  While the goal is specific, to save $12,000 and measurable, it doesn’t have a deadline and therefore is not time bound. Let’s say, I have a savings goal to save $12,000 by January 1, 2022. This is a S.M.A.R.T. goal because it is specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant or important to me and it has a deadline.

Now that you have set your S.M.A.R.T savings goal(s) you need to create a plan to help you achieve this goal. Let’s say you get paid biweekly and your savings goal is to save $12,000 of by January 1, 2022 then you would need to divide your savings goal amount ($12,000) by 12 to break down your monthly savings target, which would give you $1,000 monthly savings target. Because some people do not get paid on a monthly basis, we need to divide the monthly savings target of $1,000 by 2 to get the amount you should save each paycheck, this would equal to a $500 per paycheck for the year.

Now that you have your savings goal per paycheck it is time to put your plan into action. When it comes to saving money, automation is your friend. You may be thinking, “ I can’t save money.” Yes You Can! I know it may be tough at first because it requires you to become uncomfortable and make some sacrifices. If you are going to save $500 it means that you have lost the opportunity to spend that same $500 on an item of your choice. This scenario describes what is known as opportunity cost.  One tip that can help you in saving money in a consistent and systematic way is by setting up automatic transfers between your checking account and savings account.  If you have direct deposit, which I recommend, you can have the money drafted the same day that you get paid. You don’t have to think about saving money your financial institution will do it for you. You may feel nervous the first time you look at your bank account after an automatic transfer. Trust me at times, I forgot I did it and got nervous but then realized I actually put money in savings.

Budgeting is necessary to help you save money in a consistent manner is. Budgeting tells your dollars where to go. It gives every dollar a job, a task, or an assignment. Your dollars work for you, not the other way around. A budget will ensure that you do not wreck your saving plans or saving goals.

Saving Tips:

• Displaying your savings goal is a good way to stay motivated in pursing your goal. Put it on your fridge, put it on the mirror, or put it on your phone.
• Remind yourself of your why -the reason that you are pursuing this goal.
• Don’t forget to celebrate the small victories along the way without derailing your plan. Celebrations those little victories, you’re changing your behavior and doing something you’ve never done before, YAY YOU!
• Praying over your finances is another valuable tip. God cares about our finances and expects us to be good stewards of what He has given us. After we pray about our finances we have to make do things in line with what we say we want. Faith requires actions, faith without works is dead (James 4:20).
• Create accountability. Get a group of people around you who have similar goals. It is so easy to do something when you have support from like-minded people and working towards the same goals. An alternative to this is having an accountability partner.

If you mess up get back up, this is a journey my friends.

Happy Saving!

Gelayne