6 Start Up Tips On How To Save Money

To invest you must HAVE money, to get that money most people have to learn to save. Saving means the building up of a cash fund which can be spent or invested. In broad terms, the growth in cash value in a life insurance policy or a decrease in the amount of the mortgage on your home are also savings. But for our purposes, let’s define saving to mean accumulating cash or the equivalent.

Saving is not easy, sexy or much fun. Despite what people say, there is basically only one way to do it: hold down your outgo and keep up your income. There are, however, a few tricks to make the job of savings less of a chore and a little more intriguing. Here are half a dozen of the most common.

The Marked Money Method

This method is one of the oldest known to man and is simply a piggy bank (jar) with a rule book built in. Pick a coin, anything from a penny to a half dollar. Say you decide on quarters; from then on, quarters are unspendable. Every quarter you get goes into the jar. Keep this up for a little while and it easily becomes a habit. And you’d be surprised at how quickly small-change savings can mount.

Today people use less cash and spend more with a debit card. Companies like Bank of America have a program called “Save the Change” where the change from a purchase goes into a saving account. In our house we never spend change always dollar bills and save about $60 per month is loose change for savings.

The Short-Cake Method

The short-take method is based on the theory that anyone can sacrifice for a week or two at a time. Just about anyone can manage for short period of a few months you could not stand indefinitely. Many people and families have successfully used the technique for a brief period, say three months, and just save like crazy. They’ll cut expenses to the bone, knowing that the end is always in sight, and stack up away a nice chunk of cash. When it’s over, they celebration and resume their mismanaged living (but with cash in the bank) until they feel strong enough for a repeat the process.

The Windfall Method

The windfall method is where the circumstances have to be just right. Every once in a while you may “find” some money. Perhaps you get a raise, or finish paying off a debt. Perhaps the doctor orders you to quit smoking, or the computer breaks and you cancel your monthly cable bill. Wherever it comes from, there’s suddenly “extra money” without a name on it. Grab it quick, or a large portion of it to put into savings, before it gets absorbed by living expenses. You survived without it before, and you can continue to.

NOTE: This works great in paying down debt using what is called the debt snowball.

The Even Swap Method

The even-swap method requires focus and determination. Pick one specific regular expense. Trade it in for savings money. Make it a sacrificial lamb and deposit its cost in the bank each month. This is a bit easier than more general kinds of budget-cutting because the dramatic twist helps focus. For example… Managing a reduction in the entertainment budget, for some mysterious reason, is generally more difficult than banking the price of the midweek movie in a jar as you settle down to a quiet evening at home.

The Self-Service Method

The self-service method calls for “finding” a job you currently pay other people to do you could do yourself. House cleaning? Lawn mowing? Home repair work? Do it yourself and bank the saving.

The Elbow Grease Method

The elbow-grease method simply means save more by earning more. It’s not as hard as it sounds. If your goals are modest enough, say $300 or $500 a month, there are plenty of opportunities for a little part-time income. For example, delivering pizza, parking cars on weekends, baby-sitting for neighbors. Look around. If you can spare a couple of days or evenings a week, there may well be a way to cash them in.

None of these tricks contains any magic. But any one or another of your own imagination – might prove a shot in the arm to make the flesh as willing as the spirit.