Save now. Enjoy life (sooner, rather than later.) #FinancialPeace
Years ago – long before my husband and I were even engaged – he began saving. (Notice I said “he.” It took me a bit longer to jump on that bandwagon.) I remember reading books with him on saving for the future, and paying down debt and before I turned 28, I had no credit card debt, no car debt and no student loan debt. My student loans were paid years prior to that. It was such a great feeling to not have those monthly payments.
We got engaged, and agreed to plan a wedding and honeymoon – and only pay cash. Our wedding day came in under $5000, and was fully paid for when we left for the Bahamas. (The all-inclusive honeymoon was also paid for.) It was such a great feeling to start off our marriage debt-free.
I will admit that I love to shop. I really love online shopping, and I find myself struggling some months to reign it in. Sometimes it’s SO easy to confirm my already-saved-debit card number or my Paypal information and make that purchase. Not everything is a deal, though. And I can live without one more pair of jeans. (Even if I feel like I “need” them.)
I think I mostly broke my habit of online spending last year when I was unemployed for 3.5 months. I’m actually luckier than many because I was able to find a job soon soon after losing my previous one. I had transitional pay (the company didn’t do severance pay) to help me for 15 weeks, but I still panicked. I budgeted like it was my job. I didn’t spend money unless I absolutely had to. I basically went back to my early days of saving.
1. Budget. Look at your monthly budget and figure out what you absolutely NEED to pay for. Electric? Gas? Water? You can’t NOT pay those bills. Plan for them.
2. Unsubscribe. Unsubscribe from all of those deals emails you’re receiving. We’re especially tempted right now with all of the decent Black Friday sales (but some of those sales really aren’t that great – and they’re no different than the emails that I received last week!)
3. Allot money for clothing, personal items, fun. I try to keep a percentage of money for fun.
4. Pay cash. I get paid once a month. I immediately move my necessity money to a different account – this would be for the mortgage and daycare. (Those aren’t taken directly from my paycheck.) I then figure out about how much to expect to pay for groceries and gas in my car each week. Oftentimes I’ll pay cash for groceries. If you pay cash, you’re less likely to splurge. (Who here likes to see their wallet emptying?)
5. Save. Whether it’s $5 a week or $50 a week, save some money in a savings account for an emergency. Our first emergency fund was $1000. It was a goal we set and it didn’t take super long to build that. We then kept saving until we had the equivalent of several months of our salaries. It was a nice feeling last year when I was unemployed that we had the money if we needed it. And we never had to dip into that emergency fund. (And three years ago – when I had an unexpected c-section – we had the money to pay for it, rather than paying interest on an enormous bill.)
6. Pay your bills on time. My husband had a bad habit of paying our water bill late. It’s a $15 late fee. If he does that every time, that is $90 in one year. That bill is now on a bank draft. I hated thinking of how much we were spending because we simply forgot to pay it.
This holiday, to encourage consumers to stay on track with their finances, Capital One 360 is decking the halls with deals you can bank on, including new account bonuses, referral bonuses and closing cost credits. While you may have gifts, greetings and get-togethers on the brain, it’s important not to lose sight of your financial goals. All of Capital One 360‘s Black Friday Sale deals are designed to encourage consumers to keep their finances top of mind.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
I have a Capitol One 360 account and I love it. It is very convenient and I enjoy being able to deposit checks online.
These are some great tips for having financial peace. I would say instead of spending cash to be sure you are deducting everything you spend – including money you spend on the credit card.
We have a pretty decent emergency fund in the bank, so I think we’ll be ok if anything unexpected happened 🙂
I am still wanting to start paying cash for more of our expenses. We pay off our credit card every month but it has been compromised a few times and it’s a pain to have the new card linked to the sites we shop at.
Thanks for sharing these great tips. I left my job more than a year ago and we are actually saving just as much as we were before (we spent my entire salary on daycare, lots of wants and eating out more). We are still able to autosave to our savings accounts and its fun watching that money grow without doing anything.
I really need to build our emergency fund back up – sadly it has been depleted. x
After a long rough patch, we are finally in a place to be able to replace the savings we were using. If we had not built up our savings before the rough patch hit, we would not have made it to where we are today.
Great tips! Everyone needs an emergency fund! For anything and everything that can happen, even if your in the best finacially set situation anything can happen at the drop of a hat.
Great tips. I am a single parent, paycheck to paycheck mama, but determined to build an emergency fund and a few months worth of living. I just posted something recently on my own blog about this.
Great tips Jaime! I am a splurge spender online too, but I try to balance it out.
Those are all really great tips. I wish I remembered to pay all mine on time because I always end up paying late fees which suck.
these are all great tips. there is nothing like being debt free!
It’s so important to have an emergency fund. We’re definitely working on it and always pay our bills on time so we don’t waste money on late fees.
It’s always best to save something for emergency use.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Also look at that beautiful beach . In my 40s I find that I am increasingly conscious of saving and putting some away for my kids. I absolutely agree I don’t need a house full of clothes and clutter and toys it makes a lot more sense to invest in pieces that last and experiences. And then on top of that you make sure that you save it’s amazing amount that you can save by not buying all that junk that breaks fast.
We really need to start saving for an emergency fund, but it seems like something always comes up. Ironic much? LOL
This is such a great reminder. Especially at a time of the year when we all tend to do a bit of overspending.
It is very important to think of the future. You never know what can come up.
These are great tips for someone struggling with debt. I have always been financially frugal and that has helped me manage my finances better.
Some great tips to help build a budget for the new year. I agree with unsubscribing from those deals emails. They make it so easy to spend money.
Young, in love, with no debt! What a dream … wish we started out that way! ;D