How much money do you have saved up for a rainy day? The experts all say you should have around three months worth of your usual salary or wages tucked away in an account to provide a safety cushion should you need it.
But for many of us that can take some time to save up and it can seem like an impossible task too. So what can we do to start saving now in order to reap the benefits in the future?
The key is to be regular in your efforts to put some money away. Open a brand new account with the sole purpose of putting these savings into, work out how much three months of your wages would add up to, and start saving towards it every week.
The easiest way to do this is to transfer a small amount of the income you receive as soon as you get paid and put it straight into that account. If you wait until the end of the month there is a good chance you won’t have any money left to put in there at all. Another good tactic is to rely on cash when you go shopping, instead of buying everything with your cards. Again, make sure that any money you save goes directly into your savings.
The best way to make sure you do this and don’t forget or are tempted to use the money elsewhere, is to create a Direct Debit that instantly transfers your chosen amount right into your savings. By doing this you're really treating it like a bill and not as something you could choose not to pay.
The mistake that most people make is to think that it’s not worth saving just a small amount. The truth is that even the smallest amount saved up each week gets you into the habit of saving more, and you’ll still end up with more money put away than if you saved nothing at all.
It’s also a good idea to have an online savings account since you'll be able to manage it more easily and see exactly what your balance is at any time. You’ll also tend to get a better rate of interest, which can encourage you to save even more money since you'll earn more interest as a result.
If you have always been meaning to start saving regularly but you just haven’t got round to it yet, it can be easy to panic and think that you have left it too late. But it is never too late to start. Just think what you could have saved up in as little as a year from now if you started today.
That is the kind of attitude you need to take to saving money regularly if you are going to succeed.
Disclaimer: This article has been written for information and interest purposes only. The information contained within this article is the opinion of the author only, and should not be construed as advice or used to make financial decisions. Expert financial advice should always be sought and any links contained within this article are included for information purposes only.
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