You probably already know that I keep a savings account separate from all other accounts. It is my money. I am not trying to be separatist and hoarding away money from from family, but I am trying to be practical. Any money that is kept co-mingled with all the rest gets easily spent. If it is not there, and you don't think about it, it can be separate and grow and be there for the rainy day that always shows up.
If I hadn't had my savings account it would have been a struggle to keep up with all the car repairs and maintenance that we did last year. If I hadn't had my savings account I would not have been able to just walk in and buy the most precious antique sofa that was just made to go with the set of chairs I have in my living room.
Truth be known, I really like the sense of peace and security it gives me to know that that little cushion is there should we need it. I try to add to it at least once a month with loose change that adds up. Also, each week I give myself an allowance out of our checking account and at the end of the week anything that is left goes to the savings account. I am hoping and aiming for an increase of $20,000 in my savings account this year. That means I need to average $1666.66 each month. I might be a tad bit behind already this month!
Anyhoo, I was reading an article about this very topic of women and the need to save.
Please check out this short but informative article here and see what you think. I was really struck by the facts that twice as many women than men would be poor in their old age. We live longer than men and yet we save 40% less than they do. Not a good match up there.
What she says is that we should get in the habit of saving as little as $3.00 per day, every single day. At the end of the year you will have $1095 and that is a good amount to be able to invest in a cd or other retirement account. Keep doing this no matter what.
It's just another way of remembering to pay yourself first.
Are you putting away $3.00 or more each day for your future? What ways are you finding helpful to get your money socked away? I would love to learn more ideas about this. Please share!
well, I am a saver. It works out well because your brother is a spender (even though he doesn't know it!). What I do now when we get joint money is I divide it in 3 - he gets a share, I get a share, and we put a share into savings. What he doesn't realize is that my share also goes into savings, so we're really saving 67% instead of just the 50% if we said "save half, spend half."
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo.... that's not really a tip, that's just a story on how I buffalo your brother ;) My only religious savings plan is to put money into my 401k and put $5k/year into an IRA for both of us. I agree... having a savings account is great for emergencies, but IRAs are great because you can't just pull the money out for an emergency ;)
Money socked away? I have never been able to sock money away. Thank goodness my husband does a great job for the both of us. I have my own retirement account and everything, thanks to him.
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