Saving to Buy a House in MN

For some of us, taking control of our finances is a challenge. One crucial element of the process is saving money. Americans are not very good savers. According to Bankrate, 58 percent of us have less than $1000 in savings. Many of us are in that 58 percent because saving was not a habit we learned as children, but we can embrace it as adults. We can develop and nurture positive saving habits with motivation and inspiration.  

Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving. – Warren Buffet 

If you have a 401K benefit with a company match from your employer, make sure you have the maximum amount deducted from your paycheck to take full advantage of the matching funds. Your 401K should be one of the significant elements of your retirement savings. The added benefit of the 401K savings is the money is not taxed until you take it out of your account.

Take Saving For your First Home in MN up a Notch

Deduct a fixed amount from your salary to your emergency fund, down payment for a home fund, vacation fund, or whatever other goals you have established for your money. Consider saving as a bill you pay to yourself first. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual fee twenty pounds ought and six, result from misery.  - Charles Dickens

If ever there was an expert on misery, it was the author of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens. Don’t spend everything you earn. Set up an emergency fund instead. Aim for saving at least three months or up to six months of your income. After, pretend that money is not there unless a genuine emergency arises. The savings will cover any unexpected expenses, like losing your job, for instance. 

If you unexpectedly find yourself without income and savings, you will start using your credit card for living expenses and end up having to dig your way out of debt, and that, dear reader, is misery. Having an emergency savings account is a cushion between you and financial disaster, not to mention the anecdote to emotional stress on you and your family when you are already dealing with the trauma of not being employed. 

Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like. - Will Rogers

In other words, don’t try to keep up with the Jones’s because there are too many of them. Getting control over your finances includes a healthy relationship with spending, and good spending habits require the ability to say to yourself and others, “I can’t afford that right now.”

If a friend is vacationing in Mexico this year and invites you to come along, say no if you have to put the cost of the trip on your Visa. Don’t finance a lifestyle beyond your means by using credit cards. Remember that if you can’t pay the balance on your credit card each month, you will be paying interest, and it accumulates quickly.

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it up and put it back in your pocket. – Will Rogers 

Learn to discriminate between wants and needs and declare a moratorium on impulse spending. Remember when you went shopping for new running shoes and came home with shorts and a jacket as well? That’s what I’m talking about. Or the day you convinced yourself you needed those black boots that were on sale even though you already had three pairs in your closet? Yeah, that too. How often does regret follow in the footsteps of that impulse or unnecessary purchase?

Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship. -Benjamin Franklin 

Everything you spend counts. The $2.50 morning Starbucks that you think is chump change ends up sucking $50 out of your checking account by the end of the month. It’s surprising how quickly items like imported cheese, gourmet coffee, and lobster tails can blow through your food budget. Think twice about that new Shampoo or bath gel in your cart when you already have a cabinet full of half-used beauty products in your bathroom.

Balancing your money is the key to having enough. - Elizabeth Warren

Achieving a balance between what you earn, save, and spend is the key to a healthy attitude about money. We should not live our lives denying ourselves the experiences that having money can provide. We should not care carelessly from month to month, wondering if we can meet all our financial obligations.  The majority of us work hard for our money, so exercising care in how we spend our paychecks is, in part, self-love, which brings me to the last quote of the day.

They say that love is more important than money, but have you ever tried to pay your bills with a hug? - anonymous