In today's article I want to talk about a topic that most of my friends and colleagues regard to as hardly achievable.
Since I started working I have tried to save money in several ways and a lot of those ways have been unsuccessful. Some of them have seemed nice but I wasn't able to apply them and some of them would take off successfully and then end up being a failure.
After much time of trial and error, I have finally found the one that works for me.
Saving money has always been very important to me. It became something that I want to dedicate serious effort to when I started living alone. I live many miles away from anything that is know to me as security - in my case that being my parents' home and my home for so many years. So once I moved away I knew that there is only me now to take care of me. And I can't say that I don't like the strong and independent side of that.
My life and experiences that I have gone through so far have taught me that a little bit of saved money can help you a long way when something bad happens. It can give you two things:
- Time to think about how to solve the current problem or situation.
- Ability to choose the best option and not the one you may need to choose right away because the situation is just, simply bad.
Through the years I have also read a lot of books about how to handle your finances and became a person obsessed with those kind of books.
One of my favorites is "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. I have mentioned this book many times before. The reason I love it is very simple - It is a practical guide on how to in a few years fix your finances.
The second book I recommend is always "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. This one will allow you to see how negatively you actually think about money without even realizing it and that it's not impossible to earn a lot of money.
Different books will give you different strategies, methods and ways of thinking about saving money. And I have tried so many of them.
- I have tried to separate my monthly income to percentages and dedicate those percentages to something that money would go to once I received my salary
- I have tried to keep a big part of it in cash, in different envelopes, dedicated to different things.
- I have tried to create a separate account so that the money is automatically separated - This one actually works very well with many people
And many more..
The one I have thought of and used thorough out the second part of this year is the one that has finally worked with me for several months and that I plan to take into the new year.
The strategy is to look on your salary on a weekly basis while you're working for it.
Take a piece of paper right now and divide your monthly salary in four or five weeks, depending on the month.
Once you have your weekly income for the week it's time to tell it where it will go. I will give you an example so it is easier to understand.
- The first week you work for you can dedicate to your rent/mortgage
- The second week you work you can dedicate to your utilities and maybe one week of living expenses
- The third week can be for the remaining living expenses and some shopping maybe
- The fourth week can be for your savings
This is just an example, you can adjust this according to your life and your needs.
In this way you are clearly telling your money where to go and when your salary comes at the end or at the beginning of the month, it will be a true reward.
I strongly believe that once you start managing your money (dedicating each euro or whatever your currency is to a specific reason) the Universe will reward you with more. Once the Universe sees that you can handle and manage well how ever much money you have now, it will give you more.
Also, on those days when you maybe feel like not going to work, you may remember this idea and think that this week you are working for your mortgage or that trip to Italy and it may be just a bit easier.
And as always - Have a very specific reason you're saving the money for. If you're saving money just to save money - you're motivation will be very low as your success will. The reasons may be: travel adventure to Italy, new car, down payment, Emergency Fund, 6-Months of Expenses Fund, whatever you need, want or like.
But it needs to be done with a specific reason in mind.
In conclusion
Dedicate each week's money you earn to a specific reason while you work for it so that when the salary comes you will know exactly how to spend it well and save it well. The more you manage your money, the more you will have because it will serve as a proof that you deserve a lot of money.
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