It’s the New Year, which means you’ve probably made a few New Year’s resolutions. Is saving money one of them? Along with exercising more and spending more time with family and friends, saving money is near the top of New Year’s resolutions list in the U.S.
Unfortunately, only 9 to 12 percent of people keep their New Year’s resolutions, which is not great especially when it comes to something as important as saving money. Here are some tips to help you save money and keep your resolution.
It’s the New Year, which means you’ve probably made a few New Year’s resolutions. Is saving money one of them? Along with exercising more and spending more time with family and friends, saving money is near the top of New Year’s resolutions list in the U.S.
Unfortunately, only 9 to 12 percent of people keep their New Year’s resolutions, which is not great especially when it comes to something as important as saving money. Here are some tips to help you save money and keep your resolution.
Links:
- Listen to our money tip on doing your own Personal Money Review
- Watch our Budgeting 101 webinar on YouTube
- Follow our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages!
- Learn more about Triangle Credit Union
Transcript:
Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast.
The first thing you’re going to want to do is a financial review of your money and spending. If you’re not sure how to do that, we did a recent money tip episode on it which you’ll want to check out. Once you have finished your financial review, you will have a good idea of what you need to plan for in the future.
After your financial review, a good place to start saving is to create a budget. You can record your expenses so you know how much you spend on bills, food, entertainment, and other purchases. Focus on what you actually need to spend money on and decide if you really need to buy miscellaneous items. If you want to learn more about setting up a budget watch our Budgeting 101 webinar on Triangle’s YouTube channel.
Cutting down on extra expenses is a great way to save money. Sure, eating out is nice, but it can get expensive and it’s much cheaper to make your own food. Over the course of a year, this could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
You can also cut down on the amount of money you spend on subscription services. Are there any services you aren’t really using anymore? Unsubscribe from them and save that extra money.
Look for cheap or even free things you can do instead. You can go for a run in the park to honor your “exercise more” New Year’s resolution. Spend time with family and friends talking and playing games. The more purchases you can find to cut, the more money you have in your wallet. Now you can put all this money you’re not spending into a savings account.
Set saving goals for yourself. How much would you like to have saved up one year from now? Take that number and divide it by how many paychecks you get a year. Put aside that amount of money after every paycheck and put it into your savings account. If you earn interest on your money in your savings account, that’s even better. The more money you put into savings, the more interest you’ll make. Triangle Credit Union offers a great online savings account that offers a competitive high yielding interest rate.
Another way to save money is to increase your 401(k) contributions. While you may not see this savings return immediately, you’ll thank yourself later. The more money you put in now, the sooner you’ll be able to retire.
With these money saving tips, hopefully you’ll be able to keep your New Year’s resolutions for the whole year! If these work for you, consider using them next year too!
If there are any other tips or topics you’d like us to cover, let us know at tcupodcast@trianglecu.org and don't forget to like and follow our Making Money Personal Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages and look for our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union on Instagram and LinkedIn to share your thoughts.
Thanks for listening to today’s Money Tip Tuesday and be sure to check out our other tips and episodes on the Making Money Personal podcast.
Have a great day!
