Putting money into savings is always a smart decision, but it's not always clear how to work that into the budget. After all, having the money sitting there in your checking just opens up the possibly of making unnecessary and impulse purchases. To take care of your hard-earned money, tese five tips will help you go from becoming a chronic spender to a chronic saver, all without having to change your habits directly.
Set Up Regular Automatic Withdrawals
Automated deposits are fast and easy because they happen without you having to worry about them. You should always have a comfortable emergency buffer in savings to help deal with any unforeseen expenses, preferably around six months of your usual salary. Automatically depositing a percentage of your earnings before you account for everything else is like paying your future self to save both time and stress. Set this up immediately if you haven't implemented a savings policy yet as it is the main thing that will help you start saving more.If you work hourly and can't figure out how to set up an automated savings schedule that works with your budget, consider small savings apps like Acorns and Digit that will round out all of your purchases and store the savings in an account for later use. You'd be surprised how much those little savings bits can add up!
Split Your Direct Deposit When Submitting to Tour Employer
Most employers pay by using direct deposit, but you don't have to have all of your funds deposited into one account. You can set up a percentage split with most employers that will see a portion of your income going directly into savings. You're less likely to pull it out of savings and spend it than you are if you leave it sitting in your checking account.
Switch to a Bank or Credit Union that Pays Interest on Savings
Stop banking with an institution that doesn't pay you a dividend on the money you're saving with them. Most standard big corporate banks like US Bank and Bank of America pay paltry interest rates on their savings accounts and charge account maintenance fees on top of that. If you're paying your bank to hold an account, then you're losing money you could otherwise be saving.Online-only banks like Ally and Capital One 360 offer competitive 1.80% APY on their savings accounts and often have multiple options that can be tailored to suit your needs, depending on the amount of money you're saving.
Consider Using a Cash-Back Credit Card for Daily Purchases
Instead of using your debit card for all of your necessary daily purchases, consider putting them on a cash back credit card that will give you a percentage of the purchase price in rewards. Currently, the PayPal Rewards Master card offers 5% cashback on every single purchase, with no rotating rewards categories.If you pay the card off each month and do not carry a balance, that's like getting 5% of what you would have spent back for more savings or to help with those everyday purchases further down the line.
Consider Shopping Around for Your Insurance Needs
If you've been with the same insurance provider for a while, chances are you've seen small rate increases on your bill over the years. These rate increases can account for a significant rise in your budget if you're not careful, so it pays to shop around for both car and house insurance periodically. Shopping around helps to ensure that insurance rates do not increase beyond your means and keeps insurance companies competitive for your business. For car insurance, you will need to have a spotless driving record and be comfortable haggling for rates, but you can always net a more effective rate by talking with your insurance company. Just tell them you're considering switching to a competitor who has a better offer. 9 times out of 10 they want to keep your business and will offer you the competitor’s rate if you stay.
