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This post is part of the START SAVING Challenge. Make sure to read previous posts.
Day#9: Change Your Debt Story
START SAVING Challenge: Day #10
Today's easy saving task:
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Make your savings automatic.
Wow! Can you believe we only have 5 more days left of the challenge. I truly hope you are well on your way towards a successful savings journey! I have some great news! Today is a super easy challenge. I have a fantastic product that will not only help you save money, but you won't even notice you are doing it! Having to physically put money into your savings account can make it harder for you to actually do it. If you have $25 from every pay check automatically put into your savings account, not only will you not be able to spend it on things it's not intended for, but it can actually keep you organized as well. Most of the time when it comes to financial plans, we are our own worst enemy. Things come up, we see temptation, and the ability to say “no – I don't need it” becomes a lot harder. So today, you are going to save you from yourself.
When I started budgeting and saving my money, I would budget for $100 every paycheck to go into my savings account. I would get paid, I would pay my bills, but just because I budgeted for it doesn't mean I actually did it. I would see something that I would want, tell myself I could always save next month and it would never happen. Today I automatically save $450 every month and I literally don't even think about it.
STEP #1: Start automating!
Were you able to call a service provider on Day #8's easy saving task: Reduce Your Expenses? If you did and managed to save money because of it – HIGH-FIVE! Now all you have to do is actually save the money you now have from reducing your expenses.
Here is how to do it:
- Take your old payment amount and subtract it from your new payment amount. The difference is the amount you are now going to automatically put into your Savings Account.
- On the day the bill is due – pay your bill's new amount and set up an automatic deposit into your Savings Account for the amount saved. So essentially you are still paying the same amount before you negotiated a lower amount, but some is going to pay for your new bill amount and the difference is going automatically into your savings account.
Were you able to save by completing “Necessary Only” spending days from Day #6's easy saving task: Focus On Necessary Spending? The goal was to establish 2 “necessary only” spending days every week. The money you save from watching your day-to-day spending needs to be automatically saved as well. If you choose to have your “necessary only” spending days on Monday & Tuesday, determine how much you can comfortably save from those two days and have it automatically deposited on Wednesdays.
So far in this challenge, you have determined your LOVES, WANTS, and NEEDS, you have established 2 “necessary only” spending days, created a successful budget, reduced your expenses, and managed to write down and change your debt story. Take the money you have saved from these easy saving tasks and choose a day to automatically save that amount.
SAVE WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT
I have personally been using a savings tool that I absolutely love. I don't receive payment for my recommendation, nor do I get paid to advertise for them. I am a huge believer in this tool and it truly helps me save every month without me even noticing it. So what's the tool?
It's called DIGIT. It's an app I have on my android phone and it has saved me nearly $350 in the last 5 months. If you didn't get a chance to check out my post on the phone apps I personally love from yesterday's challenge then I want to make sure and provide you with the details of how to use Digit.
- Use Digit's bank level security to link your bank account.
- Let it analyze and inspect your spending
- In about 2 days it starts shoving itty-bitty amounts of your money into a saving account
- The great thing about Digit, it's very smart computer brain knows exactly how much to shove into your savings account without you even noticing it's gone.
- If you have problems with the very powerful rule of paying yourself first (see below), or just have trouble saving in general, this is a great thing to look into.
Ready to automate your savings? Sign up for Digit.
DAY #10 RECAP
- Start automating your savings from Day #8's easy saving task: Reduce Your Expenses.
- Automate other savings you have found from previous easy saving tasks.
- Check in with your accountability tribe and keep them accountable!
NEXT STEPS:
- Are you familiar with the rule “Pay Yourself First?” This is known as the golden rule of finance. This simply means automatically putting your specified savings amount from each paycheck into your Savings Account when you receive it. Since you are saving automatically when you receive your paycheck, you pay yourself first before you begin paying your monthly living expenses or other things listed on your Monthly Spending List. This helps ensure that you save your designated amount month after month. After this challenge, I want all of you to be masters at this!
Remember, you are not alone in this. Reach out to your accountability tribe and other TBM Family members for accountability and help. Have you and your partner signed up for Digit? Make sure to set it up, and then don't think about it again. Seriously, it's that simple. I would love to know how much you WILL automatically start putting into your savings every month. Make sure to let me know in the comments below vs emailing me!
Make sure to share your savings progress with friends. Use the sharing buttons to spread the wealth.
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@thebudgetmom”]I am saving without thinking about it! Day 10 #StartSavingChallenge[/tweetthis]Not a member of the TBM Family – Join HERE
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NEW COURSE!
If you have been part of my previous Savings Challenges, we shook things up for 2020. Let’s resolve to have 2020 vision when it comes to seeing how we can become better savers. This year we have 24 savings challenges, two each month. These are designed to be fun. Saving should be fun because you make things easier for yourself. My course will guide you on a year of savings so you will be better off when 2020 comes to a close. Sign up for the Savings Challenge course to kickstart your savings.
