Yes, why not? Not matter how much you can save, little by little is going to make a difference tomorrow. Good luck!
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Epiphany? More like a two by four up side the head. When we traveled half way across the country for my husband’s internship, and realized we only had $15 left in our cash envelope for groceries to last us until his first paycheck. As I constantly tell our kids, we are not always an example, sometimes we are a warning… It was then we set up a budget.
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thanks for sharing, i know i have always tried to put something away each pay period it really helps,
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A friend lost her job. She blew through her severance. She had previously filed bankruptcy too. She struggled financially and she was in her 40’s during this time. She made a lot of irresponsible financial mistakes.
Then my company started closing office’s and laying off people over the course of 5 years.
And I remembered my friend. So I worked a part time job to pay off debts and to pay for anything that I wanted in full with cash.
I socked away 6 months emergency fund and increased my 401 contribution. I made sure to keep my living expenses low. Smaller home and used car that was paid off quickly.
If I lost my job I didn’t want to be in the same place as my friend in my late 40’s.
My friends carelessness towards money was and is still in the back of my mind.
Saying no to material things and watching my money grow quickly; very satisfying.
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That is a remarkable life lesson, quite often we see this going on and never think this can happen to us, but it can. You took her story to heart and grew from it. Great job!
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In 2016 I watched many people being let go from my company as they downsized, knowing my name was somewhere on the list. I started following Dave Ramsay and Rachel Cruse and learned about emergency and sinking funds. My daughter helped me set up a budget spreadsheet which I continue to use to this day. It allows me to be in control of my finances giving myself a clear view of what comes next. I wish I’d started it 20 years ago!
I did lose my job, took a part time job and collected unemployment while looking. I was lucky to only be out of work about seven months before finding a second, part time job. I’m now happily debt free and retired.
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To $$, that was so smart of you! It’s better to be proactive than just worry about it. Keep up the good work!
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There has been 2 “aha!” moments for me. First would be keeping your emergency fund in a passbook. Yes, oldschool but it will prevent you from spending it unless it’s really an emergency. It’s such a hassle to go to the bank and have it withdrawn lol.
Second would be renting stuff I only use a few times a month or years. I had not realize that buying things and rare use them are one of the unseen factors of overspending. I rent lawn mowers and canopies on occasion. Some stores can still get pricey with rental fees so if you can rent from a friend, that’d be better. If you don’t know anyone, use an app or site for that. Mine is My Garage Rentals!
Easy but effective tricks
That car payments are forever, yes forever so I never pay interest on a car loan or any other loan. Auto transfer money from checking to savings, and auto payment from savings. Never stop the transfer from checking to savings drive your car a couple of extra years and you have cash for your new ride.
I have expanded this to other areas like saving the money for all the extended warranty offers into the same account.
Any time I have a time payment it always come out of the savings account and I increase the amount I put into savings. I now pay cash for everything unless they have some zero interest offer.
The savings account is now a brokerage account earning a very good return from the NASDEQ, a REIT, Tesla, etc. It is doing so well I almost don’t have to put more money into it and I can still pay cash for everything.
Tracking, tracking, tracking! As someone who shares living expenses currently, and have in the past (roommates, etc.), I realized how difficult it can be to track where your money is going when you’re splitting bills with others. This is a huge reason I developed getwellpaid.com, an app to automize this and build it into a budget. After all, how can we save our money when we don’t know where it’s going to begin with?
