4 Tricks that Can Save you Money Painlessly

People find it hard to save money.

Some people even insist that it is no longer possible for a person to save money because most of them are already living paycheck to paycheck. With all the high-prices of commodities, especially GAS these days, saving money is no longer workable.

My point is that people can indeed save.

How?

Here is a list of old-style ways that will allow you to save money:
1. Save some of your salary

How much? Whatever you can.
These days most of us spend whatever amount we have on our paycheck, and even more. If you are able to limit that amount, your expenses will unexplainably get smaller. Start out with 1%. Let’s say you make $1000 every 2 weeks. Put aside $10 that pay period. You do that for a whole year, you have $260 at the end of the year. $260 that you didn’t have last year. As soon as you adjust to that measly 1%, maybe you can increase the percentage. Maybe you get a bonus. Instead of making plans to spend it, make plans to SAVE it. (No way, WAY!) Put these savings into an account that you cannot touch, in an account that is hard to make withdrawals. There is nothing wrong with having money in the bank and nowhere to go.

2. Pay everything in cash

Credit cards have always been a way of life for most of us. The problem is that we become so comfortable with it that we tend to charge everything, even groceries! We trick ourselves into saying that when we get the credit card bill, we’ll pay it off. It doesn’t happen! Something always comes up. I only know one person that has the discipline to pay his credit cards in full each end of the month. It’s MY DAD, the greatest saver I’ll ever know. If only I would have heeded every money lesson my dad tried to teach me. The problem is I live in a different generation, a generation that needs THINGS now. I need instant gratification. Arghh…..I have to change that way of thinking real fast!
Believe me, when you pay in cash, you SEE that money goes through your hands. When you use that plastic card, it doesn’t hit as hard. You almost don’t feel like you’re spending. Cold hard cash is a rare commodity these days. It’s really sad. $20 doesn’t go far as it use to.

3. Check your company’s retirement plan

Your employer may offer a 401(k) or the 403(b) plan. Here, your company will deduct a percentage of your salary from each paycheck and invest the amount in your choice of accounts—mainly mutual funds. You let them know what percentage to take out. The great thing too is that the money they take out of your paycheck will not be taxed, you’ll only get taxed if you withdraw from your account. But don’t do that! Some companies will even combination your contributions. I worked at a company for 13 years, deducted 5% and when I left, I had over $60K. Huh? YES, I didn’t even feel it! That’s the beauty of it!

4. Set goals

Create money goals that you really want and commit to it. If there’s a certain amount involved, be specific with the amount and the time frame. For instance, “I will save $2,000 for that vacation in May, that’s 6 months away.” or “I will save $1,000 in 5 months so I can put it into a CD”.

5. Throw all your loose change in a jar

You won’t believe how much you can save just by putting all your change somewhere. When I was young, I use to put all my pennies, and my parent’s in a Sparklett’s jug. 20 years later, I had over $300 in it. No lie! You know what I’m going to do with it? I’m sending it down the line and have my kids add to it. That’ll put some saving practices into place without even trying.
I had this one coworker, that would literally throw his pennies in the trash. He thought they were worthless! I should have shown him my Sparklett’s jug, told him there was $300. Do you know there are people advocating to retire that penny? Sure, that’s a good idea. (ha! whatever losers…) We’re a nation that is billions in debt, why would we care about the penny? (Can you say losers?) Can you imagine if we pooled all these pennies together, how much we could collect? It’s insane. People don’t value much of anything anymore. Does that bother you like it bothers me?

The bottom line is that saving your pennies and the little money that you have WILL put you in an advantageous spot for your future. Don’t you want that?