Are you ready to break bad money habits? Some spending habits are easier than others to break and then re- build. One of the hardest habits to build is a saving one. As you cut back on spending, you should allocate the extra cash towards a savings account. It doesn’t happen without effort, but you can save more than you think if you set up an automatic transfer.
There is not much involved in setting up automatic savings deposits. If you have not already signed up for online banking, now is the perfect time to get started. There are many money management benefits to online banking. It makes paying bills and tracking balances simple by keeping it all in one spot. You don’t have to go to individual sites to make online payments. Your bank will send the money. All you have to do is set it up.
Your savings account will reap the rewards as well. It is much easier to save money when you don’t have a chance to miss it. Many banks will set up an automatic transfer for you each month to make your savings account free of charge. You may have to make a minimum monthly transfer, usually no more than $25. Choose the transfer date and forget about it. Did you know that you can schedule additional transfers as well?
Schedule your own automatic savings transfers
When you sign into your online banking site, you should see available balances of all your linked bank accounts. Select the ‘transfer’ option and continue on to set up automatic (or repeated) transfers and schedule your own. How much do you want to transfer each time? When do you want it to happen? Which account do you want it to go in? You could literally set up several mini savings accounts and automatically save for many things each month. Use one for an emergency account, another for vacation or Christmas shopping. It is simple to save money!
The hard part is having the extra each month to put into the accounts. Focus on cutting back and paying down debt to free up the extra cash.
*Schedule a transfer on payday. Even if you only move $20 your savings balance will grow. In fact, you may not even miss that money at all.
*Once you are used to that $20 out of your checking account, move another $10. Continue to make small increment increases until you reach your saving goal each month.
*As you pay down debt, you will spend less money on interest. Take that savings and transfer it to one of your accounts too.
*Finish paying a certain debt off? That’s right, make that a payment into a savings account too.
The great thing about self-managing your transfers is that you have complete control. If you have a bad month full of emergency costs, you can transfer the money back into your checking or cancel it altogether. There is no charge to start the automatic transfers again. Think about how much money you will save on credit card and cash advance interest!
Many banks will charge you a fee if you go over a set amount of transfers out of a savings. Don’t worry, it is always free to transfer money into the savings account. Make a conscience choice to build your savings without every missing a penny of your income.
