New Years Resolution: Automatic Savings

[diznee25]

I decided for my financial resolution to automatically put money into savings. Meaning there is actually a space in my monthly budget for saving. We "pay" to our savings account xxx amount of dollars as if it were a bill; before we spend any "fun" money.

We're saving to build up our emergency fund. This past year was not so nice to us, so we had to dip in. It's not necessarily something fun to save for, but our goal is to have a 4 month emergency fund by Jan. 2013.

Maybe you've already been in this cycle for awhile, or maybe you want to start. You could be saving for vacations, or building an emergency fund like us. Figured it's easier to do it with like minds!

Who's with me?

diznee25

 

[5stljayhawks]

Do you have a 401K match at work? if so you want to start working towards saving the /% that is equal to earning this match. Some companies it's 6% other it is 8%. It is free money......

It's good to see you working on the finc. I recommend reading up, smart money, money mag, Wall street journal, barrons and CNBC. Most of these places have ind. retirement/Finc sections.

 

[Havana]

Great Plan!! We kind of do it this way every month to fully fund our Roth IRA's every year.

 

[diznee25]

Do you have a 401K match at work? if so you want to start working towards saving the /% that is equal to earning this match. Some companies it's 6% other it is 8%. It is free money......

It's good to see you working on the finc. I recommend reading up, smart money, money mag, Wall street journal, barrons and CNBC. Most of these places have ind. retirement/Finc sections.

My "job" is taking care of the family finances, I don't work. But my DH's 401k is building up nicely.

Good tip though for those who do work!

diznee25

 

[Swimalie]

My "job" is taking care of the family finances, I don't work. But my DH's 401k is building up nicely.

Good tip though for those who do work!

diznee25

You have a great idea. In addition to your husband's 401(k), though you need a Roth IRA. This covers you in case you outlive him.

As for automatic savings, we have an ING account that we transfer $250 each pay period in to. It is nice since it's automatic and we don't miss the money. We've been doing this for years and it enabled us to write a heck for our new car in June.

 

[diznee25]

You have a great idea. In addition to your husband's 401(k), though you need a Roth IRA. This covers you in case you outlive him.

As for automatic savings, we have an ING account that we transfer $250 each pay period in to. It is nice since it's automatic and we don't miss the money. We've been doing this for years and it enabled us to write a heck for our new car in June.

Yea, when I get another job we will be opening a Roth IRA. Since we don't have any debt, I plan on putting back like 50% of my pay towards the Roth IRA. If the future company I work for offers a match for 401k, then I'll do that as well.

For now, our goal is to bulk up our savings account. I lost my job so we just want to focus on having a good safety net.

Great ideas everyone, keep the posts coming!

diznee25

 

[meriface11]

You have a great idea. In addition to your husband's 401(k), though you need a Roth IRA. This covers you in case you outlive him.

401ks are transferable to a beneficiary...a pension may or may not depending on whether survivor benefits are an option.

 

[Eeyore98]

Do you have a 401K match at work? if so you want to start working towards saving the /% that is equal to earning this match. Some companies it's 6% other it is 8%. It is free money......

Wow, what companies are these? Mine only matched up to 4%...

 

[IDoDis]

What you need to do is pay your savings first and then live off of what's left and not the other way around. If you have more left at the end of the month for whatever reason, put that into savings, too.

We keep two savings accounts. One for long-term emergency and one for short-term emergency. That way we never have to dip into the long-term unless something catastrophic happens.

Any extra money that comes in goes straight to savings. There are two or three times a year when we have 3 pay periods in a month (3 Friday pay days) so the last pay day doesn't get health insurance or 403B taken out. The extra goes in savings. I tutor on the side and the extra goes into savings. We refinanced our house for a 15 year mortgage and got back a couple of checks twice this year both between $200 and $300. They both went into savings.

What ever extra you get, just pretend you don't have it and put it in savings.