How She Saved $100,000
Saving $100,000 is no easy feat and if you feel overwhelmed about saving money, you are not alone - especially this 2020 COVID-19 season of uncertainty that we're in. In 2015, a report Suncorp found that the average savings by 25 – 34 Australians is around $533 per month ($6,396 per annum). That’s impressive considering that most within this age-group have moved out of home and are covering living expenses (rent or mortgage).
Spending money is considerably more exciting than saving money, but in order to have more to spend later, you need to start saving now and it doesn’t have to feel like a sacrifice. The BEST way to start saving is simply to become aware of spending. Here’s how I got started in 5 simple steps.
1. Track Your Spending
Start by doing whatever it is you’re currently doing, but take note of every time you spend money and on what you spend it on. E.g. $6.50 Almond Croissant? $3.60 Latte? $44.95 MiGOALS Yearly Planner? Shopping sales, weekend brunches, Friday night drinks…
Write it down. Keep a record of what you spend to see how small expenses add up.
2. Define Your Values
Now, based on the things you found by tracking your spending, group it into categories:
Living Expenses (Accommodation, Groceries, Utilities, Transportation, …)
Insurance (Medical / Healthcare, Car, Home, …)
Saving, Investing, & Debt Payments
Entertainment (Eating out, movies, …)
Splurge / Miscellaneous
Based on this grouping, critically analyse where your values are and what habits matter to you. Ask yourself if where you’re spending your money is where you want to be spending your money.
3. Create a Budget you’ll Stick to.
There are many different rules out there when it comes to your budgeting.
The 50/20/30 rule states that 50% of your income should go to essentials like rent and food, 20% to your savings, and 30% for to personal expenses like outings/entertainment.
I live at home, so I put 60% into savings. Also a Christian so 10% goes to God and I use the left over 30% to cover groceries, transportation, phone bills, home contributions.
Whatever is left after I’ve covered the essentials is mine to splurge.
4. Take on NO SPEND / SAVINGS Challenges
These are super simple challenges that you can set for yourself.
No spend challenges is simply setting a number of days within a month where you will not spend any money. From 5 days through to 25 days cos we all have bills and unexpected expenses in a month.
Savings challenge is simply to put $$$ amount every day / week / fortnight / month. e.g. putting $52/week for 20 weeks to reach $1040. You get the joy of ticking it off as you go which releases that 'happy hormone', dopamine, in our system which makes it feel good and keep going.
5. Set Some Goals
There is NO POINT having a budget and trying to save if you have no goals in place. Imagine running with no time, no destination and with no purpose. Set some goals for your self and make them S.M.A.R.T. goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant and Time Bound.
e.g. I want to save $5000 for a holiday to Fiji by 20th March 2021. I have to put aside 500/month in order to achieve that goal.
Hope this has encouraged you to start getting right with your money if you have been feeling discouraged. And for those who are already saving, I sincerely hope this inspires you to keep going.
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