Having a substantial nest egg is crucial to protect your future self from unforeseen emergencies. If you are planning on making a major purchase or need an emergency fund it is important to set short-term and long-term savings goals.
Here are 10 useful strategies to help you boost your savings.
- Tackle your debt
Before you start saving, you need to repay your debt. If you need to pay student loans, payday loans or a mortgage devise a debt repayment plan. You can either pay off small loans first to get them out of the way or start withhigh-interest loans.
- Set saving goals
Set long-term and short-term saving goals to motivate yourself to avoid overspending. Long-term savings goals work well over a few years and for larger items like a car or house. Short-term savings goals are great if you are looking to resolve a debt or save for a holiday.
- Create a vision board
If you are a visual learner, craft a vision board that depicts all your short and long term financial goals. These images and quotes will remind you of your goals and encourage you to stay on track.
- Automate savings
If you like to spend your pay-check as soon as you receive it, it might be helpful to automate your savings. You can set aside a designated sum of money every month and it will be automatically added to your savings account from your pay-check.
- Create a savings account
Keeping savings in cash or in your checking account is not the best idea if you are prone to impulse purchases. Create a savings account that you only use for emergencies.
- Cancel unnecessary subscriptions
Most streaming services require you to share your credit or debit card information and often automatically deduct monthly subscription fees. Take a look at all the streaming services you are subscribed to and cancel the ones you don’t use. This is also applicable for gym memberships.
- Cut down utility bills
Take a look at your various utility plans and consider switching to a cheaper plan if there is one on the market. Compare electricity providers to find a competitively-priced plan for your home.
- Use an expense tracker
To cut down your expenses and increase savings it is essential that you know what you are spending your money on. Use an expense tracker to keep tabs on various expenses. This will help you avoid wasteful spending.
- Try saving challenges
Motivate yourself to save by running saving challenges. There is the 52-week savings challenge that starts at $1 in week one and increases by $1 (or more) every week.
- Be consistent
When it comes to saving, consistency is key. Rather than saving $50 one week and nothing the week after, try to create an achievable weekly target.
Once you have implemented these savings strategies you will be able to consider investment opportunities and make money off your nest egg.
