This #MSW2016, Think Of Personal Savings As A Bill You Pay To Yourself!

By Alecia D. Blair, Military Saves Communications

Like most people, you pay your rent or mortgage, cell phone and other utility bills every month, right? These bills are fixtures in your monthly spending plan. Well, what’s stopping you from treating your own personal savings in this way?

Instead of paying all your monthly bills and using the leftover discretionary money to (maybe) save, why not think of your personal savings as a monthly invoice that you make payable to yourself? It’s one bill that you won’t ever regret paying.

Here are some ways you can rethink personal savings and make paying yourself first easier:

1. Make Saving Automatic
Automate your savings through an allotment from your military paycheck (using MyPay) or automatic transfer of funds (through your bank or credit union). When you make saving automatic you take the discipline and guess work out of the process. Instead of being tempted to spend what could be saved, you’ll have already saved it! Set it and forget it today.

2. Add Personal Savings to Your Spending Plan. Literally.
Try it! Using your Excel spreadsheet or whatever budgeting system you use, add personal savings as a line item to your monthly spending plan. Write down ‘personal savings,’ decide on a set dollar amount and save it automatically before you spend money on entertainment. This will make personal savings a priority and not an afterthought. Check out FINRA Foundation’s SaveandInvest.org for a spending plan worksheet.

3. Trim the Fat
No one said saving would be easy. Nothing worth doing ever is easy, is it? You might have to trim your spending in other areas to save or look for creative ways to save while you re-prioritize, such as using your tax refund to get ahead. Making the commitment to pay yourself first will get you on track to having an emergency fund, saving for retirement or any other financial goals you’ve set.

4. Be accountable to yourself. Take the Military Saves Pledge, today.
Studies show that people who have a plan save more than those who do not. So, take the Military Saves Pledge today as part of your plan to save, and receive your FREE myFICO® credit score along with use of an analysis tool, courtesy of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and http://www.saveandinvest.org/. You’ll also be signed up to receive Military Saves and America Saves e-newsletters with savings tips from financial experts.

Pay yourself first for a better financial today and tomorrow. 

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