If you’re trying to hit your savings targets, pay off debt, have a little money saved to pay taxes with, or anything else, it can feel as though you can never save money. No matter what you try, you may still be coming up short of your saving goals, or you still find yourself spending more money than you should. With these quick and easy saving tips, you’ll be on your way to hitting those saving goals in a flash!
Tip #1: Budget Your Money Wisely
If you don’t already follow a budget each month, you should learn how to budget and plan all of your expenses so that you don’t find yourself spending unnecessary money and wondering where it went. Here are some tips for how to begin budgeting:
- Keep track of all of your finances for 30 days, including income and all spending.
- Use this 30-day record to see how much you’re already saving or overspending.
- Find places where you can cut back in order to save more. These will likely be variable costs like shopping or eating out. You likely won’t be able to skimp on fixed expenses such as rent, groceries, gas, and other necessary monthly expenses.
Tip #2: Get Out of Debt
It can be very difficult to save money if you’re constantly paying a portion of your monthly income towards debt repayments. There are several ways to pay down debt faster, such as the debt snowball method, the debt avalanche method, or the 50/30/20 rule. The 50/30/30 rule states that you can spend 50% of your monthly income on things like housing, groceries, etc., 30% on variable expenses like entertainment subscriptions and eating out, and 20% of your income on savings/debt payments. If you want your savings to grow quicker or want to pay down your debt quicker, you can take money from the 30% variable expenses column and put more towards saving or paying down your debt.
Tip #3: Automate Your Savings
If you set up automated transfers to your savings account each month as soon as you get paid, you’ll be able to save more easily because the money leaves your checking account before you get a chance to spend it on unnecessary things.
Tip #4: Automate Your Bills
In the same vein of automating your savings, automating your bills can save you money in late fees if you forget to pay on time. These late fees can add up quickly, so automating your bills can help you to save money over time!
Tip #5: Get Help from Financial Professionals
Sorge CPA is committed to helping individuals and business owners with their finances. A cornerstone of our firm is providing each and every client with responsive and highly personalized service delivered by our experienced partners and team of more than 60 specialists. In addition to providing personalized service and a quality work product, you will also benefit from valuable insights and recommendations delivered by a team with years of experience and expertise helping clients increase efficiency and strengthen financial controls.
We have offices in Madison, Waukesha, Oshkosh, Delavan, Watertown & Milwaukee. Our specialists work hand-in-hand with businesses and individuals to help them stay ahead of financial developments and guide them through the complex field of accounting and reporting regulations.
Give us a call today to learn more about what Sorge CPA can do for you.