What do you need a saving plan for? Saving money of course!
- Save for a rainy day – those
inevitable things in life that you can’t plan for. Put some money aside (in a separate bank account if necessary) to
cover any unplanned or emergency expenses. If you do use this money, make sure you put the money back in when you can –
for the next rainy day.
- Save up for those big bills – do you groan when those BIG bills like
land rates/ tax and car registration come around every year? You know they’re coming but still don’t seem to manage
to be able to pay them. When you know about these big bills you can plan for them – put enough away into a separate
account every week so that when these bills come in, you can breath easy and just pay them without having to worry about where
you’ll get the money from!
- Save for sunny day – and best of all, it’s nice to
save up for some luxuries or fun things just for you and your family. What do you want to save up for – a holiday? Entertainment
system? Boat? Using a saving plan will allow you to buy these things responsibly – ie without sending you bankrupt in
the process!
Of course, we all need good
financial goals – both short and long term – so that we can achieve the things in life we want to achieve. A saving plan will
allow you to achieve all of this, without any made rush scrimping at the end or going into more debt.
You can
even automate payments into your savings account so that your saving plan really is no hassle.
To prepare your
own saving plan, just list down what you need to save for [and why], how much you need and when you need it by. You can then
work out how much you need to save from your pay every week [just divide the amount you need by the number of weeks you have
to save that amount]. And hopefully this weekly amount can be accommodated by your budget!
For example, if you
are saving for a nice weekend to celebrate your wedding anniversary in 10 weeks time, and you want to save $1000 for the celebration,
you will need to save $100 per week. Can you afford this in your budget?
If it’s only a short term goal,
you may be able to make some short term sacrifices [like cutting back on your daily latte from the coffee shop] to help, but
long term sacrifices may make you feel trapped by your saving plan – so make sure any plan you prepare is realistically
achievable.
And even if you don’t have anything specific to save for, start saving money anyway! Aim to
save 10% of your net (after tax) income every week if you can, and live off the remaining 90% – if this seems difficult,
then aim to ramp up your savings by 1% every month until you get to 10%.
Regardless of your saving strategy and
financial goals, you MUST be committed to your savings plan, and stick to it every week. Don’t be tempted to dip into
your savings account for other uses [unless it’s a REAL emergency] and be diligent with your weekly payments! Trust
me – you’ll be a super saver in no time, with your new personal saving plan.
There is a saving plan
template in the
ToolBOX to help you achieve your financial goals.
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