SIMPLE STEPS TO SAVINGS: PART 2

Can’t Touch This Account – Another great tool for saving money is setting aside funds into a separate account that is hard to touch. There are many accounts that do not make it so easy to access. These could be CD that are for months at a time, or this could even just be a bank account that is not local that may take 48 hours to transfer money. This gives you that extra time to think about the “do I really need this item?” CDs are a great way to set aside money for a short period of a time as they gain a higher interest rate than a regular bank account, and they usually have a penalty for early withdrawal. If you are one that already has CD’s that are 8-12 months at a time, try going for a CD that has a longer span to it.

Keep the change- Change adds up quicker than you can imagine. A great savings tool is to just simply save the change. If you find you are someone that constantly says keep the change, you may want to rethink this. A simple trick that many people have been doing for years is saving their left over change. Have a large empty jar hanging out around the house? This jar could be a great goal setter. A simple savings tool is to save all your change and throw it into a jar until it is full. Many people empty their pockets at the end of the day and any loose change goes directly into this jar. The best jars to use are those with a bottleneck as these make it easy for you to drop change into, but is a little harder for you to get it back out on the go. It is amazing how quickly it adds up. Rather than swiping your card to pay the balance exactly, try using cash and then with the change you receive from breaking the bills gets thrown into your jar at the end of each day. On a monthly or quarterly basis (or when it is full) you should roll up the change and put it into a bank account. Better yet, one that does not get touched! The small change can add up quickly!

Katie Rubalcaba, Associate Accountant
Davis & Hodgdon Associates, CPA’s
May 2012