What Habits can help you double your savings?
Increasing savings means more sacrifices, in terms of controlling your expenses, and stopping your desires from manipulating your income.
To double up your savings, you have several options to choose from.
If you want to maintain the current lifestyle you are living while fattening up your savings, then you have to make way for more income.
On the other hand, going frugal can also be a viable method, if juggling a side hustle is not quite your call!
Plus, the question is not only about your savings alone. You have retirement to consider, investments to look after, and surely clearing the debts, if you have any.
So, there you go readers. I am Andy Masaki.
In my bad days, I had a lot of financial struggle to do. And, I am not at all shy or embarrassed to say, that I filed for bankruptcy once.
I had my share of wrong events! But then, I rose from my own ashes to straighten up my finances!
I currently run my own blog, Penny Less Dad, and work closely with Oak View Law Group as a money management informant!
Thus, without any more delay let’s revise some of your options to build yourself a solid savings portfolio!
Start a Side Hustle
A second job is nice to double your savings, even though it’s not a habit:
Yes, this is true.
If you can, then please get a side hustle, to get more cash coming in every month. I am insisting you so much, because savings becomes a lot easier with two incomes.
You can easily channel in one income as a dedicated savings amount, each month. The other income you can use to tackle your monthly obligations, and debt payments.
This is the most authentic and effective way to double up your savings, and that too pretty fast! But, managing two job profiles at the same time, can be a trouble!
Therefore, you better think out the pressure risk involved in side hustles. More time at work means less time for your private and personal life. Your family time can get compromised, by taking up more than one workload.
Also, your second job should be related to something that you love to do, instead of just working for the money!
Experts say, that if you do what you love to do, then it’s not a job!
Focus on savings
Focus on your retirement savings accounts:
What does doubling up savings actually mean?
It means that you will be putting in more money to your savings account, most preferably double the amount of contribution you generally make.
“Double savings” is just a stylized phrase that means an increased savings structure. And, many skip one very crucial perspective to this phrase.
Retirement savings!! That’s what we are mostly interested in.
On top of having a normal savings account, if you focus a little on retirement, then your job’s done.
Take benefits of IRAs, 401(k)s, and obviously whole life insurances, and/or Health Savings Accounts.
Those plans are great to get the maximum out of your invested money in your retirement days, with little to no risk involved, of losing your wealth.
Be Mature with your spending
Don’t let your wish list dominate you:
Gearing up for savings demands you to stop getting instigated by your wants.
This is the real habit, I tell you mate!
If your spending behavior is not checked, then you can never dream of savings expansion. The easiest way to check your expenses, is to know the difference between needs and wants.
Man!! This point has become a ritualistic addition to every personal finance blog post I write. And, I will keep on doing so, till everybody gets the gist of it.
Your needs are your necessities! The objects and purchases that you can’t live a decent lifestyle without! That’s your daily bread and butter. Your daily transportation. The utility bills.
On the other side of the coin, you have your wants. That’s the ‘wish list’ as I have mentioned. That can include the latest gadget in the market, your dream set of furniture, custom kitchenwares, designer clothes, and all other luxury items.
To be very precise, wish lists also contain foreign trips, cruise vacations, night outs with your buddies at costly clubs and pubs, and so forth.
Understand these things. Or else, forget savings! You will have more debts to pay off before you can even throw one penny into your savings vault!!
Budget, Budget, Budget
Have a budget, to arrange your expenses and space out the savings amount:
Finances move better on a budget. There’s no second opinion surrounding it.
You can easily make up your own budget, to cater to your every monetary obligation, including savings.
Below are some authentic budgeting strategies for you to take control of.
The Zero based budget:-
This budget is meant for those, who want to see for real, how much of their money is spent on what.
You will be making a long list of your probable monthly expenses. This shall also include your savings!
Once you are done listing all the outlets of your income, you will add them up and see the total expense amount. If this amount equals to your total income, then you don’t have much to do. If you are left with extra cash in hand after listing all your expenses (including the savings amount) appropriately, then use that extra to do some more savings!
The traditional 50-20-30:-
This is the easiest form of budgeting, that you should use if your expenses are usually broken into 3 parts. These are namely Savings, Monthly obligations, and luxury expenses.
This budget says that you deviate 50% of your income for shooting the general monthly expenses. 20% will be dedicated to building savings, and 30% is for luxury expenses or your wish list.
Now, as you are saying that you have to double your savings, and as I already said about deleting the wishlist, this 30% can be used to increase your savings, or making extra payments on any debt you have.
You do as it seems fit.
The only savings budget-
This is an amalgamation of 50-20-30.
You should only follow this budget, if your monthly priority is completely savings.
Otherwise, this budget won’t be of much help.
In an only savings budget, you will use the maximum portion of your income (as much as you can), to build savings.
Say for example, you are using 70% of your income for savings! This is a very idealistic budget, but you should use it only if you can survive at least a minimal lifestyle after contributing more than 50% of your income to savings!
An all savings budget will also include investments. Keep a note of that!
Debt!
Don’t fall for the debts, here are the ways to ease them out:
However, the problem lies elsewhere. It’s with the debts!
More debts means less savings!
- Save money on the debts by settling them
One of the best debt elimination options, is undoubtedly debt settlement. With this debt relief strategy you will be saving a lot of money.
Settlement is all about negotiating the debt amounts, penalty fees, and interest charges with the creditors.
You can do this negotiation yourself or can take help of law firms to get the job done!
- Initiate a suitable payment plan
If you don’t want any professional help for your debt clearance then you need to use a pay off strategy.
Debt Avalanche is the best, if you ask me.
You will arrange your debts as per the descending order of the interest rates. You will be then aiming to pay off the highest interest debt first.
You will be making the minimum payments on all of your debts, but put some additional amount to the payment of the highest interest debt.
Once this debt gets cleared, you focus on the next high interest debt amount, falling in the descending order!
- Invest in good debts only
Debts have a lot to do with savings expansion. These debts are called good debts.
Examples are mortgages, vintage car loans, and even a student loan.
You may ask, why!? Because, these are investments. Your mortgage payments increase equity! That’s a very good wealth building vehicle.
Also student loans are like moral investments, that help you have a good career with a good income!
In conclusion, no matter how wealthy you become, or how jolly your income is, you can only save if you wish to. And for that, you have to keep a check on your spending behavior, and solidify your money personality.
Hence, practicing a budget, and making your savings work for you in a good investment portfolio, are the best ways to expand your savings!
Stay happy and blessed always!