How to Save Money, When Saving Seems Impossible

Nearly every day, we’re told that saving is the key to financial success. But for many, living paycheck to paycheck isn’t just unavoidable but a reality faced every month. Yet, there is hope, and there are many easy to use tools to help you make your financial goals a reality.

First things first, it’s time to track. Most of us are so busy managing life and paying the bills that we rarely take a step back and look at what we are paying and whether it matches our goals. The key to getting ahead is understanding your spending habits and saving potential.

There are some truly amazing software available to the average saver to help track and budget their daily life. Forbes shines a light on 7 prominent tools to ‘Better Manage Your Money.’ In particular, Forbes reviews two apps highlighted below:

1. YNAB - You Need a Budget - Marketed as the tool to save you money, YNAB is said to save new users an average of $600 a month! Pretty impressive if true. Here’s what the author had to say, “First, it uses a familiar spreadsheet layout that's very easy to use and understand. Creating a monthly budget takes just a few minutes. Second, YNAB is designed to encourage you to live on last month's income. Rather than creating budgets based on future income, you budget based on income you've already earned. In so doing, you give every dollar a job, as YNAB describes it. It takes some time to adjust to this approach, but the result is an end to living paycheck to paycheck.1”

2. Mint - Mint is fastly becoming one of the most popular FinTech apps available. And promises to track and budget your expenses by connecting to the users’ accounts. “Mint, which is owned along with Quicken by Intuit INTU -0.28%, Inc., is effectively the online version of Quicken. Once bank accounts, credit card statements, and even investment accounts are linked, Mint provides a wealth of information on spending, budgets, and even trends. After linking just one of my bank accounts, Mint was able to show me my spending by category in just minutes.2”

The favorite planning software of Financial Planners is Quicken. This software allows you to do similar things as Mint does but you keep all the records on your computer. Many people prefer to own their own data.

Two other tips are worth mentioning:

• For one month, log in all of your cash spending to see what patterns of spending emerge. Many people spend more than they realize on dining out, fast food and impulse spending. This will help you see it.

• Rank all Discretionary Spending 1 to 3. Discretionary spending is for the things that are optional and often provide you with enjoyment. If it is a 1, it is important to you. If it is a 3, it could be stopped and that money redirected towards a worthy goal.

Once you have your budgeting and financial tracking in place, it’s easier to see any added expenses that potentially could be cut.

If you have additional questions, please feel free to call us at 201-843-0044

Timothy Watters, CFP

Resources
1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertberger/2015/11/19/7-budgeting-tools-t...
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertberger/2015/11/19/7-budgeting-tools-t...

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