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Come Up With a Financial Plan This Month

Published on September 30th, 2014

October has been designated as Financial Planning Month, and if you have been waiting for the right time to get your finances in order, that time has come! You should be thinking about saving and sticking to your budget year-round, but take this month to set up a plan. We help you get started with this list:

  1. Start now! Why put it off? It is never too early to start saving – you will appreciate it later!
  2. Start small. You don’t have to be putting away hundreds of dollars every paycheck, even $50 will go a long way, and you can work your way up as you make more money.
  3. Keep it simple. Focus on your main objective to keep you on the right track. It will become more difficult to reach that objective if you make things too complicated.
  4. Write out goals. Rather than just building up money in a savings account for the sake of doing so, set a goal, whether it be for a vacation, a new home, or even a new pair of shoes.
  5. Set up separate accounts. To stay on track for each individual goal, keep a separate account for each. It will be hard to know how much money you have saved toward education and how much you have saved toward vacation when the funds are in the same account.
  6. Invest in a retirement fund. Have your boss or company take out a certain chunk of your paycheck to put in a retirement fund. You will hardly notice it’s gone, but you will get to enjoy it once you have retired.
  7. Save your change. Keep a change jar for random coins you may have lying around. You would be surprised how much you could save in a year with just change!
  8. Find easy ways to save. Skipping that afternoon coffee; bringing your own lunch; all small things you can do that will save you a lot of money over time.
  9. Keep habits. You are probably used to writing checks to pay loans or bills. Even when those loans or bills have been paid off, write those checks but put them into a savings account.
  10. Always have an emergency fun in place. It should be able to cover six months of expenses.

Happy financial planning!

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