how to start saving
i love to spend money. i dont know what it is but i just love buying food and random stuff that makes me happy. especially when its all on my debit card. there's just something about inserting that frickin chip!
but recently i put together a list of my monthly purchases and MY GOD. i was spending about 80% of my paychecks a month on useless crap... and mind you i have absolutely no bills. now some of those things were definitely good purchases. i splurged on several really awesome tattoos, a new bong, and some cute heels from Ego. but did i really need pad thai every over damn night for a month??
probably not.
it's really important to start saving at a young age. the earlier you start, the better off you are. it can be so difficult to do this. i've literally been working since i was sixteen and have JUST NOW started saving. literally just now. even though its annoying to work so much, i do it because i want to have money and spend it on things i like and want. but i could make that work go a long way if i just saved some of that and didn't use it for frickin iced dirty chais during every work shift. i know people my age who have saved enough for a car, for apartments, for school. it's like crazy that i haven't gotten my shit together with this yet. but it's never too late to start.
i needed to make some changes asap. so one night while i was hanging out with my best friend and accountant student, Missy, she helped me put together a monthly budget.
i started by calculating the average amount i get paid every two weeks. double that and you have you're monthly pay. then, i put together a list of things i purchase every month: gas (about 2 tanks a mo), food, coffee, cigarettes (about 2-3 packs a week).
add up the monthly costs and you have your monthly budget. Missy told me that in order to calculate how much you should spend on food you should calculate your total monthly bills and then put 20% aside for your food budget. with the coffee budget i decided i would load a prepaid starbucks card every month. like $40 or something so that i manage how much i spend a month on coffee AND i can start getting those rewardsss.
when you receive you're biweekly paycheck, put a percentage aside into your savings account. Missy advised that since i had no actual bills for the time being, i could probably afford to put a higher percentage in each month. we settled on 40% but typically anywhere from 20-30% is a good place to start. before i started saving, i tried to simply hold all money in my checking account. the thing is, when i have access to those funds it can be a lot harder to manage my actual spending. this way, the 40% will remain untouched in the account– outta sight, outta mind.
the money in my checking account is enough for my biweekly budget and includes extra money that i've earned that week. i can use that on extra purchases like clothes, makeup, alcohol... and other stuff i might want.
i'm hoping to save several thousand by the time i go back to school in the fall. it's going to be hard work but i know that with dedication and making positive changes that i can definitely do it. what more advice on saving money? let me know in the comments if you'd like a collab with Missy on other money saving hacks, tips, and tricks.
xox
