Tag: Personal Finances

Earlier this month, MSN ran an article call “5 Money Lessons the Pandemic Has Taught US (so far).” I found it to be a very interesting read. My husband and I are retired and living on Social Security. So we have had to adjust our lifestyle to fit on a fixed income. But number one on this list may just have you coming to a screeching halt.

Putting 6 months of expenses in a savings account actually a good thing. Especially given today’s world. But my question to you is, “How are you going to accomplish that?” I did a quick check of what that would amount to for us, and nearly choked! I would need over $15,000 in the bank!

An obvious way is to start with a budget. I found this article on a Disability Insurance company’s website. And it is a good way to start. However, there is a lot of little things that you can do to boost those savings.

1. Budget a set amount every month. This is the bare minimum to do. Just do a little math to determine how long it would take to save enough for 6 months.
2. If you didn’t spend all of a budgeted amount, save the difference. For example, I budget $200 for groceries. If I don’t spend all of it, I need to transfer the money leftover to the savings account.
3. Reduce bills where you can. For example, you may be paying for unlimited data on your cell phone. Do you really need it? Take a look, you may be able to lower your bill and save more money.
4. Are you taking advantage of all the discounts you’re eligible for? My husband and I are both Veterans. I switched our car insurance a few years ago to USAA and brought our insurance bill down to just over $100.
5. If you are leasing/renting your cellphone, check into buying it. We recently bit the bullet, paid off our phones and had a very frank discussion with our provider. By taking advantage of a program for Veterans, what had been a $325 bill became a a $100 bill, and we still have unlimited data.
6. Take a look at all the items you have subscribed to. You may need to search through your bank statement to find all of them. If you aren’t actually using them, cancel the subscription!
7. At the end of the month, if you still have money in the bank, transfer it to the savings account!

I have my doubts that any of us are going to be able to quickly save enough. The point is to start somewhere! Doing a little is always better than doing nothing.