Our 52 Week Savings Plan.
Savings, what is savings? The technical term is income not spent or deferred consumption. Why do we save money? There are several reasons why people save money. Some of them include:
Emergency Fund – For the unexpected things life throws at you. Like your hot water system breaks down, you have a accident and can’t work for a little while. The children smashed the window.
Education- Putting money aside for the children or yourself to attend private schooling or even university. The cost of educating yourself is growing every year.
House Deposit- wanting to buy your own home but can’t come up with a deposit you need to start a savings plan.
Dream Holiday- you just want to get away and have some fun. Saving for a holiday is my type of savings.
There are so many other things that you want to save up for. Make sure you savings goal is achievable. You are more likely to stick to your plan if its achievable. Won’t you feel so great when you have gotten to your goal.
If your saving a large amount like the house deposit break it down into smaller more achievable goals. If you need $10 000 break it down into $2000 lots.
Here is 5 tips to follow to help find that extra bit of savings
Save unexpected income- Any unexpected money that comes in save it. This could be your income tax return. Overtime at work. Or even selling unwanted goods.
Save your loose change- Get yourself a money box and put all your loose change in it. Once it’s full deposit it into your savings account. You will be surprised by how much your loose change will add up.
Purchase one less coffee a week- Do you buy take away coffee on your way to work or on your break try cutting back at least one a week put this money into your savings that would be an extra $4-$6 a week into your savings.
Save lunch money- Cut down the number of lunches you buy. If you buy lunch every day, try bringing it from home at least once a week. If you purchase morning tea each day, try bringing it from home or even purchase a packet of biscuits or whole cake to leave at work for morning tea for the whole week.
Stay in- Instead of going out every week with your friends have a night in. Watch a DVD with homemade popcorn. Have a few drinks and a chat. Prepare a home cooked meal instead of going out for dinner. Put the money you saved into your savings account.
Hopefully you can use a few of the tips above to put some extra money in your savings account.
I like to use a savings plan to help keep on track to my savings goal that’s where the 52 week savings plan comes into it. It’s designed to save $1 in the first week then you add $1 each week till the last week of the year you add $52. I have designed mine the opposite was so you save the $52 first then deduct $1 a week till the last week you add $1. The reason for this is because of Christmas. With having such a large family Christmas can be expensive. So, I might not reach my savings goal if I am increasing my savings at Christmas time. By the time you get to week 52 you would have saved $1378, this is a great start to your savings plus using the 5 tips above you will be on your way to saving for your goal.
We are using this savings plan now to save a bit of extra money for our holiday that is coming up in March 2023.
Life happens so if you miss a week carry on with the rest of the plan. If you can later catch up with the week that you missed. Don’t think because you missed a week you cannot carry on. Move on and keep your savings going.
Get your copy of 52 week savings plan here