Hello, I'm your host, Mr. Chuck. I'm a retired accountant turn truck driver, I have reduced my debt to zero in a short matter of time, debt reduction to achieve financial freedom takes commitment, confidence determination. How do you increase your savings account or your emergency fund? Well, we're going to cover that topic this week. And we'll begin started in about 30 seconds. Welcome together, we're going to explore our personal finances and figure out how to improve them reduce debt increase wealth.com is a podcast to educate to improve personal finances, whether it's eliminating debt or making smart investments. Increase in your emergency fund. An emergency fund is nothing but your savings account, a savings account that you have at your local bank, the same bank you have a checking account. The purpose of having an emergency fund is so that you have money set aside, just in case maybe you don't think you need one. But how often has something broken down. And you had to use a credit card to pay for the repairs or to replace it. That's what an emergencies fun is for. So you don't keep creating new debt. Debt reduction, to achieve financial freedom takes commitment, confidence, and dedication, determination. It's not all that easy to put money aside and say, especially today, when you're bombarded by advertising. I have a quote I'm gonna come up with Next you need to listen to it, because it says a lot. The habit of saving is itself an education. It fosters every virtue teaches self denial call elevates the sense of order trains to fourth thought and so broadens the mind a quote from TT monger with all that Phil sock sofic all thinking now I'm going to get into ways how you can increase your savings or increase your emergency fund. And it starts out with that B word budgeting. If you already got a budget set up, you're probably already trying to reduce your spending so that you can direct that money towards either reducing your debt or increasing your emergency fund slash savings account. So we're gonna start there, I got a couple articles, you can read them in my show notes. If you're interested in reading the whole article, but we're going to go through them now. Strategies for saving regularly. And this is from an article full proof me.org strategy for saving more. Savings often seems a big challenge when you feel that your income is already over committed. But financial planning experts point out almost everyone can find ways to trim spending to buy more efficiently and thus find money for savings. It does take some discipline, but it's worth it. Here are some important strategy for creating more savings. And the number one find out where your income is going before you decide what you can save. Number two, make a budget. You should already have a budget if you've been listening to this. I've gone over ways how to create a budget and how to do a simple budget. And number three, pay yourself first. And number four, pay as you go for regular expenses. If you make a rule that you must use cash checks or Credit debit cards, instead of credit for some of your expenses, you may be more likely to control spending on those items. food, fuel utilities, and clothing might qualify for that list. I'll say food and fuel and clothing, definitely need to be on that list. Now, when they say use cash checks, they're just basically saying, use a debit card and pay for it directly out of your checking account. But be aware, there's people out there stealing your information. So if you use a debit card, you may be more prone for somebody to gain access to your checking account. And take all your money out. So just be aware, I've never had trouble doing that. But you never know this DNA. And number five be a disciplined shopper. He can support your goals by being a disciplined shopper and then goes through and gives you some examples. downsize your purchase rather than supersize them. And what they mean is do you really need those top of the premium line name and brand sneakers or sportswear rather than a moderate line from the same manufacturer. They're not saying buy used at a thrift store. They're just saying, don't pay the high price for name brands. Don't worry about keeping up with the Joneses. And seven pay on time and manage your checking account wisely. Do not overpay do not pay the bank more than they deserve. Quit paying overdraft fees and bank fees. Pay off high interest debit and credit cards. I don't know how a debit card could be high interest when it's directly connected to your checking account. But pay off high interest credit cards make a long range savings and investment plan. So a financial plan. What are your goals? And where do you stash your basic savings one, a savings account should do that at your local bank, where you have your checking account. Why? Because you want the money to be liquid, you want easier access to it. So when the time comes if you need it, you can get to it. money market accounts money market accounts are also called money market deposit accounts, our savings account that typically offer higher yields than regular savings account. You do that after you get your emergency fund established and set up. And overfunded, let's say, and you no longer have a whole lot of credit card debt. Share certificate accounts or certificates of deposit CDs. Was the rate so low? I wouldn't tie my money up in the CD because it's committed to a period of time, three months, six months, a year and they're not paying anything. And when do you get started? Well now no time like the present to get started. Building your basic savings is goal for you and your family. The best time to get started is now why not plan to start recording where the money goes with tomorrow morning sausage specic biscuit or double latte to go. Before you dump too many days change in the jar, you'll be ready to identify where you can say open the right account if you don't already have one and start making regular contributions. Peace of mind we're follow increase savings. That's a promise. And then we have another article again, get to that next. So if you have a budget, you have a plan. You have a debt reduction plan. You're paying the minimum on your credit cards. And you put in all your discretionary money into your savings account. What is discretionary money? That's money that you have from your paycheck. That's not being used or not identified as being used to pay a bill. And a bill would be those fixed expenses Do you have every month, all your loan payments, all your utility payments, plus food. transportation costs gasoline, clothing. If you start paying for your food, gas, clothing, with directly with your debit card, you're essentially paying cash for those items. Don't overdraw your checking account, you need to know how much money you have at all times. It doesn't do you any good to set money aside in your savings account, then overdraw your checking account and pay additional bank fees. When I was in business, as an accountant, I had plenty account of clients that paid hundreds of dollars every month and overdrawn check fees. I tried to tell them, you're wasting your money, why are you doing that? Well, I have to buy the inventory, I gotta pay for it. Well, you're not paying for if you're bouncing the check. I will eventually, well, you have more money to pay for it, if you quit paying all those bank fees. So if you're one of those persons, and you look at your checking account, and you're paying bank fees more than that money, even if you're just paying a monthly service charge, charge it You shouldn't even be doing that. Back in olden days before the computer, you would record and a check register all your transactions that you ran through your checking account. You put in your deposits, and then you'd add that to your balance, and then you subtract out all the checks you wrote. Then when you got your monthly bank statement, you would reconcile your records to the bank records. Nobody does that anymore. You can go online and see what's coming out of your checking account every day, instantly. So everybody got away from that. But how do you know if something is cleared if you'd never record it, and maybe it doesn't clear for two weeks you forget about it. And let's say it's $200. And then a week goes by you forgot about it, and you spend that $200 again, you're gonna have problems unless you have a sufficient enough money in your checking account to cover that $400 which you may not, you're gonna bounce checks, and you're going to be charged bank fees. I'm not saying everybody out there that's listening to this podcast has this problem. I'm just covering it as a problem. Part of your budgeting plan should be to reconcile your bank statement at least monthly. I do it weekly. Every time I make a deposit from my employer into my checking account. I know that my checking account balance matches to the penny what the bank says I got if it doesn't, I find out why did I forget to record something? Was there something that got through my checking account? I don't know about how are you gonna contest a charge if you don't know you paid it. So now we're going to go into the second article. This next article is from America saved that org 54 ways to save money. Boy that's a lot of ways. A lot of it's going to be a duplication. General savings tips and emergency fund is a must if you don't have emergency fund in Need to get one, you should have somewhere in the ballpark of three to six months of your income. That's a lot. And it's going to take you a while to reach that point that you should start with a goal of $500. So your emergency fund if you don't already have one started, you need to get one started. And your goal is to get at least to$500. establish your budget, the best way to jumpstart establishing a budget is to realize your spending habits, identify your bad spending habits and take steps to eradicate them. budget was cash and envelopes. I don't really like that a debit card. We talked about that just a few minutes ago. Don't just say money save for your future, there is a difference. As you begin to think like a savers don't simply spend less. Say with a purchase such as college expense, retirement or for emergencies. We're concentrate on the emergency part right now. Save automatically This is a good tip. Setting up automatic savings is the easiest and most efficient way to save. And it puts extra cash out of sight and out of mind. Automatically savings means you have a process in place to save at regular intervals, whether it's monthly, weekly, or daily. Or if you have direct deposit, ask your HR human resources, if they can split your paycheck and put 10% of it into a savings account and the rest into your checking. to automatically save the most online banks, which every banks online far as I know, you can go in there and set up an automatic save, I would do it a set amount say $20 a pay and set it up you know every pay, you know like every Friday, every other Friday, twice a month, what depends on how often you get paid. But you got to be aware if something happens to you and your income stops, you got to be able to get into that checking account and or your check your account and stop that automatic transfer because oh keep on going. Just a note. That was my experience in past years. Start small Think Big with short term goals. The truth is people say more successfully when they said a short term goal. For instance, instance, committing to save $20 a week or a month for six months is much more attainable than setting a goal to say $500 a month for a year. Once you reach the short term goal you have created a habit of savings you can be proud of, you'll be able to keep going strong with a new goal. So your first goal should be at least three months. And let's say $10 a pay $20 a pay for three months. multiply it out, come up with $1 amount and see how much you have. take about three months to create a habit. Once you got that habit created, you're set to go You won't even miss the money. Maybe increase it every three months by five bucks. And before you know it, you'll be putting $50 a pay OSI in your savings account, you won't even miss it. Start saving for retirement as early as possible. We all know compound interest works with time. The sooner you start, the more money you'll have when you get retirement age and the less money you have to put in there. Take full advantage of employer matches to your retirement plan. If you have a 401 K plan, you're not doing anything with it, you should start your contributions, even if your employer doesn't make a match, but if they do match, you're leaving money on the table. So you should get a 401 K plan you should put in the maximum amount of the match and forget about it. Save your windfalls and tax refunds every time receive a windfall such as I work bonus inheritance contest. winnings are tax refund, put a portion of it into your savings. We're not saying all of it a portion of it, say half make a savings plan. Those were savings plans are twice as likely to say successfully. That's where America saves come in. If you take the American SES pledge or help you set a goal and make a plan, and it doesn't stop there, America Sage will help you motivate with information, advice, tips and reminders to help you reach your savings goal. Think of us as your own personal support system. For those of you struggling to save money, maybe that would be a good idea. America saves.org. Save your coins literally. Now, just a note, if you have a jar of coins sitting on your dresser, roll it up, take it to a bank, but in your savings account. Don't leave money sitting around on your dresser. It's okay if you pick it up and use it every day. But if you got a big jar of coins, roll it up taking the bank put a new savings account. And they're saying put aside just 50 cents a day. Over a year, we get you almost halfway to an emergency fund about $182. I believe. Check with your bank or credit union research apps that offer programs that round your purchases up to the naylors dollar and put the difference into a separate savings account. I'd say the same savings account. Use the 24 hour rule avoid purchasing expense or unnecessary items on impulse was a self imposed 24 hour rule. For any non essential items, wait 24 hours before purchasing is perfect for online shopping where your items can simply be added to your cart to purchase later. Treat yourself. And just a note about that if you're shopping online and you put it in the cart, and you use in the 24 hour rule and you leave that website, what's going to happen they're gonna send you an email and offer you a discount. That's what my experience has been. And you'll save even more money. But don't go back wait 24 hours before you go back. Treat yourself but use it as an opportunity to save this is a unique match the cost of your non essential indulgences and savings. So for example, if you splurge on this smoothie while out running errands, put the same amount into your savings account. So in a good example would be you set up your budget and you cut out all your lattes or your expensive coffees from wherever. But every once in a while, you need to treat yourself. So you go and you buy that expensive coffee that you maybe didn't have for the last week and it cost you five bucks. When you get home, take $5 out of your wallet. If you have $5 cash and put it on your dresser and eventually take it and put it in your savings account. Once a week. You do that. Put the money aside, match whatever your indulgences were, and then once a week, take it and deposit in your savings account. Calculate purchased by hours work instead of cost. This mental math tech tactic really helps you to think like a saver. Take the amount of the item you want to purchase and divide it by your hourly wage. For example, if you're considering a $50 pair of shoe and you make $10 an hour, ask yourself if those shoes are worth working for five hours. Sometimes they are sometimes they won't be 15 unsubscribe attempt. Avoid temptation by unsubscribe from marketing emails and texts from the stores where you spend the most money. By law each marketing emails required to have an unsubscribe link. Usually at the bottom and the email you can reply with any text with stop that should opt you out other list. I do it too so I don't get those so many emails. Place a reminder on your card. Remind yourself to think through every purchase by covering your card with a savings prompt such as Have you met your savings goal for the month write the message on a piece of metal tape or color for washing tape on your cart was saying is put a piece of tape on your credit card or on your debit card. And remind yourself I would say, have I exceeded my budget amount. Instead of savings goal, this is a savings place. So they're pushing the savings. But if you have a budget setup, say for groceries and you go into the grocery store, that's why I recommend having an app on your smartphone that has that budget. You can open it up and look groceries, how much did I budget for the month? How much have I spent what's my USD balance, give an idea of how much you can spend. If it's towards in a month, you may be you only have $100 to spend. So you got to watch your spending. That's the idea of a budget is to keep your spending under control and pay off credit cards in full each month. If you don't have a credit card problem, and all your credit cards are paid off, he only charged treat your credit card like cash, only charge what you can afford to pay off. Start with a goal reducing your credit card debt by just $1,000. That $1,000 debt reduction will probably save you 150 to $200 a year in interest, and much more if you're paying penalties rates of 20 to 30%. I say pay the minimum balance on all your credit cards until you have your emergency fund established at least $500 or more. Get up $500. Then when you have 15 $100 use $1,000. Pay off a credit card debt. Pay down a credit card debt. Only use ATMs of your bank or credit union use an ATM of another financial institution. Once a week might seem like no big deal, but it's costing you$3 for each withdrawal that's more than $150 over the course of a year. Quit paying bank fees. Check your credit report for free once a year. pay your bills on auto pay. That way you pay them on time. Get Free debt counseling. I'd say that'd be the last resort. Take advantage of your library. Browse online for free or low cost local entertainment and volunteer at festivals so you can get in the festivals for free. That's your entertaining savings tip. Family and friends savings tips create a family spending limit on gifts. Planning gift giving well in advance. It's never too soon to start saving for college. Don't buy cheap clothes for cheap sake. There are times when it makes the most sense to prioritize quality over price when purchasing clothes for the family. And inexpensive shirt or coat is a poor bargain for an older family members. If it wears out in less than a year, but can make sense for a quickly growing children. Good idea. organize a neighborhood swap meet. designate one day a week. No spend day I try to designate one week as a no spend week. That's this me. I tried to do that all the time. I got all my debt paid off I still saying once you create a habit is going to stick with him. Food and savings tips. Brown Bag your lunch to work. Commit to eating out one fewer time each month. I say committed eating out only once a month well now with COVID-19 there's nowhere to eat out at plan your meals in advance and stick to the list while grocery shopping. So when you go to grocery store, have a list. only buy what's on the list. And don't be tempted to buy other things. I'll take a water Thank you It's standard in in the restaurant industry the markup the cost of alcohol by three to five times. Easy way to cut down your restaurant spending without changing your habits too drastically is to skip the beverage, alcohol and non alcoholic and done that for years. One because one I was always on a diet trying to lose weight. sodas not good. Alcohol is not good. Water is good. And mine was just a weight loss thing. It wasn't even a budget thing. save time and money by doubling the recipe. Next time you make a family favorite, double the recipe and freeze the leftovers for another day. That way you can get two meals out of one and use the ingredients more efficiently with less waste. Help saving tips don't skimp on preventative health care go generic comparison shop for prescription drugs, purchased store brand over the counter medications. Or use the online pharmacies through your health insurance and get a three month supply for the cost of one month. It's what I do. Savings tip comparison shop for hono or surance. refinance your mortgage audit your home energy use weatherproof your home keep the sun out use less water. Cut laundry detergent used in half Go Natural, lower the temperature of water here to 120 degrees. Ditch the paper they're talking about paper towels and such. Become a coupon king or queen. Transportation savings comparison shop for auto insurance before renewing existing auto insurance policy each year, check out the rates of competing companies that will work as if you don't have problems on your history. Check multiple sites for low airfare. That's only if you're traveling. So in a nutshell, use common sense stuff. Always look for a way to save money, everybody does that. If you're looking for ways to save money, that's gonna help you reduce your spending. And the most best way to reduce your spending is not buy anything. Pretty simple. The less items you buy does less it's gonna cost you the more you can save. I'll be back in a minute. If you listen to this podcast using an apple podcast app, please rate and review this podcast for all your non Apple users. You can download iTunes on a Windows machine and go to the upper left hand corner, select podcast, do a search, reduce debt, increase wealth, he can subscribe to the podcast. And you can also rate and review the podcast. I appreciate any feedback that I get. So my final thoughts are if you're having problems with your savings, or setting up a savings account and establishing get something going check out America saves.org. They have plans in place and they will help you set up some goals and then send you tips and reminders as you go along. It might be worth looking into other than that increase in your emergency fund is should be a priority for everybody. Whether you have zero in your savings account or emergency fund, or maybe you have 5000 in your emergency fund, is it enough? three to six months worth of income is what they recommend. If you're retired, maybe you should have one year's worth of income and our emergency fund. If you're taking money out of the stock market on a monthly basis, what are you gonna do if the market drops it's gonna cost you dearly. If you can pull it off taken out of the market when the markets down, you're going to be better off. An emergency fund is an important asset to pay for your debt reduction plan. It's a necessity because your number one goal is to quit creating new debt. And you cannot do that without an emergency fund or a savings account.