Another Dirty Little Word: Savings

Saving money is not a matter of math. Most people will not save money when they get that next pay raise, or when the car is finally paid off. They will not follow through with their New Year’s resolutions to save. Most will not save when the kids are grown. The truth is, you will only save money when it becomes an emotional priority to YOU!

We all know that we need to be saving, but most people just don’t save like they know they need to. Why not? Usually, there are competing short term wants that get in the way. The goal to save isn’t enough of a priority in the face of ordering out for pizza, or getting the latest techno-gadget. So, we purchase and consume all of our dollars away and worse, spend money we don’t even have and go into debt.

Debt means monthly payments that control our paychecks and our future. Debt causes us to constantly be in a state of financial panic. Debt causes incredible undue stress on relationships and families.

Do you really want to continue on that road? Most people readily say that they would love it if they had 3 months, 6 months or even a year’s worth of salary as financial reserve in the bank. But few attain that worthy goal. Not because they can’t, but because they won’t make it a priority to SAVE and not overspend.

I spoke about it in my last blog post…that other Dirty Little Word called a budget. I can’t stress enough how important it is to set yourself up on a budget. It really DOES NOT MATTER how little or how much you make. When you pre-determine how you will spend your earnings by thoughtful planning, budgeting and debt elimination, you will begin to be on the road to financial well-being.

I highly recommend Mvelopes as a budgeting tool to get you on the road to financial heath. Click on the link above and take the program for a free 14 day test drive. Plug in to the tutorials. Listen to and watch them. Learn how easy it is to use this tool. It really is a user friendly program.

Being on a budget will finally give YOU control over your finances and your future, financially speaking. It will SAVE you thousands and thousands of dollars. It will enable you to begin SAVING! Ultimately, it will give you choices to enjoy life. Isn’t that what we all want?

E-File Florida is interested in helping you achieve financial wellness. We are uniquely positioned to help you achieve this goal by offering guidance in tax planning, real estate and personal budgeting.

You can contact E-File Florida at 954-583-8534 or visit us on the Internet at http://www.efileflorida.com for more great tax tips and articles.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 Required Notice – IRS regulations require that we inform you as follows: Any Federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended to be used and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction as tax related matter(s).

A Dirty Little Word

For many people, the word “budget” seems to be a dirty little word. All kinds of fears and concerns are given as a response for not being on a budget. Some of the most common ones I have personally heard are:

“I have my budget in my head”
“I don’t have a steady income week to week or month to month for that matter. A budget doesn’t really apply to my situation.”
“I don’t have the time to write down every little thing that I spend money on. That’s just ridiculous to me!”

Maybe you can relate to some of these sentiments. I would venture to say that most of us can relate to wanting to be on a financial plan that eventually leads us to our desired goals. Those goals vary from person to person but here are some common desires:

Have Savings in place for a rainy day
Paying off Debt
Buy a new home
Buy a new car
College education fund for your children
Vacation
Not having to live Paycheck to Paycheck!

I want to highly encourage you, if you are not already doing so, to establish and live by a personal budget. A budget is actually a very liberating tool in your life. It assigns a placement for every dollar you earn. It pre-determines, by careful thought and planning, where you can best put your dollars to work for you. By following your plan, you will reach your desired goals after a given time. That’s what we all desire. To live life, free from the bondage of debt. To spend without the guilt. To be in a position of being able to bless, rather than from a position of personal need. Ultimately, to have choices!

It is my desire that you will seriously consider establishing a personal budget to help you gain your financial footing. I have personally been using a budgeting program called Mvelopes. It is an excellent program that is intuitively user friendly and I recommend it. This budgeting program is based on an envelope system. It is very simple to understand. You create an “envelope” for each category in your budget. When you receive your paycheck, you fund your “grocery” envelope, for example, with your pre-determined amount of grocery money for the week. When you go to the grocery store, you have that amount of money available to you. If you have money left over in that envelope, then you have extra grocery money that will accrue for your shopping pleasure next time you go to the grocery store. Simple. I like it! It may take you about an hour or so to actually set the program up, but after you do, it’s smooth sailing.

I will write about many of the features of this budgeting program in future writings. For now, if you would like to take a test drive, sign up for a free trial
here. I highly recommend it!

E-File Florida is interested in helping you achieve financial wellness. We are uniquely positioned to help you achieve this goal by offering guidance in tax planning, real estate and personal budgeting.

You can contact E-File Florida at 954-583-8534 or visit us on the Internet at http://www.efileflorida.com for more great tax tips and articles.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 Required Notice – IRS regulations require that we inform you as follows: Any Federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended to be used and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction as tax related matter(s).