Put Savings Into Your Monthly Budget

Have you heard the old saying “Pay Yourself First?” There is a lot of wisdom in those words. It means the first thing in your monthly budget should be savings.

When setting a monthly budget, most people think of the following things first: mortgage, food, car payment, credit cards, car insurance, health insurance, clothing, vacations, dining out, and so on.

What you won’t find in the budget is savings. What you contribute to your 401(k) does not count as your savings budget. The 401(k) is supposed to be supplemental to your savings budget. The key word there is “supplemental.”

Most people never give much thought to the importance of saving, because if they did, they'd realize it needs to be a top priority. First, think of the word saving; it means you’re saving something for later. In this case you are saving for your future.

There is a lot of uncertainty in the world, but one thing you can be sure of is the future will be here faster than you think.

You need to ask yourself, what will your future be like if you are unprepared, and what will your future be like if you are prepared? When you think about savings in this manner, you begin to realize that savings needs to be the first thing in your budget. After savings, you now know how much you can afford for your mortgage, food, car payment, credit cards, car insurance, health insurance, clothing, vacations, dining out, and so on.

The reason people don’t save is they put everything else into their budget first, so there is no money left for savings. It’s really that simple. They are actually living beyond their means. If you added one more bill called savings to your monthly budget, and put it ahead of all the other bills, your future would change for the better. If you had to add another bill to your monthly budget, you’d figure out a way to pay it… Right? Pay yourself first. It’s definitely a bill worth paying, and in the future you will be glad you did.

If you have questions or would like more detailed information on how to make savings part of your monthly budget, send an email to David@theAlemianfile.com, or visit my website CapitalCrestFinancialGroup.com

Absolutely make sure you come back here next week for another edition of The Alemian File.