Start by grabbing a pen and paper or opening a blank document on your computer.
Select a time frame
Choose something that doesn't allow you to think too far ahead and overwhelm yourself. The idea is to make saving easier and more efficient. We went with a 2 year period of time.
Choose a monthly dollar amount
This can vary depending on how much you have to work with. If you are just beginning start small. Choose something easy to divide into 4 weeks. We started with $20 and had it max out at $200. This sounds more complicated than it actually is. Take a breath and scroll down to my example at the bottom if you're feeling overwhelmed.
Increase by the lowest amount each month
For example if the first month is $20 for the whole month the next would be $40 (add $20 each month) and keep going up until you reach your max (the maximum monthly amount you chose).
Divide
Somewhere beside the monthly amount write how much you would have to put into savings each week (Just stick with 4 weeks to keep it simple). Example: $60 monthly = $15 weekly
Add it all together
You don't necessarily have to do this step but it's definitely motivational. Add together all of the monthly amounts in your time frame to figure out how much total you will save.
Here is an example of the finished product:
Keep gradually going up until you reach your max (say $100 for the 1 year time frame) and then start from the lowest all over again the following month
Once you're done writing it out add all the monthly amounts together and that's your total saved for that period. The total if you were to do it exactly like the example would be $720 in 1 year.
The reason I chose to do it this way is living paycheck to paycheck has made it really difficult for us to agree on a fixed amount. Often times we don't put anything in to savings because we choose amounts that overwhelm us. With this it's all baby steps and you get relief from the larger amounts which makes it a whole lot easier to justify.
Choose something that doesn't allow you to think too far ahead and overwhelm yourself. The idea is to make saving easier and more efficient. We went with a 2 year period of time.
Choose a monthly dollar amount
This can vary depending on how much you have to work with. If you are just beginning start small. Choose something easy to divide into 4 weeks. We started with $20 and had it max out at $200. This sounds more complicated than it actually is. Take a breath and scroll down to my example at the bottom if you're feeling overwhelmed.
Increase by the lowest amount each month
For example if the first month is $20 for the whole month the next would be $40 (add $20 each month) and keep going up until you reach your max (the maximum monthly amount you chose).
Divide
Somewhere beside the monthly amount write how much you would have to put into savings each week (Just stick with 4 weeks to keep it simple). Example: $60 monthly = $15 weekly
Add it all together
You don't necessarily have to do this step but it's definitely motivational. Add together all of the monthly amounts in your time frame to figure out how much total you will save.
Here is an example of the finished product:
1 YEAR SAVINGS PLAN
Aug: $20 ($5 weekly)
Sep: $40 ($10 weekly)
Oct: $60 ($15 weekly)
Nov: $80 ($20 weekly)
Dec: $100 ($25 weekly)
Keep gradually going up until you reach your max (say $100 for the 1 year time frame) and then start from the lowest all over again the following month
Cont.
Jan: $20 ($5)Feb: $40 ($10)
Mar: $60 ($15)
Apr: $80 ($20)
May: $100 ($25)
Jun: $20 ($5)
Jul: $40 ($10)
Aug: $60 ($15)
Once you're done writing it out add all the monthly amounts together and that's your total saved for that period. The total if you were to do it exactly like the example would be $720 in 1 year.
The reason I chose to do it this way is living paycheck to paycheck has made it really difficult for us to agree on a fixed amount. Often times we don't put anything in to savings because we choose amounts that overwhelm us. With this it's all baby steps and you get relief from the larger amounts which makes it a whole lot easier to justify.
Happy Saving!
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