Now that you have identified a financial goal, the easiest way to start funding it is to find something you can give up. Maybe you have a membership you never use or a subscription you really don’t have time to read. You can get rid of both, the expense and the guilt of not having time, by canceling it.
If we all dig deep enough, we can find an expenses we pay for but get no real benefit from. For us it was cable. I gathered the family around the dinner table one evening. We discussed other ways to get our entertainment needs met. Then we took a family vote and decided we could all live without it. That was over five years ago. During that first football season I had to remind my husband that this decision was temporary. But after seeing progress on our goals, even he is not ready to start paying for TV again.
Here’s the trick: after the unnecessary items(s) are located, figure out how to move its monetary amount directly onto your goal before it disappears.
- Mail a check to the bill on payday. Get it out of your account as soon as possible to avoid temptation. Have a stack of envelopes addressed and ready to go. Write the dates you want each payment to be mailed in corner where the stamp will be placed. This helps to avoid confusion and is easier to keep track of. You can set up months of payments in a short amount of time and then just cruise on autopilot.
- Set up direct deposit or automatic bill payments. Most bills and savings accounts can be managed with out paying the stamp. Make sure you account for these automatic transactions in your checkbook register, budget, or personal finance software to avoid a mathematical catastrophe. Software makes it easy with the memorize transaction feature.
No matter what financial goal you are working on, keep your eyes open for a regular habitual expense you can live without. Turn that money drain into an opportunity to get ahead.
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