Most people do not think that they have enough money to save for retirement. I can remember asking my mother if she had any investments, stocks, bonds, and the like as a little boy. She told me that we barely pay the bills, let alone invest for retirement.
I’m here to tell you that everyone can find easy ways to save money from funds leftover in their budget to begin investing. The real problem is if you want to make room in your budget. Do you want to do without 200 cable channels? Do you want to skip the trip to the coffee bar every morning and brew your coffee yourself?
Many people say no, and that is why they cannot find money to invest. But, others want to invest for their retirement and do not know where to start. Their budget is so tight that they cannot find a single dollar to spare. Here are five ideas that you can cut back on your budget to start saving money.
Four easy ways to save money from your budget
Drop The Movie Channels. I’m a realist. I’m not going to sit here and recommend that you get rid of your cable. But, I am going to tell you that you do not need 200 channels. Just get rid of those premium movie channels.
You probably do not watch them most of the time anyway. That is an easy way to save money. You would save over $30 per month by just making that one change.
Stop Going Out For Coffee. I went out the other day to that very famous coffee shop rumored to be on every street corner in America and bought a fancy coffee for $4. It was a treat for me. Buying coffee wasn’t an everyday occurrence.
But, did you know that if you spent $4 every morning on coffee on your way to work, you would end up spending about $1,000 per year? You can brew your own pot of coffee for as little as fifty cents at home. Buy a cheap thermos, and you are rocking!
Save Pocket Change. I used to think that I couldn’t find a single dollar to save at the end of the month. One place that I did not realize that I was leaking money from my budget was in cash. I had no idea where my cash was going when I was using it.
So, after keeping better track of my cash outflows, I also started stashing away the spare change I had from my pockets at the end of the day. Over time, that spare change really started building.
Return DVD Rentals On Time. I am notorious for not returning the DVDs that I rent on time. If I rent one or two movies per week, I could have easily racked up tens of dollars per month in late charges. Most of the time, I could have just come out ahead by buying the movie outright the day it came out.
None of these tips matter unless you take that money you saved and put it to good use. Open up a Roth IRA or an investing account at a discount brokerage like Scottrade.
Do you have three to six months of living expenses set aside in an emergency fund? That would be a great place to put all the extra money you found from your budget.
