“And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” Luke 19:17

There are many small ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each week I post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves…ways to boost your savings!

The King of Fads

Back in the 80’s Michael Jackson was not only The King of Pop — he was also The King of Fads.

If a company could get MJ to endorse their product, it would instantly blast off into the realm of over-night success.  Just consider for a moment his orange jacket with 100 zippers pictured.  What kid growing up in the 80’s didn’t have, or at least desparately want one of those?  Where they a necessity?  Was it practical?  Absolutely not… but it was “cool” and that is a testament to the power & influence of the infamous King of Pop!

A lot of fads come & go be it clothing, housewares, automobiles… there is always some new & exciting product that advertisers & culture dictate as “must haves”!  If you pay attention to these trends you will see that all of them come & go with the passing of time.  Most of them don’t even last an entire season… rushing into our lives, then fleeting away just like the passing of another day.

Today I wanted to offer up some tips that will NEVER go out of style! These are sound money tips that can be employed by you, or by Michael Jackson’s kids.  It doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you have, you still need to manage it wisely.

Instead of spending your money on the latest fads & trends, inventory your stuff to see what you already own then make it useful or give it to charity & write it off on your taxes.  Then take all the money you save by not buying loads of new toys, clothes, household items, etc… and establish an automated plan to save your money.  Focus on saving percentages of your money.  Even if you can only save 1%, then save that 1%.  Then establish progressive goals to save progressively higher percentages as time goes by.  It doesn’t matter if you are saving $5 a month, or $500,000 a month — just save whatever you can.  Trust me… you will never miss the difference!

My wife & I use Capital One 360 for our banking needs, which I highly recommend.  Capital One 360 has an awesome feature called their “Automatic Savings Plan” that allows you to automate your savings in whatever way you wish.  We are currently saving 5% of our money, but have progressive goals in place to increase that over time as we pay off more debt & inch closer & closer to financial freedom & independence!

So What’s The Answer?

Here are my tips for boosting your savings:

1. Spend less than you earn! Michael Jackson’s kids are being left with a legacy and rumor has it, not a whole lot more.  Just like the rest of us, they need to learn how to properly manage their finances, and save their money!  Remember… no matter how much dough you have, you can only make so many cookies!
2. Now matter how “little” it is… just make sure you save something every month! As I mentioned above, don’t worry about how much your are saving… just start saving.  You will be amazed how fast it adds up and how you will never even notice that small percentage of money no longer funding your bad spending habits!
3. Set savings goals! Create both short-term & long-term savings goals… that way you know where you are heading, what you are trying to accomplish, & can receive encouragement as you reach your smaller goals enroute to your more long-term goals.  A few of my long-term goals include reaching $100,000 saved, and also saving 50% or more of my income.
4. Automate your savings! Take the amount you decided on in tip #2 and set up a plan to automatically save that money every month.  The best advice I can give you is to set it up in some automatic format, so you do not have to think about doing it every month.  See if your bank offers an automated savings plan.  If they do not, consider opening an Capital One 360 savings account which allows for automatic & easy money distribution.  Remember… just set it & forget it.
5. If nothing else – hide it well! If you’re one of those people who just wants to hide their money… just make sure you hide your money in a safe place.

Remember… saving your money never goes out of style!

Whether you are the ever-famous children of the late Michael Jackson, or if you are just a regular Joe… saving your money is something that will be fashionable until the end of time!

Click here to see all our past DFA Tips of the Week.

DFA is passionately dedicated to helping people break the bondage of debt & work toward financial freedom using biblical principles.