I heard the most inspirational story recently and wanted to share it. A friend and I were talking about the age old problem of not having enough money to save for things we feel are important to us. It’s something I hear often from clients; there just isn’t enough money. At the end of the month, after fixed and discretionary expenses, there is nothing left.
Do you have goals you’d love to fund, but find there is just no money for them?
Maybe it’s a down payment for a house, a new car, college for a child. Whatever the goal, it eludes you because there is no money left at the end of the month to save.
But this can change if you ask yourself one simple question each time you go shopping.
Let me explain: My friend shared a story with me of a woman she knew who managed to save enough money within one year for a house down payment. The most amazing part of this story is that this woman was a stay at home mother with one child, and a husband who had a very low paying job. She was determined to save for a down payment for a house, but they had no money left over at the end of the month for this or any other goal. They literally lived paycheck to paycheck. After fixed expenses for her family, there was never any money left.
But, she desperately wanted to buy a house and needed the cash for a down payment. So, she came up with a brilliant strategy to save for the house.
Every time she considered buying something she would ask herself “do I really need that?” And very often the answer was No.
Rather than buy the item, she’d put that money in a savings account. She asked this question for every single thing she considered buying for one year. Believe it or not, at the end of the year she had saved enough for the down payment.
There is no complicated financial strategy employed here. This comes down to identifying wants versus needs. And it comes down to changing your spending and savings habits. It’s really easy to find reasons why you can’t save for goals. And it can be hard to change spending habits. But if you decide on a goal, put a number to that goal, and start asking yourself this question every time you are about to spend money, you will find that you CAN save money.
Even when it seems like there is no money left to save.
If you’d like to learn more about how we help women executives and their families save money for their goals, let us know! We are happy to help you live the life you want.
