Savings - as regular as your paycheck

Savings should be as regular as your paycheck. The key to a frugal life isn’t just accumulating a pile of money when you can, but making deposits to your "piggy bank" a regular part of your life – just as regular as a paycheck.

Ideally, you pay yourself first by depositing in your bank account, then you meet your necessities, and then you decide what discretionary spending you would like to do.

Deciding to spend little or nothing on your "wants" is just fine too.

Regular contribution to your savings is an important part of managing your personal finances. If you're wondering about what you might have as part of your money management plan, I'd suggest that regular deposits to build wealth ranks right up there at the top of the list.

Even if you don't know what you're keeping this money for, having a pile of it when you find a worthwhile use for it is much better than deciding at "the 11th hour" to start a savings program. Since just about everything costs money, it seems like having some would be a wise first step for any individual.

Here are a couple of tips for the building up your separate "deposit only piggy bank" on a regular basis.

• Try putting about 20% of your take-home pay in an automatic deposit program where you work. If you can't utilize direct deposit, then do it yourself each time you get paid.

• Every other time you get a raise, put all of the after-tax income into your "piggy bank" as well.

• Check on your "piggy bank once a month or every few months and see just how much wealth you've accumulated. It should inspire you to continue with the program.

I had my first bank account when I was 4 years old. I remember asking my mother about the reason for having this money in an account. She said, "Don't you worry about that, you just keep putting your money in there." It's funny how when you get older there seems to be no limit to the things you can spend money one, but I'm certain that $441 in my account when I was 8 year old has long ago been spent on college, real estate and personal transportation.

As you can well imagine, having a pile of money isn't really a problem, at least not from the standpoint of trying to find ways of spending it.

No matter where you're at in your financial journey, just start a regular savings program and you'll be glad you did. It's the "square one" of frugal living, personal finance and achieving some level of financial independence.

Done with Savings, back to Mindset of Frugality