It may seem hard to believe, but purchasing that 40-inch plasma tv for next year’s Super Bowl–or opening an IRA account–can be as easy as squirreling away your spare change, giving up those two large lattes at your local coffeehouse, and turning off the lights before you leave the room. Before you shake your head in disbelief, read on. We interviewed several financial experts–and two regular folks–about ways to save for short-term goals by implementing everyday savings strategies. Before you know it, you’ll be able to achieve those one-year, two-year, and even three-year goals.
STRATEGY# 1: Sheraun Britton-Parris is a pro when it comes to cutting back. Britton-Parris, 32, left a fast-track career in marketing to create The Possibili-Tees Inc., an online boutique that sells women’s T-shirts with motivational affirmations. To finance her business, she literally began saving her pennies. “I began putting my pennies in an apple juice jar,” says the New York resident. “By the end of the year, I had $100 to $135 in change, which I reinvested into my business.”
Robert Bennett, 46, the owner of WBPM NetRadio, an Internet broadcast radio stream in Tampa, Florida, saves about $200 per year in change. He and his wife, Sharon, 44, use the extra funds as spending money on their yearly vacation.
Gail Perry-Mason, a first vice president at Oppenheimer & Co. and the co-author of Girl, Make Your Money Grow! A Sister’s Guide to Protecting Your Future and Enriching Your Life (Harlem Moon; $11.95), approves of penny-saving. “If your whole family saves, it adds up. We’re talking $75 to $100 a month,” she says. Just think, at the end of the year you’ll have $1,200 saved. And if you’re really ambitious, you may want to follow the lead of one of Perry-Mason’s clients, who was saving for an IRA and decided to put aside money every day for an entire year. Her strategy?
“She saved $1 a day in January, $2 a day in February, and so on,” says Perry-Mason. By the end of the year, she was able to fund an IRA, and she increased her financial confidence by sticking to her goal.STRATEGY# 2: David Bach, author of Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age (Broadway Books; $25), suggests that consumers find their “Latte Factor.” According to Bach’s Website, www.finishrich.com, by forgoing the average cost of a latte and muffin, at $5 per day, and investing $150 per month at 10% interest, you can save almost $4,000 in two years. “Instead of buying breakfast at work, I would buy a box of cereal at Costco [wholesale club] and take it to work,” says Britton-Parris. “I saved $2 to $4 per day, which put almost $1,000 toward my business.”
Alfreda Norman, community affairs officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, which publishes the online booklet Building Wealth: A Beginner’s Guide to Securing Your Financial Future (www.dallasfed.com), agrees. “For many people, those daily expenses represent a big, black hole.”
STRATEGY# 3: Cutting back on monthly expenses can amount to putting a dollar or more in your pocket every day. “Cable TV can average over $80 per month. If you switch to a basic plan, at say $29 per month, you can save $720 a year,” says Bach. If cable is king in your house, consider getting rid of your home phone if you have a cell phone (or at the very least, make sure the plans don’t overlap) and switching to a basic gym membership, both of which can save you hundreds of dollars per year. “Spending an extra $15 to $20 per month on cable just doesn’t make sense,” says Britton-Parris, who also gave up her $80-per-month gym membership. By doing so, she added an extra $1,200 to her savings plan.
Another savings strategy? According to the U.S. Department of Energy, increasing your lighting efficiency is one of the fastest ways to decrease your energy bills. By replacing 25% of your lights with fluorescents, you can knock almost 50% off your lighting bill.
STRATEGY# 4: Do you really need to visit the ATM every other day? By making one withdrawal per week, you’ll save hundreds of dollars each year by eliminating withdrawal fees. “When you use an ATM that’s not affiliated with your bank, you’re paying extra for your own money,” says Bennett, who is saving money to purchase music for his radio station. He withdraws $200 from his bank every two weeks, and when his funds get low he stops spending.
“Find a bank that offers totally free checking, swear off using out-of-network ATMs, and watch out for nuisance charges,” suggests Beth Kobliner, the author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties (Fireside; $13). Go to the Checking & ATM section of www.bankrate.com to find the best banking deals. The watchdog U.S. Public Interest Research Group estimates you could save an average of $228 a year.
STRATEGY# 5: Many families–and single, working professionals–don’t realize how much they can save on groceries, clothing, and entertainment. Ilyce Glink, the author of 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Improve Your Personal Finances (Three Rivers Press; $14), makes sandwiches in bulk and freezes them. “Instead of spending an average of $9.50 per person on lunch, we end up spending about $1.50,” she says. She also suggests buying in bulk, planning out a week’s meals in advance, and making double servings and freezing half for later. Eliminate all junk food, which can become costly, or go to a discount warehouse and buy snacks that are individually wrapped. A family of four can save thousands of dollars by tweaking its food budget. Bennett, who has a day job that requires an all-night shift, makes it a point to eat his lunch at home and estimates that he saves almost $10 per day by doing so.
When it comes to entertainment, be creative. Take the family to a discount Saturday matinee. Instead of hoofing it to Blockbuster, go to the local library, where you can rent movies for almost half the price (some libraries even offer free rentals). Married couples with children can save on entertainment by planning only one night out a month, rather than two or three. “When you add up the cost of a babysitter, dinner, and a movie, you’re looking at almost $100,” says Glink. She suggests couples take advantage of free entertainment, such as concerts and art shows (which often serve free hors d’oeuvres). Bennett and his wife enjoy taking in music festivals in the Tampa area. “I get to enjoy a day full of music for $10,” he says. “I have a better time at a festival than in an auditorium where I might end up spending $85 to see one artist.”
STRATEGY# 6: Hair and nails can put a hardy dent in a girl’s budget. When Britton-Parris began saving money toward her business, she also scaled back on visits to her favorite salon. “I stopped having my nails done, and I began going to a cheaper hair salon,” she says. By scrimping and saving, she was able to save $10 a week on manicures and more than $10 to $15 on her hair. That’s another painless $1,200 toward Britton-Parris’ latest goal, establishing an advertising budget for her Website. When Bennett was saving $1,000 to buy computer equipment for his online radio station, he stopped taking his shirts to the dry cleaners and began doing his own laundry. “I knocked $100 off my cleaning bills each month,” he estimates. And at the end of the year he was able to buy his equipment.
Suze Orman, author of The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke (Riverhead; $24.95), says “it’s all about weighing what you are willing to do now so you will have more later.”
STRATEGY# 7: Saving money can be as easy as picking up the phone or logging on to your computer, says Ellie Kay, author of The Debt Diet: An Easy-to-Follow
Plan to Shed Debt and Trim Spending (BethanyHouse Publishers; $12.99). “Call your credit card company and ask if you can have your interest rate lowered,” she suggests. “And ask if they will waive their annual fee. Tell them you’re being wooed by another credit card company.” Britton-Parris has had her credit card rates reduced several times. “I’m very comfortable with calling credit card companies and asking for a reduced rate,” she says. “I’ve lowered my credit card interest rates quite a bit.”
Now it’s time to log on to savings. “Before you buy something, log on to sites like www.froogle.com, which can help you find the best price,” she says. Some online retailers offer discounts for Web-only purchases. Promotion code sites such as www.dealhunting.com and www.shoppersource.com will help you find hot deals on your favorite merchandise. Looking for ways to save on refueling your car? Log on to www.gasprice watch.com. “By picking up the phone or logging on to your computer, you can save a few hundred dollars a year,” says Kay. For more online savings tips, go to www.elliekay.com.
Britton-Parris and Bennett have made everyday savings strategies a way of life. “I’ve become very, very frugal about how I spend my money,” says Britton-Parris. “I believe that any leak in your finances is bound to sink your ship. The more you look for ways to save, the more creative you’ll become.”
DO IT YOURSELF LOG ON TO SAVINGS
| TIP | MONTHLY SAVINGS | ANNUAL SAVINGS |
| Save 50 cents a day in loose change | $15 | $182.50 |
| Cut soda/pop consumption by 1 liter a week | 6 | 72 |
| At work, substitute 1 coffee for 1 cappuccino | 40 | 480 |
| Bring lunch to work (saving estimated $3/day) | 60 | 720 |
| Eat out two fewer times a month | 30 | 360 |
| Borrow, rather than buying, one book a month | 15 | 180 |
| Comparison shop for gas (save est. 25 cents/gallon) | 4 | 48 |
| Maintain checking account minimum to avoid fees | 7 | 84 |
| Bounce one less check a month | 20 | 240 |
| Pay credit card bill on time to avoid late fee | 25 | 300 |
| Pay off $1,000 of credit card debt, reducing interest | 15 | 180 |
| TOTAL | $237 | $2,846.50 |
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