By Becky Pallack
The holidays are behind you, your cash is spent, and your piggy bank is empty. Now probably seems like a good time to resolve to start saving money. Whether your goal is to finally get out of the paycheck-to-paycheck way of life, establish a rainy-day fund, or save for a vacation, college or retirement, you've got to start somewhere.
To get you going, here are 10 basic tips from experts Jim Hall, the financial planning program manager at Hughes Federal Credit Union, and Virginia Zuelow and Andy Spillos, of Raskob Kambourian Financial Advisors.
- Learn about money. For free: There are thousands of books about personal finance, and a library card costs you nothing. Then there's the Internet. Hall likes figurewiz.com, which offers calculators to do the math for you. ArizonaSaves.org offers strategies for saving. In class: Zuelow suggests Pima Community College. Noncredit classes include "Debt Elimination Techniques That Work" and "Women and Money: Taking Charge." Visit pima.edu.
- Figure your budget. How much money do you have, anyway? Track your spending for a month to see where you might be wasting money that could be saved. "Most people are spending everything they're earning," Hall said. "Finding those dollars is the hardest because you're used to spending."
You'll have to make up your mind about what you don't really need if you really want to save. But "focus on goals, not sacrifices," Zuelow said.
Paying off credit cards and building an emergency fund should be first, she said. If you can't stick to it, Spillos suggests cutting up your cards and going all-cash.
- Meet President Jackson. You can start small. "Just get started with an amount that doesn't hurt too much," Hall said. Try setting aside $20 from every paycheck.
When this gets comfortable, your goal should be to build up to saving 10 to 15 percent of your pay, he said. Once you have saved $1,000 saved, you might think about buying into a mutual fund or buying savings bonds.
- Take it to the bank. You probably shouldn't keep your savings under your mattress. Shop around for a savings account. If you are a member of a credit union, Spillos suggests checking their rates for a money market account.
These accounts invest your money in short-term loans or treasury bills, usually for a year or less.
- Forget about your money. If you automatically save some of your money, "it comes out of your pay before you get your hands on it," Hall said.
Talk to your company human-resources person about deductions, or talk to your bank about moving a set amount from your checking account to your savings account.
Many mutual funds will allow direct investments from your bank account, and "money not seen is not spent," Spillos said.
Next: Make your computer do the work >
