Top Five Savings Techniques

Statistics show that 45% of people who open savings accounts never use them. The problem is that savings accounts require work. When you’re ready to make a deposit, you have to withdraw money from your checking account, deposit it into your savings account, and keep yourself from removing money from the savings account once it has been deposited. Because of this, a savings account might not be the best way to build your “nest egg.”

If you’re interested in saving money for a rainy day, try some of these ideas and see which one (or more!) works best for you. Everyone is different, you can build savings without opening an account.

1. Save Your Pennies

Instead of fishing around in your pockets for two pennies to cover the restaurant total of $14.02, hand the teller a twenty. At the end of every day, take all of the change in your pockets, purse, wallet and car, and throw it into a change jar. You’ll be amazed at how fast the change will add up.

When the jar is full, roll it into bank rolls and put the rolls in a shoe box. When the shoe box is full, take it to the bank and cash it in, or move on to a new shoe box. A friend of mine has 54 shoeboxes full of rolled change, and he’s decided to use the change as his retirement fund. Of course, he started this when he was ten years old, and he’s thirty-seven now, but you can catch up!

2. Tax Day Savings

For yearly savings, arrange with your employer to take more money out of your check for taxes than is required. I have a friend that sacrificed 20% of every paycheck to taxes. Then, when tax day comes around, you’ll have a significantly larger tax return, and you’ll be able to use the money for new furniture or to start a college fund for the kids. This is a great savings technique, and since you never see the money, it requires no discipline on your part.

3. Purchase Savings Bonds