Studies reveal almost 40% of people worry about money, if this is what’s keeping you up all night, then here are some money tips that can ease your money worries and can help you inch your way to sleep.
Savings Tricks
Most people think they have to be money giants in order to secure savings, this is a definite misconception. The formula for a successful savings is built on staying focused, saving more and spending less. You don’t have to take big leaps, in fact, small simple steps could go a long way, here’s how:
- Don’t wait until you make more money, start now and start small. Once you earn more money, there is a bigger tendency you would be spending more. Start no matter how small the paycheck is, even $100 will add up as time goes by.
- Keep your goals and budget simple, the key is to focus on your main objective: to save, this would keep you in track.
- Write your goals and keep them realistic
- Have your bank or your boss take off some of your salary for retirement or other goals, this way you’ll never miss.
- Got spare change? Toss them to a glass jar or to a piggy bank, watch it grow and you would even have enough to buy a holiday gift or something for your vacation
Invest on Emergency Funds
You’ll never know when hard times would strike, we have learned that from the economic downturn that happened in 2008, which produced unemployment and loads of cash problems. Most people learned the value of stacking for the rainy days the hard way, don’t let this happen to you by building an emergency fund. Stack on emergency funds and save money that could sustain you for six months or even up to a year in case you get laid off. You’ll never know when financial difficulties would strike and the only way to deal with this is preparation.
Learn to Use Flexible Spending Accounts to Prevent Taxes on Important Expenses
Let the government help you pay for some of the essential expenses, especially if they have policies that cover one:
- Health Care Spending Accounts,- these accounts lets you assign the amount that should be deducted from you check each payday. For this account the maximum amount you can contribute is at $2.500 (as of 2013), the contributions avoid federal, state and local income tax, it also prevents Social Security and Medicare taxes.
- Dependent Care Accounts- in this type of account, you are allowed to set aside a maximum of $5,000 per year as a pretax to cover the expenses of child care (children below 13 years of age) and/or day care for a disabled family member or dependent. Full time students, employees or those still looking for a job are qualified for this account. Just remember, if the all of the money was not used by the end of the plan year, what’s remaining in the account would be lost. Same goes with Health Care Spending Accounts.