Savings will save you

“Savings slowly build wealth while investing multiplies what you have.”

If we are to build a house, we need to have the proper foundation; similarly, we need to have a good financial foundation.

Nearly all financial people agree that Investing is not the first priority in personal finance but rather getting your cash inflow and outflows in order, setting up that emergency fund, managing debt, getting protection and insurance before starting to invest.

You can only fully focus on investing once you have the necessary safety nets for yourself for investing is a risky activity.

Discipline, patience and the proper mindset is important; this is why I started the book with self-awareness; understand that this is not a sprint but rather a marathon which at least can take you to a 20-30 years journey or perhaps more!

Developing these skills is necessary for you to be successful in your lazy investing journey.

You don’t have to be an expert at it, you just have to have a solid grasp of the basics; from there you begin to build habits around it. When something becomes a habit, it becomes easy to do.

As a child, we were taught to save for a rainy day. Those days were easy since we probably wanted a few things, but as we get older, it gets harder since we get more pressures from peers, parents, society to want more, to look a certain way, to have something that we don’t necessarily need.

You can’t magically create an emergency fund if you don’t save. This fund will literally save you.

Same goes for investing, to start you need to use money that you’ve set aside.

I have received a lot of questions from my friends or clients that says “I want to invest, but I don’t have money” or “the money I have isn’t enough.”

Let’s get real here, if you don’t have any income source or if you think your income is too low, then you better start cutting down on your expenses or pay that debt as soon as possible!

“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

It’s easy to say save, but when the opportunity to save arrives – we will most likely spend. One way to change your view of saving is by changing one’s description of it. Think of it this way, you pay the price (of delayed gratification through saving) today so that you can pay any price tomorrow!

Here are some practical ways to save money:

• To mitigate lifestyle inflation (increasing your spending when your income goes up), save your raise. It’s practical, you were capable enough to live within your old paycheck.

• Delete all the shopping apps in your smartphone as well as unsubscribing to newsletters that can tempt you.

• Hold on to unexpected cash or windfalls. This is where your monetary gifts, bonuses should be saved.

• Get rid of unused stuff. Liquidate or sell it and reduce the clutter at home while also gaining more disposable or investible cash.

• Also, do consider unfollowing celebrities or influencers who can influence you to buy unnecessary stuff.

Start your saving practice with the smallest amount. The key to succeeding is not the amount, but the consistency of action. You will absolutely be better off putting money aside than if you don’t.

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The writer wears many hats: RFP®–Registered Financial Planner | Licensed Real Estate Broker | Content Creator- www.vernongo.com.