It's America Saves Week!
BOSTON (CBS) - Today starts a national campaign for Americans to save more money. And seeing that our national savings rate is 4.9% as of February 2nd we all need encouragement to save more.
It's America Saves Week!
America Saves Week is an opportunity to do just that, promote good savings habits. Also, it is Military Saves Week. We could use a Congress Saves Week, but that's probably not going to happen.
You can log on to either of the sites and take a pledge to save more. They will send you text messages with saving tips and they offer several different newsletters you can sign up for. I do think small reminders help us keep on track when trying to reach a bigger goal.
We all want to save more money but we get caught up in the day to day stuff in our lives. Doing small things differently can produce some real savings though.
Let's start with your morning routine; getting your caffeine jolt. What can you do to save money here? Get up a few minutes earlier and make your coffee or tea?
Today you can get your favorite brews, Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks at home. How about convincing your boss to have your favorite coffee at work for everyone to enjoy during the day?
How about eating breakfast at home instead of heading to the drive thru? Try the easy stuff; cereal, yogurt, fruit, English muffins, toast, hard boiled eggs, sandwiches, even last night's leftovers. How hard is it to grab a container of yogurt, a banana and a mug of tea which is what I have in the morning? Cost: a bit more than $1.
Average saving for making coffee and breakfast at home: $3 a day, that's $15 a week, now multiple that by 50 weeks it equals $750.
Use the money to increase your 401(k) contribution and if assume an 8% return in 20 years you could possibly have an extra $35,000 in your retirement nest egg. Do it for 30 years and you could have over $85,000. Continue for 40 years and you'll have $200,000!
