Concept of the Month: What’s the Plan?

What kinds of things are coming up for which you will need money?  Holiday gifts? School clothes?  Vacation? College?  You can probably think of quite a few.  How are you going to get that money?

You need a plan!

Try using a spending plan to help you figure out how much money you have coming in and how much money you are spending.  Creating a spending plan or budget can help you reach your savings goals.  And it takes just six, easy steps!

1. First, you need to understand your current money habits. For one month, track how much you earn and how much you spend each month.
2. Set a savings goal. What are you saving for in the short time, long term or in between?
3. Compare how much you currently save each month with the monthly savings goal that you determined in step 2.
4. If you currently are not saving enough to meet your goal, you need to make adjustments to your income and spending habits.  For example, think of some extra ways to earn money (walk your neighbor’s dog?) or some ways that you can spend less (bring your lunch instead of buying it?).
5. Sometimes maintaining your goal will cost you money.  So, you need to figure out how you will budget your money once you have achieved your goal.
6. Finally, if you find that you cannot save enough to purchase or maintain your goal, you may need to adjust that goal and go through these steps again.

Ready to get started?  After you know how much you spend and earn every month, use this worksheet to help you set short-term and long-term savings goals.