Saving money is crucial to a solid financial foundation
When consumers are trying to build a strong financial situation for themselves and their families, they're typically trying to free up some money every month so that they can devote to other aspects of their lives. However, there's a general consensus among financial experts that what they might also want to try doing is putting a little money away into savings on a regular basis.
This might not sound like it's an easy thing to do, but in point of fact there are some relatively simple steps that can be taken, according to a report from the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette. For instance, even the smallest steps can go a long way: If a person puts one penny in a jar, and two pennies the next day, and three after that, and so on for an entire year, they will save nearly $700 over the course of a year, and the cost will never be more than the relatively small sum of $3.65 per day.
Experts also suggest consumers try to find a way to spend as little as they possibly can over the course of a week, the report said. While it's obviously impossible to avoid buying food or paying bills, people may find that if they're not spending on things like entertainment, clothes they don't really need, and so on, they're probably going to save a lot in a relatively short period of time, and that money can be put into savings as well.
Why make the effort?
While the prospect of saving a few hundred dollars over the course of the year might not sound glamorous or all that helpful, the fact is that many Americans could use those kinds of funds to make some serious improvements to their finances. For instance, they could use it to more regularly pay down their credit card debt, or to simply teach them some good financial management skills they can apply to handling other accounts. Saving money and not spending it can also go a long way toward not adding to existing debt totals that can often cause big financial problems of their own.
When consumers struggle with their credit situations, they might want to consider the benefits of seeking out alternative credit scores- such as those from PRBC - to better assess their situations. These ratings take into account more than just how they've handled their credit, including how regularly they pay their cell phone or utilities bills, to create a more complete picture.