Start “small”, Save “BIG”
At a time when inflation is above
the comfort level and economy growth is finding new lows, you should only take
a smart decision to spend money judiciously.
First of all don’t postpone
making investments only because of you don’t have enough money to start with.
Just do it. Start with the smallest possible investment right away and make
sure that you continue the same periodically without fail. Best possible option
could be going for Systematic Investment Plan. Pick up a SIP according to your
risk profile and start investing in smaller amounts, even if it is Rs.500 a
month. The sooner you start, the greater the benefits you get with the power of
compounding.
Postpone spending, Not saving
General tendency of humans is to
postpone things that r not urgent, but what if they are important? Simplest way
to tackle it is planning the budget for the month. How about starting with
investment as a first expense in your budget? Sounds complicated? But it is
very simple to plan it. Take out some money and put it in a systematic
investment option. Let that b e a very small portion of the total income of the
previous month initially. As time moves, this routine may help you to think
over other possible investment options with the already accumulated fund. By
doing this simple thing you can actually increase the possibility of having a
better future few years down the line.
Avoid excessive spending
This is very tempting. To avoid
things that we can do now but which are not of a necessity at all today is very
difficult for almost everyone. To overcome this you should plan the monthly
budget. It may take 10 minutes of your time. However it will help a lot in
taking need based decisions. After taking out the targeted saving amount for
the month, spend the remaining amount according to the budget plan. Never fund
an expense with the savings. Also you can try to reduce one expense per month.
Though it may save you just Rs. 20-30 extra each day, it will add up to 600-900
at the end of the month which in turn will improve your monthly savings.
Continuously monitor and assess your
savings
Make sure that your savings are
always at optimal levels. If you find any change in the financial situation,
revise the budget. But always give a top priority to savings/investments while
redesigning the budget. It can help you to counter unnecessary debts during
emergency as well.
