Plan your financial future early; then follow the plan

Many of my friends know that I am kind of a finance nerd at times. Nevertheless, I wanted to share a simple, but cool quote I heard today from Ezra Taft Benson: "Plan your financial future early; then follow the plan."

Why Should I become a saver?

Answering this question truthfully could be the key to changing your financial preparedness.  Another way to word this same question is "what difference will it make in my life if I become a saver?"

Think about the stress that comes when we are living paycheck to paycheck and an unexpected expense pops up.  How to we cope with the strain on the budget.  From talking to a number of people, I understand that many of these unexpected expenses  just get put on the credit card.  Why is that a good thing?  The interest rate on a credit card is 11%-18%.  Why throw away the money to the credit card companies.  So, Why become a saver?  Savers set aside money in an emergency fund to cover those unexpected expenses. Savers spend less than they earn.  Savers plan and prepare for a dream vacation, a new car, a wedding, a computer, etc.

What is the benefit of deferred gratification?

Deferred gratification helps us to save for expenses such that we earn interest on our money until we have sufficient money saved to pay for the planned expense.  Deferred gratification also helps us save the money that we would have spent on interest if we had borrowed money to pay for the expense.

Savers are much more prepared for a comfortable retirement.  They have more than just social security to live off of.  Savers make sacrifices now that will allow them much more freedom down the road.

You and I should be or become savers in order to have peace of mind now AND enjoy financial flexibility in the future.

The B.E.E.F of Saving

Today I'd like to share an acronym I learned in Junior High basketball camp and how it applies to Personal finance and saving.  During Basketball camp at Bennion Jr High we learned how Beef helps us shoot the basketball with greater effectiveness and consistency.  The 4 important points to shooting the basketball are:
1. Balance
2. Eyes on the target
3. Elbow straight
4. Follow-through

After consistently applying these 4 steps, I could see my shot getting better.  Effective financial planning also requires these 4 steps.  First, we must have balance in our plan.  What good does emergency savings do if we are driving ourselves in to debt in order to get there.  Saving all our money without enjoying today can also lead us to be out of balance (something my wife helps me with).  Our Savings plan should include balance across all spending categories.

Second, we need to keep our eyes on the target. What is the target?  There are many targets that we should be working towards.  Short term goals may include saving a 3 month emergency fund, saving for a vacation, or a new car.  Longer goals may include saving for a down payment on a house and of course retirement.  So, what difference does it make to keep our eyes on the target?  All the difference.  Keeping our goals in mind will help us on the path to to great achievement.  When we are switching targets all the time the motivation and drive are lost.  It's hard to get to a place that we are not thinking about.

Third, Elbow straight.  What is this about?  In darts, it is important to keep the elbow straight to help get that bulls-eye.  So it is with shooting a basketball and Savings.  If the elbow is wobbling side to side then we may miss the target by quite a bit.  This really represents our actions as we are aiming for our savings goals.  We must not waver in our action or implementation of the plan.  The biggest help for keeping the elbow straight in saving is making it automatic.

Finally, Follow-through!  Stick to your task till it sticks to you. Beginners are many, but enders are few.  We need to be part of the few that stick to our task as we work toward our savings goals.  We see what happens to those that don't completely follow through with their shot in basketball.  The crowd doesn't let them forget about the "air ball" after the ball comes up short.  This is not how we want to end up in our ultimate of savings goals.

So, remember to include B.E.E.F in your Savings!

Coming Soon

Here are some upcoming topics that I will cover on future posts:
The B.E.E.F of Saving

How do I become a saver?

Why should I become a saver?
How do I start a budget?

How do I pay off my debt?

How do I buy a house?

What do I need to know before I buy a house?

How do I make my financial goals more meaningful, achievable, fun, real?

How do I find good deals?

A dollar saved is 2 dollars earned.

Let me know if there is a topic you would like me to cover.
Happy Saving!

The purpose of Utah Saves

     The purpose of this website is to serve as an inspiration or tool for all those in Utah, America, and throughout the world who want to be better with their personal and family finances.  It is to serve as a reminder to spend less than you earn. It is a reminder to prepare financially for the future.  This future includes tomorrow through retirement.  Knowing just what we need to prepare for and how to do it can be daunting.  However, we can simply begin now to prepare financially by getting out of debt and putting aside money for emergencies.  From there comes the preparation for car maintenance or replacement, unforeseen medical expenses, college, marriage, children, etc.

     Our Family budget has been a work in process.  It took us years to come up with a plan that really works for us.  Now that the budget is in place we have been able to incrementally build the retirement savings, emergency savings, and short terms savings while also taking care of everyday expenses and planning for that next vacation. 

I welcome your feedback and comments.  Happy Savings!