Save-a-lot: Are You A Good Saver?

You don’t hear the term “good saver” much as it relates to saving money, but the phrase hardly is difficult to understand when you think about finances. Saving money eludes the majority of men and women, husband and wives, families, partners and people alike. The bad habits that permeate through the masses make it easy to understand why the average amount of debt is around $20,000, and very few people have what you would call an emergency fund or savings account. Those who do, the ones that don’t fall into that negative group, tend to be labeled as a lot of things: smart, savvy, financially responsible. And, of course, good savers. A good saver is someone who knows money only goes so far, and that your income is the driver, not your expenses. By that, you have to let what you make dictate how much you spend, not the other way around. You can’t view what you spend money on as taking precedent over you income. A good saver prioritizes, and knows that a retirement fund, savings account are the most important elements of financial security and freedom, not taking what you do make and spending it all on things such as vacations, cars, clothing, cable or other amenities that, while in some vein can be necessary, don’t have to be viewed and executed in a way that you are overspending for the sake of being able to save money. Let’s call it a battle of wants versus needs. You need a roof over your head, a car to get to and from work and a cell phone to make and receive calls, but does that roof need to be at the very top end of what you were approved for when you were buying a house? Does that car need to be $30,000 when you have a five minute commute to work and all you really need is something reliable and fairly new (used)? Does that cell phone need to have unlimited data and are you really in need of the latest and greatest smart phone, when all you do is text a bit and make random calls? Can’t the internet surfing and browsing wait till you get home? Whatever the case might be, good savers put a price tag on peace of mind, knowing that if something of the emergency ilk occurs you’ll be just find because you have money set aside and have done so knowingly and with great specificity toward money management.