START SAVING NOW: HERE’S HOW!

You might wonder how to begin saving if your income is already over-committed. Efficiency and discipline are the answers.

• You need to first find out where your income is going. Maintain a diary for the month, noting down everything you spend on, to the last paisa. You will be surprised at the amount of random purchases you make – from coffee breaks to grocery bills. These are the best places to start trimming.

• Then, make a budget. This isn’t as difficult as you think. All a budget does is create a plan for spending, by stating expenses and goals. Make sure to cover fixed and regular expenses such as mortgage or rent, utility payments, and car or loan/credit card payments. Then set limits on necessities like groceries and clothing, as well as nice-to-haves like entertainment and travel. It’s also important at this stage to factor in a savings amount.
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• Now, your first priority is an emergency fund, if you don’t already have one in place. And the easiest way to do this is to have the amount deducted from your salary every month and put into a Fixed or Recurring Deposit. Give yourself a pat on the back if you find yourself adding that little extra to your fund because you managed to save a little more this month. You might find it easier to stay within budget if you use cash or debit cards for the necessities and frills.

• As your emergency fund accumulates, your next task is to find more money for savings and even investment. Begin by paying off your credit cards. If you spend a little time examining your monthly statements, you will be amazed to see how much money you’re losing just by way of interest!

SAVING Vs. INVESTING

At this point, we need to address the differences between saving and investing.

Savings provide for emergencies and fund specific purchases in the near future (within two years). The primary goal is to store funds and keep them safe. However, you invest to increase net worth and work toward long-term goals. Also realise that investing involves risk, where you could lose some of your original investment. Only consider an investment plan when you have in place an emergency fund, insurance, control over credit use, and a retirement plan.

IN THE LONG RUN

Now, consider making a long-range savings and investment plan. When beginning to plan for investments, consider your goals, the amount of time you will be able to spend on nurturing these investments, how much you know about the funds, how much money you have to invest, whether you can tolerate risk, and handle loss. Remember that your ultimate goal is a financially secure future for you and your family.

If you look back over all that we’ve discussed so far, you will realize that we’ve told you how to begin saving money, in small, manageable chunks. The final objective might be to set aside enough for you to retire so that you don’t have to work another day, but your immediate goal is to start the process and become habituated, so that saving becomes a way of life, and a chance to improve how you live.

By reading this on paper it seems easy to start it but the fact is it's not easy. But friends its not impossible....also it is necessary in this world of today where difficulties (specially financial) are on the every next step.So start saving for your great future.....

Happy Savings!!!!

Secret - Important to discuss with kids...

As parents we have so much to worry about in regards to our children. We want to protect them from all of lifes dangers, yet we want to accomplish this without putting unnecessary fear into their lives.

When my children were small, we began talking about secrets. What is a good secret and what is a bad secret? This seemed to be a concept my children could understand, while accomplishing my goal of not scaring them.

Good secrets are things that you get to tell mommy or daddy. Such as we bought daddy a birthday gift. Today it's a secret but tomorrow we get to tell daddy. Another good secret is when the principal at school tells you there will be a party for your teacher but today it's a secret. Tomorrow however we get to tell the teacher. 





As your children get a bit older, a good secret might even be your friend telling you she likes a boy. While your child may be asked not to tell the boy, your child could certainly tell you this secret.

So what is a bad secret? A bad secret is a secret that your child is asked to NEVER tell. A bad secret might be another child admitting they did something wrong and asking your child not to tell. It might also be an adult acting inappropriately with your child and telling the child to keep this a secret and not tell mommy.

 
 

My kids asked of course, "who will tell us bad secrets?". I began to tell them that bad people tell bad secrets, and quickly realized this is not true at all. Instead I chose to tell them that a bad secret can come from both a child and an adult who is doing something wrong. To this day I still believe that only someone doing something wrong will ask a child to keep a secret from mommy or daddy.




My kids and I spent many hours talking about secrets and that mommy and/or daddy must always be told secrets. I also assured them that they would NEVER get in trouble for telling mommy or daddy a secret. I can remember a few times, my kids slipping and telling a good secret when they weren't supposed to, but I kept my word and they never got in trouble. You see, I have often heard that someone acting inappropriately will say "if you tell your mommy, you will get in trouble". I never wanted my child to have a visual image of getting in trouble for telling mommy a secret.