Frugal Times: Why and How to Save More.

You’ve probably heard this a hundred times over the past year: Spend less and save more money. Obviously, that’s great advice. But just how do you do it? M.P. Dunleavey’s brief article in the January 9, 2009 edition of The New York Times, Making Frugality a Habit, answers that not-so-simple question, first, though, giving some useful context.

Actually saving some money — let alone the thousands you might need to weather a crisis — results from a chain of habits and choices that does not, for many people, come naturally.

Among the families surveyed for the study, 75 percent “couldn’t survive for three months, if they had to do it on savings alone.”

My husband and I could easily be one of those families. Every time our emergency fund hits the one-month mark some crisis strolls along and gobbles up our funds. Then we start over. Now, I am determined to save the $15,000 that would cover our family’s most basic needs for at least three months.

A few tricks that might help. Start by finding a specific chunk you can save — perhaps cutting back cable, quitting smoking, renting out the garage or limiting spending on restaurant meals.
THEN do an end-run around your own inertia and use automatic transfers to deposit a set amount — $100, $200 or $300 — every month into an account not linked to your checking and definitely not accessible by PIN or with any piece of plastic. The first time I tried this, I saved $3,000 so fast it made my wallet spin.

So take care of yourself in this rocky economy. Fear can be a powerful motivator, but so is the lure of knowing that you have created some peace of mind.

25 Ways I Save Money, an older blog post at Cash Money Life, lists 25 very specific (and quite useful) ideas on how to cut expenses – some so basic, you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it first!

Conclusion

We all know that having an emergency fund makes sense. Creating that emergency fund is another matter entirely. What doesn’t make sense, though, is to set yourself up to fail from the onset. What I mean by that is you should set an obtainable, realistic, end goal and make regular, realistic, contributions to get there. Hopefully, these articles will be enough to get you motivated.