The first time I ever set a money resolution was few years ago, after finding myself in some deep financial trouble – just lost my job and was also in debt. As you can imagine, it was the best moment for me to start thinking more about my future and how to make it work as a small business owner.
My husband has always made fun of me, with my lists and plans. He’s never bothered with this and all the personal finance theory I keep on reading and applying. He’s done well all his life, since his college degree and hard work allowed him to earn well. He’s also an experienced numismatist, so he’s made a side income from buying/selling coins.
Few days ago, as the new year just started, he had his first client and the first income for 2015. As soon as he got back home he put some money into our daughter’s ‘jar’ and told me: “I’m gonna deposit 25% of what I earn into her account“.
Now that’s a cool money resolution, his first ever.
We do have our own savings plans and we try to be responsible with our money, but he’s never ever had such a clear goal as now. It’s also good that he’s gonna deposit the money ‘before tax‘ into her account, since this will help us save even more for her future. We believe it’s important to save money for the kid’s future, so we’re doing this since the day she was born.
Without knowing, he’s been applying one of the most important ‘rules’ in the personal finance world: ‘pay yourself first‘.
His mother has successfully saved money for years by first depositing the money into her savings account and the dealing with her bills and other life related costs. She has a small pension and yet her savings put to shame those of some bigger income people in our country. She’s been saving relentlessly for years, not allowing for anything to come between her and the money goals she’s setting for herself.
Her strategy works well most of the time, even if there are instances when she’s having no more money left for the remainder of the month. Instead of taking some money off her savings, she’s just gonna eat what’s left in the pantry / fridge until she gets more pension money.
I personally find this a bit risky (even if you can always just save less and deal with what life’s dealing to you), but it has worked wonders for her.
Right now her son is applying something similar for his daughter: setting a quarter of his earnings for her and then paying bills, buying groceries and paying taxes.
His new money resolution has inspired me so much, that I’m gonna add it to my own list and help him save more money for our daughter.
Knowing how stubborn he is, I’m sure this won’t be something we ‘forget’ to do in 2-3 month’s time.
Anyway .. I’ll keep you posted.
Has any of your spouses come up with a new money resolution that just blew you away? Care to share?
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