Do You Have A Money Plan?

[Becky92]

Like have you of you set aside money for important stuff? Ways to make money incase you lose your job? Or just to make extra money on the side? Or emergency money, stuff like that?

I'm 20 and I'm thinking I need to go ahead and start ya know making myself a Money Plan. I want to open a Chase Bank Account for just saving up, ya know and I also want to somehow get a car but I'm in college and it's very difficult with all the costs I have to pay. How did you guys start your money plan?

[chrisburke21]

I have taken several steps to start a money plan. I would begin by setting aside 15% of your income into an account you will not touch. I like to use ING direct because I can have this money automatically deducted out of my account on pay day. Then set up an account to purchase a car if that is your goal. I have found the automation piece to make it easier for me. I have outlined this and some other tips on my blog.

Chris
FifteenYearPlan - Personal Finance Blog

[GrimJack]

We are going to Argentina this September so I started to have $150 per pay period deposited to a credit union account that pays 6% interest on amounts up to $500 in both savings and checking. It comes directly out of my paycheck so I never see it. I buy things i will need and expect to have well over $1,000 to spend. The trip has been paid for and now I am putting together the money for the house we are renting.

[bjl584]

I save and invest 30% of my income and have done so for years. That's my plan.

[LMA]

Like have you of you set aside money for important stuff? Ways to make money incase you lose your job? Or just to make extra money on the side? Or emergency money, stuff like that?

I'm 20 and I'm thinking I need to go ahead and start ya know making myself a Money Plan. I want to open a Chase Bank Account for just saving up, ya know and I also want to somehow get a car but I'm in college and it's very difficult with all the costs I have to pay. How did you guys start your money plan?

Yes you should have a plan. Probably what you are referring to is a budget, just basically putting together a monthly plan of your expenses vs. your income and you give every dollar a place to go.

First of all you want to make sure that you are not spending more than you are making. Then you want to make sure that you cover all the expenses that you know you are going to have and once you do that then you will know for sure if you will have money for fun or not. By doing this you avoid using debt to fuel your expenses. There are a lot of people out there spending more than they make every month and slowly digging themselves into a hole (debt) without even knowing it. Then one day they owe thousands in credit card debt and can't even remember how they got there.

Every month or week just put at least 10% if not more aside in a savings account to start building money for your cash purchase or also for what it's commonly called an emergency fund.

I hope it's ok to suggest this here but I think this information will help you out. Read this article on putting together a financial plan and putting together a budget.

There is a lot of information there but there are also a lot of good resources on getting started with your money management. THis forum is a good start.

[Like2Plan]

Like have you of you set aside money for important stuff? Ways to make money incase you lose your job? Or just to make extra money on the side? Or emergency money, stuff like that?

I'm 20 and I'm thinking I need to go ahead and start ya know making myself a Money Plan. I want to open a Chase Bank Account for just saving up, ya know and I also want to somehow get a car but I'm in college and it's very difficult with all the costs I have to pay. How did you guys start your money plan?

Becky,
You are on the right track. The first step is to figure out what your goals are (short term, medium term and long term) and then make a plan, call it your road map on how to achieve your goals. I used to write down my financial goals and then review and update every year. This did a couple of things. First of all, it really made me feel good to see I was making progress. Second of all, it gave me something to focus on.

College is a tough time to get traction on your long term goals since you are most likely spending more on achieving your goal of education. You could look at it as part of your short term goals--graduating college with little or no debt.