When you’re in your twenties, you tend to take your youth for granted. There’s a whole decade to get your life together, find new ways to make money, and start saving. But when thirty approaches, a sort of panic sets in.
Age is just a number, but thirty is a very scary number for most of us. It seems to signify proper adulthood, more so than even marriage, child-rearing, or full-time work.
And while it doesn’t deserve all the melodrama we associate with it, it can be a wake-up call to start preparing for the future. Saving money is crucial to financial stability.
Websites like moneyunder30 are dedicated to helping twenty-somethings get financially savvy, including how to make the most of credit and credit cards. It’s important to appreciate the value of good financial practices as early as possible.
As such, here are 3 ways for young people to save money in 2018.
- Learn to appreciate the time value of money
Credit is a term fraught with associations. We all grew up with parents (or other close relatives) who made bad decisions that led to bad credit. It followed them like a shadow, never letting them get financially stable again.
But that does not mean credit in itself is bad. The time value of money is something we need to learn to appreciate when we’re young. The more money you have now, the better, so paying something off (like student loans) rather than paying it all at once is worthwhile.
So too, using a credit card which you responsibly pay every month can be a good financial decision. That’s not to say it’s always a good idea. However, learning the financial principles behind it will put you in good standing to make the best decision possible.
- Invest
Investing is yet another term fraught with associations. For some, it signifies the potential to make millions without doing any work. For others, it is reminiscent of financial catastrophes that crippled those around us.
But investing does not need to be as risky as some think it is. Nor should it be seen as a panacea to financial instability. You can make some very sound investments that don’t involve much risk, and you will grow your money, even if it’s at a slow rate.
In other words, don’t rush to put all your money in bitcoin – that’s foolhardy at the very least. But don’t let it sit in an account earning minimal interest either. Find an investment with a relatively low level of risk, and make sure you do your due diligence before committing to it.
- Budget
One of the most surefire ways to save money is actually very simple. Budgeting is the easiest way to regulate how much you spend and explore just how much you are able to save. The only problem is that it’s tedious and requires discipline to maintain month after month.
The good news is that there are now many excellent budgeting apps that do the hard work for you. They link to your accounts and categorise your transactions for you. Whatever they get wrong, you can correct and it will learn for future transactions. It saves you hours, and can be incredibly accurate. Good budgeting apps also pinpoint where you could be saving, and even how you could invest that money.
Budgeting no longer needs to inspire the tedium it once did. Get started as soon as possible and you’ll start saving immediately.