Saving money for a rainy day is something a lot of people don’t do these days.  Starting your rainy day fund now by labeling a money jar and making sure you add money to it every week is a smart thing to do. You can put this money in a high interest savings account or you can stash it at home in a safe place but the sooner you do save some money, the better!

How nice would it be if next time something urgent comes up you (for a switch) don’t have to scramble to come up with the money?

It’s also smart to come up with a goal jar as well to save for special things but we’ll save that discussion for another day. The point is, having to run to payday loan places,to use your credit card for an unforeseen expense, or to have to borrow from family or let another bill slide isn’t conducive to a healthy financial situation. The sooner you have an emergency fund, the better!

Ways to Save for Emergencies:

• Every time you use a coupon, take the money you’ve saved and drop it into your change jar
• Work hard to pay off a debt and after it’s paid take half that monthly payment and use it to top up payments for other debts and put the other half in your savings / rainy day fund
• Every time you save money on a staple item, put the money into your emergency fund jar
• Have your bank take $20 a pay check (or more if you can afford it) and put it into a savings account. After a few pay days you won’t notice that money missing.
• If you get a pay raise, don’t spend it. Take that extra money and put it in your rainy day fund
• Any ‘found’ or ‘gift’ money goes into that jar
• Half your overtime money goes into that jar
• Half your tip money (if applicable) gets saved
• Make an effort to earn some extra income and put half of it in savings /rainy day fund

Once you start making an effort to build a fund and challenge yourself  to do it by trying to curb expenses, you’ll find that it’s not restrictive, it’s instead liberating. Challenge yourself to find creative ways to save money and you’ll also be securing your own financial future!