How to Save

Not exactly rocket science

I was never able to save money, not until a few years ago.

​The main problem was not really having a goal or a plan. Randomly saving in a bank account is not interesting enough to sustain.

So what changed? A few things.

• Learning Mainly about the possibility of financial independence, through reading Your Money or Your Life (and then blog posts like this).
• Preparing Not just emergency supplies for earthquakes, but also an emergency cash fund (two months' living expenses and counting).
• Investing Shares, then a NISA account, and recently THEO. Next year iDeCo accounts for public servants will start.
• Dreaming Being free from money worries, able to work when and where inspiration leads has become a driving force.

All of these start with action. Read a book (check out our resources page for suggestions), look at a blog, open an account, make a small deposit, make a plan, talk to your loved ones.

A tiny step, repeated, takes you miles away.

This post first ran on RetireJapan in May 2016