When it comes to writing articles about Finance what springs to your mind?
Perhaps you thought of a couple of things, but I bet saving was not one of them!
Today is Saturday and so nowadays savings spring to my mind, however saving was never something on my mind when I was younger.
So I think that is why on a predominantly finance site such as LeoFinance and indeed the excellent Leo Glossary you are hard-pressed to find much in the way of savings information, as it is not sexy enough.
Indeed I only found LeoGlossary: Savings Account
A deposit account held with a financial institution such as a bank which pays interest but does not allow for direct withdrawal through checks.
The interest paid on the money is at a rate higher than that of checking account but lower than that of treasury bills.
So what then do we mean by Saving?
Saving in a financial sense is the act of setting aside money for future use. It is an essential part of personal finance and it can help you achieve a variety of financial goals.
Why should we Save?
I am sure you have heard many sayings about building a nest egg for your future or putting things away for a rainy day?
But there could be a whole host of reasons why we want to save.
Some of these reasons might include:
- Getting rid of your debts or loans
- Building an emergency fund
- Saving for a deposit or a down payment on a house
- Saving for a lambo or a canal boat in my case
- Saving for retirement (I am a Silver Blogger after all!)
- Saving for a child's education
- Saving for a holiday (especially when Mrs T sees my HBD savings!)
Tengo tips for saving money
Set a savings goal
One of the biggest things that makes a difference to saving successfully is having a savings goal
This is what @eddie-earner @shanibeer and @sally-saver say here
What do you want to save for? Once you know your goal, it will be easier to stay motivated. LFG Savers!
Make a budget Track your income and expenses so you can see where your money is going. Even when you are flush with cast, this will help you identify areas where you can cut back. Now of course the cost of living is fluffing ridiculous.
Shop for bargains Are you the family cook like me? If so then when yougo shopping, you can look for bargains. I try to buy food ingredients every other day. I don't shop when I am hungry and I generally look to see what is on offer and then plan my menu.
The picture above has 2 Aberdeen Angus beefburgers, that were damn tasty I can tell you. Do you see the price...
£1.28 due to being a 60% discount from £3.19. That is what I call a fluffing bargain. In the same shop I got a whole chicken with a 60% discount for two fluffing pounds!
Saving by being canny is a great thing and meant I added some raspberries that I got free with the savings on the meat.
As my mother-in-law would say Valueeee!
Automate your savings Set up a direct deposit from your pay into your savings account. This will help you save money without even thinking about it.
Pay by direct debit where possible and shop around for online savings, don't forget to cancel subscriptions that have a fluffing sneaky way of appearing on Paypal or your bank monthly payment list!
Don't touch your savings. Once you've gone through the trouble of saving money, DON'T FLUFFING TOUCH IT!
Resist the temptation to spend it. Only use your savings for unexpected expenses or for your long-term goals.
Saving money can be a challenge, but it is worth it in the long run.
For me the hardest part about Saving... yes it was starting!
Don't delay ... start to save today!
Where to put what you Save?
You got bitten by the bug and are on a roll... so what to do with this cash or crypto that you are saving.
You could do worse than thinking about...
- Opening a savings account
- Investing in a certificate of deposit (CD)
- Keeping money under your mattress like your granny
- Investing in a money market fund
- Investing in bonds or stocks
- Invest in gold or silver
- The list goes on and on
The best way to save money will depend on your individual circumstances and goals.
However, the most important thing is to start saving now.
Even if you can only save a small amount each month, it will add up over time.
Saving on Hive & Saturday Savers Club
Last year I was lucky enough to run across Saturday Savers club here on Hive. Often in life we make our own luck, so by connecting with people and going and exploring I ended up saving some serious amounts of HBD and Hive.
I quote the maestro @eddie-earner
Saturday Savers Club is for anyone who wants to save in any currency for any purpose. The Club is a supportive group of people who meet up around the weekly post, usually on a Saturday but occasionally on a Sunday, to share tips and techniques and have some fun in the process.
I actually love writing my Saturday Savers Post (usually) on a Saturday.
When I joined last year I had two goals, one for HP and one for LP, and missed the point of saving.
But they use the 365 Penny a day challenge...which...
starts nice and easy, so slow you don't even notice, just day 1, put aside one penny, day 2 put aside two pennies, until day 365 when you save 365p and you end up with 66,795 pennies or 667.95 USD or GBP (or HIVE or HBD).
You might think that saving a penny (or any other fiat currencya day does not add up, but you are adding a penny to the amount each day, and at the end of the year you would have 667 HBD ...
Let that sink in for a moment ....
Six hundred and sixty-seven Hive Backed Dollars ...
However with the current 20% APR you would end up with more as your savings accrues monthly interest.
I mention I found out about the penny a day savings challenge last year.
The Proof
Today is May 20th 2023 and on the first of December I started saving a penny of Hive and a penny of HBD... Then on the first of January I added another saving stream of a penny of Hive and a penny of HBD ..
Can you guess how much my penny a day saving challenge is sitting at in my Hive Savings?
Let's take a peek ...
Almost 250 Dollars already!
You can see the power of interest with the difference between the HBD and Hive figures.
Two hundred and fifty fluffing dollars and I didn't even notice it!
It just shows you that we fritter away our money without realising it:(
Saving requires discipline, but when you are part of a free club where the members encourage you, then it becomes fun, and when something is FUN you do it more and saving becomes fun more and you save more and ... and ... round it goes!
So my weekly report is a time of joy, it is not only Hive and HBD that I save.
Let's look at what else I save in my latest week 20 report.
There we see the Hive Power and Leo Power goals that I mentioned. The HP is for my main account and the LP for my alt.leo account!
If you look at Secondary Goals you will see the tokens that I am saving. Last year I included goals for all those tipping tokens, PIZZA LOL LUV etc but it is too much hassle tracking them as their value is so low and my focus is not on them anymore.
My layer 2 tokens and why I save them
Note each token is clickable and will take you to the Tribaldex trading page.
ALIVE Token Name I Am Alive & Issuer @aliveandsocial
Unstaking cooldown: 7 days (1 Transactions) Undelegation cooldown: 5 days
The first tribe I encountered and @flaxz is so friendly and honest, there are loads of benefits to saving your ALIVE!ARCHON Token Name Archon & Issuer @upfundme
Unstaking cooldown: 33 days (11 Transactions) Delegation No
We get this everytime we comment or post in Archon supported communities.DHEDGE Token Name Disco Hedge & Issuer @taskmanager
Staking No Delegation No
Possibly my favourite Income token, we get daily drips of other tokens including HBD and they upvote you too!SPI Token Name SPinvest Token & Issuer @spinvest
Staking No Delegation No
So Saturday Savers are part of the SPInvest group on Hive, thought it prudent to hold their main coin, however DYOR!BRO Token Name Brocoin & Issuer @raymondspeaks
Staking No Delegation No
Part of the whole ManCave community and now going guns on the CINE TV stuff, get dividends and upvotes from saving BRO.LGN Token Name Legion & Issuer @wearelegion
Unstaking cooldown: 14 days (2 Transactions) Delegation No
Important if you are holding LGN you must STAKE THEM TO GET THE BENEFITSHIQS Token Name HiQ Shares & Issuer @hiq.shares
Unstaking cooldown: 32 days (4 Transactions) Delegation No
Well this is the token for the @hiq.magazine that I proofread for and write articles for, actually it is how I learn about all the pools on Hive! Great to have some inside scoop on what is going on!SIM Token Name dCITY TOKEN & Issuer @dcitygame
Staking No Delegation No
I started a city on dCity and this is their In game token.INK Token Name Ink & Issuer @craftink
Unstaking cooldown: 28 days (4 Transactions) Delegation No
The In game token for THE HIVE GAME OF 2023! From the core team of HiQ so of course a no brainer for me to save these!
So those are my important tokens that I am saving on Hive.
You can see by the screenshot that I do track this on a spreadsheet.
I do urge YOU ALL TO SAVE!
The benefits of joining Saturday Savers Club cannot be underestimated.
I want to thank my merry wee band of ladies that help to egg each other of us in our Discord group @coquicoin-leo @deraaa @lhes @pinkchic @jane1289 @samsmith1971 @ifarmgirl-leo and @fantagira
For more information ... The SSC Intro post for 2023. Saturday Savers Club with @sally-saver | 2023 Launch and FAQs | Everyone Welcome | EDS for Comments
Disclaimer
This is NOT and in no way is it meant to be investment advice. As always please do your own fluffing research before investing.
There you go that's also my week 20 savings and progress report.
To get involved do check out @eddie-earner or @sally-saver for details about the Saturday Savers Club and activities for this week, you could even win something! I just want to say a big thank you to @shanibeer for running all of this.
Lastly, I want to say an even bigger thank you to my SuperSavings partner @coquicoin-leo Super Eli who really is amazing and a wonderful inspiration who helps me out all over the place 🔷💙🔷 as does our savings child @deraaa so thank you too 🔷💙🔷.
Many thanks to @raj808 for the banner design 🙂
Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day!
All images and ramblings are from me, the mad Scotsman TengoLoTodo unless identified in the post text.
@tengolotodo.leo for (@tengolotodo) May 14th 2023