I once did a savings plan where I put aside a certain amount each week. I started at the beginning of the year and put in $1, which was pretty easy. Next week it increased to $2 and kept increasing by a dollar each time. Since it ramped up slowly, it didn’t seem so painful. It was a good thing that I had set aside money since at the end of the year, I happened to need some dental crowns. I likely would not have been able to get the work done if I had not prudently set aside savings.
It is also a smart idea to save for future landscaping needs that you will have in the spring and summer. If you wait until it’s time to get the work done, you may have an emergency come up or otherwise find that you do not have enough money.
Start by estimating how much you will need, especially if you are planning on doing some renovations. You can call us now to get a tenative cost for our services. Add on a little extra (10% is a good minimum) just in case you find that it ends up a bit more than you expected. Divide that number by either 12 (months) or 52 (weeks) to see the amount that you would need for your goal. Some online banking accounts allow you to add a nickname, so you can specify somehow that it is for a beautiful garden to help keep you motivated.
One trick that I like to use is to have it autodraft from my checking to my savings. You have to be careful that you do not accidentally overdraft the account, of course, but with this method, I don’t have to think about putting the money in there.
What helps you save up money? Do you have any tips or tricks?
Image by Ken Wilcox under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License
