Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

MONEY 2000 AND BEYOND

Published Wednesday, April 21, 1999 in the Nevada County Picayune

With bankruptcies at an all time high, it is clear that some families are not able to get into the savings habit. Starting a savings program requires some mental gymnastics.

First, you need to find a reason to save. Financial experts call this setting goals. It is easier to pay money to a savings fund, if you know why you are putting off spending those dollars today.

Second, you will want to know how much you need to save to reach your goals. While there are financial calculators you can buy or use on the World Wide Web in cyberspace, you can also use a sinking fund factor (SFF) table and do the math with either a simple calculator or the old- fashioned pencil and paper method.

Your county Extension office has a fact sheet, Financial Fitness Series: Build Your Savings (FSHEC43), that has an SFF table.

This easy-to-use table will help you determine how much you need to save monthly to reach a financial goal when savings earn various interest rates.

For example, if you want to have $3,000 for a special trip in three years and can earn five percent on your savings, you can reach your goal by depositing $80 each month into your savings fund.

But before you get too discouraged that you can't possibly find a way to save, here are some suggestions on how to painlessly save money.

You can collect loose change each week and put it in a jar or piggy bank and when full, deposit it in a savings account.
You can sweep some money from each paycheck into a savings account. This way you will never get used to spending those funds.
You can discipline yourself to deposit cash savings from coupon purchases, refunds or brown bagging lunches into a savings account.

For more help on money management, become part of Money 2000 and Beyond.

Money 2000 is a program designed to help you increase your financial stability through increased savings and reduced household debt. It is a self-help educational program that comes direct to you.

To encourage and move you into control of your financial world, join today. Call 887- 2818.

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