my two cents: day 8 blogging challenge

    I'm excited to participate in the Blog Every Day in May challenge put together by Jenni of Story of My Life.  (Yeah, I know I'm a week late to the party, but there was a little something called a 20-page final project that I was furiously working on last week.)

Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

•      Don't just talk about how much money you're saving, but quantify it and make sure to pay yourself. For instance, a lot of people talk about how much money they save by packing lunch. That always makes me wonder: are they putting the money away so they know they're really saving it? How do they know that the $5 they saved from packing lunch on Tuesday wasn't blown on a grande soy chai and so-so scone at Starbuck's on Wednesday? 

                This is where automatic deposit can make life easier. When I was working full time, buying lunch at school would cost me about $5. I'd strive to pack lunch 3 times a week, so I estimated that I was saving $15 a week. I set up my bank account so that a day or two after I got paid, I would have the last two weeks' or month's saved lunch money automatically moved into my savings account. (I know making home lunch isn't really free, but unless you're eating filet mignon for lunch, you are probably not spending $5 per day).

•        I know I already said this, but it bears repeating: automatic deposit is your friend. I've been working part-time at best for the last two years, but I resolved to have $30 a month diverted to one of my investment accounts. (Some investment accounts require that you invest a bigger sum, like $100 a month, but Vanguard is great because it allows you to choose smaller amounts.) It was immensely satisfying to open my year-end statement and see the tangible effects of consistently putting aside that $30. I didn't miss the money at all, and over the long term I made a decent investment in my financial future. Not gonna lie, I might have looked a little like this (just imagine that he's holding a year-end statement instead of a coin):

Source: thecampuscompanion.com via Carrie on Pinterest