How to Start Your Savings While Paying Down Debt

In one word: Peanuts.

It's a lot, to pay the important bills, try to pay off those student loans, put money away, and don't forget that unexpected bill that came up. How on earth are we supposed to handle all that and start a savings account that can stand on its own two-feet? By investing peanuts.

Take small amounts, each week, and put it into an account that is out of sight, out of mind. For example: If all you can do is $5, then $5 every week for a year is: $260 and that's $260 that you can count on later. Growing up my grandparents told me to put 15% of my income away each paycheck. Sometimes it was doable and sometimes it wasn't. So find what works for you and run with it.

The best mentality to approach the situation is to treat it as a fixed non-negotiable expense. For example: I budget $25 every other week to go to my retirement. Yes, it is only $50 a month, but, because I'm a server and my income fluctuates within the year I can't guarantee that I'll be able to put $1,000 away each month. So rather than stretch myself thin, I'm still helping my retirement grow by investing $50 a month and that is certainly better than $0. I still have plenty of extra income to pay down my debt, but in the meantime I'm still growing my retirement. As soon as more income becomes available, I can add more to that figure and help my retirement grow even more.

Start small and work your way to a larger amount is my best advice for you.

Happy Budgeting!

Ellie/TBM