Meredith Jones is a veterinarian and financial expert. She co-founded the Veterinary Financial Summit and started a Facebook group that helps thousands of vets combat student debt. Learn more at drmeredithjones.com. Dr. Phil Zeltzman co-authored this article.
You can easily have $2,756 in just one year… By saving it!
The concept is so simple that the only way to miss the mark is a lack of self discipline.
Here is your supplies checklist:
- A dedicated savings account
- A calendar
- Some discipline
- A few extra bucks
Step 1: Pick a day each week and write down the amount you need to put away. (See table below.)
To remember your weekly commitment, set up a recurring reminder. There are multiple ways to remember your commitment: smartphone, tablet, computer, paper calendar, online calendar, sticky note, and email.Â
The table below breaks down the year into 52 weeks. In the first column, weeks are numbered sequentially, from week 1 to week 52. The second column shows the amount of money you will be putting aside in your bank account. The third column is the balance you will have in your savings stash!
Remember, this money must be saved into a separate bank account. If you are diligent enough to follow the plan, you will have saved $2,756 by the end of the year.
Step 2: Decide what you will do with all the money you accumulated! You’ve got a lot of options…
- Donating the money to a non-profit
- Investing in your retirement plan
- Taking a well-deserved vacation
- Paying some of your debt back
- Funding your emergency or rainy-day fund
- Investing in your education
- Saving for a child’s education
$2,756 IS ENOUGH FOR MORE THAN JUST THE FLIGHT. YOU’VE EARNED THIS VACATION!
Here are 5 specific examples of what you could do with $2,756:
1. Invest in yourself: obtain licensure in 6+ additional states
2. Purchase two round-trip tickets to Nairobi, Kenya
3. Cover two months of rent — or perhaps even mortgage
4. Cover six months of car payments
5. Finally buy that new living room furniture
We don’t know who the inventor of this concept is, but it is both absurdly simple and ridiculously brilliant. Have fun setting it up and dreaming about what you will do with the money!
IF YOU’RE ADDICTED TO LEARNING (LIKE US!), YOU CAN SPEND ON EDUCATION.
Here are a few other easy hacks to save cash:
- The “coin jar”: collect all the change you receive throughout the year. Add them to a piggy bank or a dedicated container. Bonus: the cooler the container, the better.
- The “$5 bill box”: similar idea. Every time you have a $5 bill, save it in a box.
- The automatic deposit: this is a classic. Have your bank deduct a set amount of money from your checking account each week or month, and deposit it in your savings or retirement account. Set it and forget it.
Of course, all the above ideas can be combined for greater (and faster) savings.
Meredith Jones is a veterinarian and financial expert. She co-founded the Veterinary Financial Summit and started a Facebook group that helps thousands of vets combat student debt. Learn more at drmeredithjones.com. Dr. Phil Zeltzman co-authored this article.
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