Spring Forward Your Savings and Spending Strategies


By Caroline Wetzel


pring is in the air! Temperatures are rising and forecasts for rain are replacing predictions for snow. When you think about your spending and saving behaviors, are you confi- dently springing forward with strategies for growth, or are you soaking in April showers?


S


Sowing Seeds that Grow The Wall Street Journal article, “Americans Are Spending More,


Saving Less” claims more Americans are not saving as much as they have in the past. What’s the “right” amount to spend and save? The most accurate answer is, “it depends on your specific situa- tion” because different factors like your financial goals, your in- come, and your existing debt and savings all impact your numbers.


While each of us have different specific spending and savings


numbers, two key principles set up all of us for financial success: spend less than you earn and save for the future. While these are not hard concepts to understand, they are habits that require at- tention, focus, and ongoing care until they are firmly rooted in our attitudes and behaviors, just like a spring seedling.


Steps for Cultivating Green Sustainably Use the new season to reflect on your own metaphorical spending and savings garden. Are the choices that you are making today feeding only your immediate needs, or are they helping your money grow sustainably?


Following are steps you can take to deepen your understand-


ing of your spending and savings so that you are nourished in this moment and positioned to enjoy a bountiful financial harvest in the future.


Step 1: Confirm Regardless of your income, spending less than you earn is


easier to do when you understand how much money flows into your control and how you spend it. When you have this visibility around your cash inflows and outflows, you can prioritize your ex- penses according to those essential for survival and those that you enjoy when you have enough income to afford them.


Take a couple of hours one day this spring to review your spending and saving. Collect all documents related to your income and expenses for one to two months. Your income documents might reflect wages, average tips or bonuses, alimony payments, and investment income. Your expense documents might include bank statements, loan payment statements, and credit card state- ments.


Step 2: Analyze Review the information that you’ve gathered. See how much


money you earned and how you spent it. Consider the following questions:


    


 


STAMFORD OFFICE: Marina Klimova, MA, LMFT Mildred Hungria, LCSW, Dr. Marianela Medrano Mark Wildermann, Med, CH, Kathlyn Griffin, LPC, LMHC


NEW HAVEN OFFICE: Joann Rotar, LPC, Wendy Mauro, LPC Dr. Marianela Medrano


 1100 High Ridge Rd. Suite 206-A Stamford, CT 06905 20 Natural Nutmeg - April 2018 


•  • •  • • ()


869 Whalley Ave. Second Floor New Haven, CT 06515


203.491.1652 palabracounseling.org


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44