By Jessica “Jay” Parks, Ph.D, AFC®
I know what you are thinking!
“How can I save and we are in the middle of a pandemic? You must think I’m Boo Boo Da Fool? How can I save when I have bills to pay, kids to feed, student loans to pay, rent to pay, nails, haircuts and a bae-cation to plan for?”
Trust me! I get it, fam. People are always telling us to save, yet the price of everything keeps getting higher and higher. Make it make sense!
Saving is so hard to talk about and even harder to do. If we were all paid a living wage, then we could afford to save. If we had free childcare then we could afford to save. If inflation wasn’t currently at 6.2%, then we could afford to save. #sayitlouderforthepeopleintheback. Er’body and they mama is always trying to tell you TO save. Yet, they don’t tell you HOW to do it.
As an Accredited Financial Counselor ® and college professor, I work with people helping them reach their financial goals. I am offering six pieces of advice that helped me and those that I work with. Some parts might work for you and some may not. Please take what works for you and move with that.
1) Be #SavingGoals
You can’t be out here trying to save and not know what you are saving for. So, say to yourself “Self, what am I saving for?” An emergency? A new puppy? A house? To go to the Motherland? A vacation? (Girl, you better invite me if you are going to the Bahamas). Why are you saving? You might even have more than one goal and that is fine too.
2) But how much is it though?
After you set your goal, you need to be about the numbers. Here’s a personal example:
I am currently saving $1,000 for my bestie’s birthday in Jamaica so that I can be the baddest woman on the beach.
Now suppose I have 10 months to save up the money, then that means that I need to save $100 a month. Simple, right?
3) “Write it down, take a picture, IDGAF!” – Smokey from Friday
I grew up in a Black church. I mean a BLACK BLACK church. Shoutin’ old ladies with the big hats, folks talking in tongues for da LAWDDD, choir sanging like they Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé on the “Fighting Temptations” movie, Sister Shirley fallin’ out catching the “Holy Ghost.” It never failed; my pastor would always bring up that Habakkuk verse that says “write the vision; make it plain on tablets.” Whether it’s you “manifesting it”, “a self-fulfilling prophecy,” “putting it out into the universe”, “praying for it” or whatever you call it, if it’s written it’s more likely to happen. So, “speak it into existence” and say what you want.
4) Start Small if you need to. Don’t be out here doing the most.
When speaking to clients and my students, I find that they are better able to save when they start small. Let’s say, you are just trying to save money in case of an emergency. Let’s say you just want to have some change put aside for a “rainy day.” A lot of financial experts recommend having 3 to 6 months’ worth of your money aside. But ain’t nobody got time for all that. In my opinion, it is not practical for many people. But if you do have that much money set aside, then pat yourself on the back!
So I recommend starting small and I mean SMALL- SMALL. I started saving with $10 per check. If you are just starting off and are like “Nah, I don’t know about all this!” Then choose a small amount ($5, $2, $10 or whatever) that you can start with and build over time. Long story short, don’t be out here trying to “run a marathon and you don’t even know how to walk yet!” Start small.
5) Let them take it out your check
Okay… let me just be real for a minute. See, the way my life is set up with Fashion Nova, Shein, Victoria Secret, Kohl’s, and broke family members hitting me up every five minutes, it is really hard to save. So, I have to set up a payroll deposit and let my employer put 10% of my check into my savings account. The other 90% goes to my checking. It is really hard for me to save without doing this. It’s just too easy to spend, spend, spend! You have to pay yourself first, otherwise you won’t have anything. #andthatsonmaryhadalittlelamb
Now some of you are thinking, “but girl, if I do that then I won’t have any money to pay my bills.” This is why I told you to choose a SMALL amount that you won’t miss. Will you really miss $5 or $10 per check? To quote the old folks: “out of sight, out of mind.” You then build up over time and the next thing you know, you might be saving 10% of your check for savings.
6) Reward and forgive yourself
Last, but not least; Reward yourself and forgive yourself, sis. Remember, we all make mistakes. You might say that you are going to save $200 a month, but end up only doing $100, that’s okay. You are still better off with $100 than $0. So, forgive yourself. Ask yourself “what can I do differently next paycheck?” Then move on.
Lastly, I am big on rewarding yourself. To me, if you have sacrificed for the past few months to save up for something, then you deserve a SMALL reward. Note: I said SMALL!! So, after I pay off my furniture bill, best believe this Georgia Peach will hit up Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles for their Banana Pudding and Red Velvet cake. (I’m just saying they food so good it will make you slap yo mama- R.I.H. Pops)
I hope my pearls of wisdom aka my “Six Pieces of Advice to Help you Save for the 99 and 2000s” were helpful. Again, we all have our own financial challenges and I understand that saving can be frustrating. All I ask is that you find one SMALL thing to do today to help you save, just one! Maybe you will just set up a payroll deposit for $25 per check, maybe you will open a bank account, maybe you will start putting cash away in a jar. (I recommend hiding your money in a large Bible. You know folks don’t even read the Bible like that. ijs). Remember to start small and build from that! You got this, sis!
Love, Peace and Chicken Grease
Dr. Jay
If you have suggestions for future articles then reach me on Twitter or Instagram @ParksthePhd.
