Savings Calculator: The Secret to Increasing Your Personal Wealth
We all have that dream purchase in the back of our minds, the family home, the weekend car, the trip of a lifetime. Saving for these things might feel like it’ll take forever, but using a little secret tool like the savings calculator may get you there sooner than you think.
It’s surprising how much money you can spend without actually spending any money at all. The coffee that you have everyday on the way to work? The chocolate bar you treat yourself to at 3pm on a wet and miserable day? They all add up. Using a savings calculator can help you manage those little things to help your money for the big thing add up. Your coffee on the way to the office, let’s say $2.20, every working day of the year costs you $572.00 a year! How about the weekly magazines that you buy on Fridays, say $2.75; they are costing you £143.00 a year! Finally, consider having two less drinks on a weekly night out, say $3.20 per pint and you’ll save $322.40. All of a sudden, you are saving yourself an additional $1,037.40 per year without much sacrifice. Using a savings calculator can really help you keep an eye on these things and make sure they aren’t costing you your savings!
Try a savings deposit calculator for keeping an eye on what you are saving for the biggest purchase you are ever likely to make, a house. Or a bank savings calculator for keeping an eye on the pennies, and dollars, you are squirrelling away. Using a calculator for savings is a great visual tool for helping you see where your money is going, where you need to spend it and where you can definitely cut back.
Why not produce a statement of affairs as a base of your calculator. A simple excel spreadsheet can track what money you have coming in, what you have going out and where you can afford to save extra or spend extra. It works as a great motivator to keep you on track of your finances.
Cindy Broadhurst is a professor of finance in Melbourne. She stresses the importance of tools like a savings calculator in managing one’s finances and conducts seminars on budgeting for newly married couples.
