Saving $10,000 is not something to whiff at. Although I am extremely proud of myself, I did learn a lot.
A few weeks back, I set a goal to save $10,000 following a car accident after work. If you must know, no one was hurt and the claim process with the insurance company was phenomenal. What prompted me to save was understanding that tomorrow is not promised and financial freedom needed to be pushed to the top of my priority list. I remember looking at my bank account and thinking “what if” this and “how come” that. Friday came around. I checked my account and can recall feeling like it was possible.
So I devised a plan to review my daily, weekly, and monthly expenses. I noticed that I had been spending a lot of money on food and gas, which was concerning because I work remotely. With driving, I noticed my other habits, that is, I would visit the gym and maybe make a pit stop at Target for coffee or other small items. By entering Target, I create a new opportunity for spending which is exactly what I did not want to do in the first place.
Lesson 1: Saving Money Was Easier Than I Thought
The first lesson I learned from this experience was that it was easier than I thought to save 10K. How did I do it?
Since I knew where my spending habits were, it became clear where my financial deficiencies were. I created a plan to save 90 percent of my earning for 60 days. Every two weeks, I would save $2000 and simply work with what I had left. The thought itself was easy but not the application as it forced me to consider many factors of my day-to-day. This included the foods that I ate and my general routine at work. Despite my discomfort to change, it worked beautifully. I was able to meet my goal but more importantly, it introduced me to ways that I could do this even better, which is the next lesson.
Lesson 2: Success Can Be Replicated
The second lesson really opened my eyes to the possibilities that existed. It was through meeting my goal that I was able to understand that success can be replicated. Given that I was able to save 10K, I realized that I could do it again, however, this time I would start with a working knowledge of saving money. Through replication, I knew I could get to 10K faster and more efficiently, avoiding some previous hurdles and challenges that I created for myself. Replication taught me that I could create systems and later automate those systems to directly pay myself and limit the use or access to the funds.
Lesson 3: I Knew Little About Money
The third lesson of saving 10K is that I really didn’t know as much as I thought I did. We all like to think we know about topics of interest but the fact is we only know what we know and don’t often think about the things that we don’t know. This allowed me to begin looking into financial products and vehicles as well as look at other areas in my life where I can improve financially. Financial freedom meant financial literacy and constant improvements. The information is out there so all it required was for me to search for it or find people who know more about it than I do.
I’m curious to know what you think. Are there any tips or lessons that you can share that have worked for you in saving money? Please leave a comment down below.
