When I graduated from college, I did not have two pennies to rub together, let alone having anything to save. Oddly enough, within 3 months of graduating, I started watching the Suze Orman show (a show about budgeting and money management) on CNBC. I always looked forward to seeing how different people spent and saved their money.
Some people on the show made a lot of money, but had little to no savings-these people lived at or above their means. Meanwhile, there were others who didn’t make much, but had tons of money in savings and investments-these people lived below their means. It was through watching this show that I realized, it did not matter how much money I earned (within reason), what really mattered was what I did with the money I earned.
Growing up in a low/middle income household, I heard of saving, budgeting and investing, but had no idea what they really were. The Suze show really got me wondering what I would do once I got a few pennies to rub together?
For me, the first step to saving was to figure out how much money I had left over to save. I did this by creating a budget. Before I had a budget, I would pay all of my bills and spend all the rest, having no idea where this extra money was going. The budget I created helped me figure out where all of my money was going.
Don’t get discouraged if you have little to no money to save. You have to start somewhere. You can start off with saving $5 a week or even $5 a month. The key is to take that first step!
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Confucius
CHALLENGE
Create a budget. You can use Mint.com (this is what I used to create my first one), an Excel spreadsheet or some other tool/software of your choice. You can even keep track of your spending yourself by writing it down (I also use this method).
ALTERNATIVE CHALLENGE
If you already have a budget, try re-evaluating it. Can you save more money? Can you can try reducing your spending in an area?
Thanks so much for reading this post! Please feel free to share your comments, questions and/or suggestions below
her granddaughter 
I loved this because I am a college student. Being in college, it sometimes seems as if saving is not an option, because you already have such a small budget, but after reading this blog i have developed an understanding that its not about the size or amount you save but the time you use to grow/develop your savings. Therefore, as time goes on your small savings will grow into something so much bigger. I will take my first step by putting $1 aside and begin organizing my weekly and monthly budget. Thanks for these tools they were really helpful
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Go Amber! You are way ahead of the game. When I was in grad school, I don’t think I was able to save much, if anything. As long as you get in the habit of saving, once you graduate and start making this big bucks, you will already know what to do. XO
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