Save Like There Is Tomorrow

A couple of years ago, I took a class through the Virginia Cooperative Extension called Money Talk: A Financial Course for Women. The class itself was free, but it did require a really useful textbook that cost $20. I'd highly recommend Money Talk to any woman -- young or old, lots of money or just a few pennies, zero financial knowledge or a ton. Your local extension office may offer this course too, so look it up.

Anyway, one thing that I learned in this class was to set financial goals. I finally tried it, and it worked really well. Previously, my thought had just been to save whatever I could, for whatever big might come along. However, the Money Talk instructor and textbook convinced me that I should be a little more concrete. After the class, I first tried it and set an actual goal. I figured out the dollar amount for a specific reason and set a date by which I wanted to have it saved. Guess what? It worked!

At the beginning of 2007, I thought I'd set a new financial goal to reach by the end of the year. This time I didn't have a specific reason. I had a few things in mind that might come along even though I wasn't sure if they would. I figured you've got to be prepared! Once again, it has worked because I could actually measure my progress.

Now that I'm engaged and really do have a wedding on the horizon, I'm so glad that I had set a goal for "something" in the future (even though I didn't exactly know it would be for a wedding). "Tomorrow" is nearly here, and fortunately, while things could always be better, I'm in okay financial shape. So, there's my recommendation to you: save like there is tomorrow -- even if you don't know exactly when it will come or what it will hold. Find ways to squeeze those nickels and dimes and turn them into dollars! Whether it is for something exciting like a wedding or just a rainy day, you'll be glad you did.

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