Open a Savings Account and Stop Living on the Paycheck Cliff

Why You Want to Open a Savings Account
Let’s face it. It’s difficult to save money. After housing, food, and transportation, saving can seem laughable. However, living paycheck to paycheck puts you on a cliff where a small event can push you over into debt and even out of your home. Saving, even a small amount, helps get you through those troubled times.

Many of us don’t save because we don’t know about or trust putting our money in a savings account. This is natural. We all hesitate when trying something new or unfamiliar. In psychology it’s called aversion to ambiguity. I call it fear of the unknown and it stops us from improving our lives financially.

So how do we get over this? Well here are two helpful suggestions.

Open a Savings Account Without Depositing Any Money
Many banks will let you open a savings account with no minimum balance and no fees. So you can simply open the account and not put in any money right away. Then next week or month, deposit a couple of dollars.

Check the Banks Safety
If you’re worried about the safety of the bank check that it is FDIC insured at the FDIC Bank Find, page. Enter only the name of the bank (no address needed). You should see them listed. If they are then you have the currently the best guarantee in the world that your money is safe (up to the first $250,000 which I wish I needed to worry about).

Get the Advantages
Just by opening a savings account we give ourselves a few advantages like:

1) It’s easier to deposit money in the future because the account is already open.
2) We get comfortable with having money in the account
3) We are less tempted to spend the money because it’s “hidden” in the account.

For me, the last one helps the most. Out of sight, out of mind.

Again I understand how hard it is to save but without any savings you truly are living on a paycheck cliff. Accidents, job loss, and illness are a fact of life. Prepare for these events through saving and give yourself some peace of mind.

So try to get over that hesitation by following the above suggestions. Open a savings account with no money and check that the bank is safe.