Get Financially Fit! | Time Is Money

Written By: Jeff Jaeger, Vice President - Menomonie Offices, WESTconsin Credit Union; and Cooper Larson, Teller, WESTconsin Credit Union

Time is money and hopefully for many young people this is something they are “RICH” with for quite some time to come.

Financial literacy and “richness” is an important part of growing up and becoming a successful adult. Starting these habits young and teaching young people good habits from the start will set them up for financial success in the long run. Saving money is a key to this. Feeling good about the money you have on hand can help take the stress out of every day expenses and future expenses, such as a first car or college.

Electronic Savings—Saving the easy way!

Setting up automatic savings is an easy way to save without even thinking about doing it. You can set up an automatic transfer out of your account weekly, biweekly, or even monthly, to savings accounts and loan payments. Now to put this in an easy perspective, you can think of savings as an ice cream sundae. A lot of different parts get put together to make one big yummy treat, just like a bank account!

You are going to start off with a bowl—think of this as your checking account. You just opened your brand new savings and checking account which is very exciting, but they’re empty which isn’t very exciting. Now you have to figure out a way to get some money—or ice cream—into your bowl so you get a part time job! Yay! Your new employer offers direct deposit, meaning they are going to put your money automatically into your new checking account. We now have a bowl filled with delicious ice cream which is great. Our bowl is full and we are happy! Having ice cream is great but we could still make our sundae even better! Let’s add some hot fudge—or a transfer into our savings account. Every paycheck you decide to put $50 into your savings account. By saving this much you will contribute $100 a month which will add up to $1,200 by the end of the year. Working hard to save money and building your sundae will pay off big in the long run, and eventually you can add some even more delicious treats to your bowl. You could add some nuts—an auto loan, some sprinkles—another savings account for college, an apartment, maybe a vacation, all of these things will go into making you one big ice cream sundae. Our final step in building our sundae is the cherry on top! Setting up automatic payments and transfers into savings accounts will set you up for easy financial success. Online banking can be set up to easily manage your accounts from home or on the go so you always know what you are spending and what you have available to spend without digging into that savings account.

Money Is Your Time

Financial education is important. Your money is a physical representation of the time you spent earning it. Using your time wisely is the same as making sure you are making smart financial decisions. Taking time to learn good financial habits will save you your time in the long run of things. Spending is fun and it’s nice to have all of the things that you want, but taking a second to think of the time it costs you to earn that item can put a different perspective on spending that hard earned paycheck.