Here’s 7 best ways that one can adopt to save and invest inorder to pursue your financial goals.

The most difficult task about saving money is to just getting started. It can be difficult to figure out simple ways to save money and how to use your savings to pursue your financial goals. This step-by-step guide can help you develop a realistic savings plan.

1. Note down your expenses
   The 1st step in saving money is to know how much you’re spending. For one month, keep a record of everything you spend. That means every coffee, every newspaper and every snack you purchase for the entire month. Once you have your data, organize these numbers by category and get the total amount for each.
2. Make a budget
   Now that you have a good idea of what you spend in a month, you can build a budget to plan your spending, limit over-spending and make sure that you put money away in an emergency savings fund. Remember to include expenses that happen regularly, but not every month, like car maintenance check-ups etc.
3. Plan on saving money
   Taking into consideration your monthly expenses and earnings, create a savings category within your budget and try to make it at least 10-15 percent of your net income. If your expenses won’t let you save that much, it might be time to cut back. Look for non-essentials that you can spend less on—for example, entertainment and dining out—before thinking about saving money on essentials such as your vehicle or home.
4. Set savings goals
   Setting savings goals makes it much easier to get started. Begin by deciding how long it will take to reach each goal. Some short-term goals (which can usually take 1-3 years) include:
   Keep an emergency fund
   Saving money for a vacation
   Saving to buy a new car/new house etc-
   The most important of all – Saving to pay taxes (if they are not already deducted by your employer) also, if you are someone who pays service tax then ensure that you maintain separate accounts to keep the tax apart from your chunk of money.
   Long-term savings goals are often several years or even decades away and can include:
   Save for retirement:
   Putting money away for your child’s college education
   Saving for a down payment on a house or to remodel your current home
5. Decide on your priorities
   Different people have different priorities when it comes to saving money, so it makes sense to decide which savings goals are most important to you. Part of this process is deciding how long you can wait to save up for a goal and how much you want to put away each month to help you reach it. As you do this for all your goals, order them by priority and set money aside accordingly in your monthly budget. Remember that setting priorities means making choices. If you want to focus on saving for retirement, some other goals might have to take a back seat while you make sure you’re hitting your top targets.
6. Different savings and investment strategies for different goals
   If you’re saving for short-term goals, consider using these FDIC-insured deposits accounts:
   A savings account which is easily accessible
   A high-yield savings account, which often has a higher interest rate than a standard savings account
   A bank money market savings account which has a variable interest rate that could increase as your savings grow
   A certificate of deposit which locks in your money at a specific interest rate for a specific period of time
   For long-term goals consider:
   Stocks and Mutual Funds: These investment products are available through investment accounts with a broker-dealer or reach your branch office immediately, they will be more than happy to help you out. Remember that securities, such as stocks and mutual funds, are not insured by the FDIC, are not deposits or other obligations of a bank and are not guaranteed by a bank, and are subject to investment risks including the possible loss of principal invested. But contrary if your deposits are long term then it’s usually beneficial.
7. Make saving money easier with automatic transfers
   Automatic transfers to your savings account can make saving money much easier. By moving money out of your checking account, you’ll be less likely to spend money you wanted to use for savings. There are many options for setting up transfers. You choose how often you want to transfer money and which accounts you want to use for the transfers. Thinking of saving as a regular expense is a great way to keep on target with your savings goals.
   WATCH YOUR SAVINGS GROW
   Check your progress every month. Not only will this help you stick to your personal savings plan, but it also helps you identify and fix problems quickly. With these simple ways to save money, it may even inspire you to save more and hit your goals faster.
   So, If you are ready to save money for yourself and your family, just say it loud that “I am a magnet to money I have more than I need, I am a magnet to money… Money money loves me..” Recite this often like the link given below, I am sure the positive thoughts and effective actions can get you the best results.
   
   
   Cheers Readers!!