Will 2012 Be the Year You Save Big?

   By drodriguez  Jan 11, 2012

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Each year many of us make big plans to tuck some money away for that future rainy day. A recent SheSpeaks poll finds that most of us, 57.8% list our own past exeriences as one of the top ways we get advice about saving money while 43.6% also rely on friends and family to dish out the financial wisdom.

However you choose to to get your money-saving advice, the important thing is that you start seeing results. Will 2012 be the year you and your family really start saving money? Here’s a few money-saving tips courtesy of our members, maybe they’ll work for you too!:

A Little Goes a Long Way
If you’ve got some small bills floating around in your wallet every now and again why not set them aside and try to forget about them for a while. Member annmulholland explains how this method works for her. She says, “My son came home from school one day and after one of his personal finance classes, told me that his teachers recommended putting all of your 5 dollar bills in an envelope and forget them. I did this, didn't miss them and when I checked the envelope at Christmas time, I had over 100 dollars. Really easy way to save. I now find myself asking for change with a 5 in it so I can sock it away. Every little bit adds up.”

Take it From an Expert
Reading books and listening to expert financial planners has helped a lot of people get their savings on track. Some of our members swear by Dave Ramsey’s plan to get out of debt and start saving for the future.

Member kazsi13 comments about how reading Dave Ramsey’s books have helped them learn how to manage their money and put their children through college. She explains, “Do I call Dave Ramsey my personal financial advisor? He's the one of really got us to understand the basics of money management; until we found him, we were really stupid with money. We've now cash flowed one through college, one is in college (cash flowing), next week we'll send our investment broker $4k to fund our youngests ESA's for 2013 (we save weekly in our ING subaccount for this purpose) and we paid our house off this past year. Without the knowledge we've gleaned from reading Dave's books and listening to his radio program, we wouldn't have any of these things going for us. btw, our income is not great by any standards. We've just learned how to pay attention, budget and save.”

Don’t Make the Same Mistake Twice
Sometimes you just have to learn from past mistakes before you can really start saving. The trick is to recognize your mistake and not make it again in the future. Member Poisonivy005 confesses, "I get a lot of advice though my own stupid mistakes!!! We don’t spend money often (because I control it) but it would be nice to have more! I just don’t want to give up everything we have!!”

Have these money-saving tips worked for you in the past?

Tell us how you plan to save in 2012!