Easy Steps to Jump Start Your Savings

Are you wishing you could put aside some money in savings, but you don’t know where to begin? The new year is a great time to put new saving habits into practice. So, here are some tips to help you get started. Learn to manage your expenses. One of the first steps to start saving money is to figure out how much you spend. It’s a great idea to start tracking your expenses, and there are several ways to do it: on pen and paper, through a digital app, or CNB’s MX Money Management system which is available to our online banking users. As you track expenses, you will identify categories that may be costing you more than you think, and then you can adjust your expenses accordingly. Break your savings goals into manageable steps. Sometimes the thought of finding any extra money to save seems overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. If you saved even $25 a week, you would have $1,300 saved by the end of the year, and you could keep building on that stash going forward. A CNB Personal Banker can help you set up automatic transfers from your checking account to a savings account so the habit of saving money can become almost effortless. Look for ways you can cut out unnecessary expenses. For example, could you trim your cable bill or cancel subscriptions to magazines that you never take the time to read? It’s also important to cancel memberships that automatically renew, but you no longer use. Another great idea is to bring your lunch to work several days a week instead of eating out. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the savings can add up. Take advantage of our Smart Savings Transfer feature. CNB offers a SmartBlue Savings account that you can tie to a ClassicBlue Checking account. Through our Smart Savings Transfer feature, we round up each of your debit card transactions to the next whole dollar amount so this extra pocket change can go into your savings account. Don’t let the thought of saving money overwhelm you. Much like any goal, you cannot accomplish it overnight. Simply take steps in the right direction, and before you know it, you will have saved more than you might realize.