Living in the Moment...

... isn't a bad thing at all. That is, as they say, everything is good in moderation. I know many big spenders who cannot enter a store without buying something, just for the sake of spending money.

Most of are you thinking, "I've got my whole life ahead of me to save money later on." But let me intervene and say: Now, between the ages of 18-28, is the perfect time to start storing away money.

Look at this way: you save word documents, you save webpages, you save some emails. Why? So you can come back to them later. Why not the same with money? Putting even $20 a week away will pay off at the end of the year: $1040. And just think, doing that for ten years would come out to $10,400.

But I know its troubling and hard to do such things. I had the same problem. The second I'd deposit my check on Fridays, I'd run to a video store or to a clothing store to find something ... anything, that I'd like just to have it. But I've switched around. Sure I'll spend now and again, but I have been working hard at limiting myself to a tight budget. I'll be moving out of my house in a few months, and don't want to have to worry about making ends meet every month. I want to have some stored away, by chance I ever need it for an emergency.

I go an extra step with each check I make by taking out an extra $25 each week and letting the government play with it, so it makes for a nice hefty tax return come April and May. I'll be receiving $3000 back from federal and the state combined. To think about what you'd do with that money once you get it back, I'd say keep half for yourself. You've earned it, but the other $1500 can do to so many places.

To dive even deeper, why put money into a savings account that makes a lousy 2-3%? There is a website online, FDIC-insured, titled Emigrant Direct. They have savings accounts that can link to other accounts with whatever banks you do business with. It makes for easy, online transferring of funds and makes life much easier compared to running from one bank to another. Their savings account starts out at 5%. So if we go back to the first example of dropping $20 a week into the emigrant direct account: you'd make an extra dollar. So next month, you'd have $41 before interest. After: $43.05. Keep doing the math if you want to. But you can take my word that you'll walk out with a might big smile on your face.

Most people that read this haven't even let retirement enter their minds. But if your job doesn't offer a 401K plan, which many small businesses don't (where I work), you may want to dabble into some IRAs. Individual Retirement Accounts are made by you for you. The percentages vary from bank to bank or business to business, so be sure to do your research. The gist of an IRA is simple: you deposit money now so you can have it later. With most, you can't touch the money until you are 59 1/2 - 65 years old. But if you are religious about depositing money into it, you'll see a nice nest egg for when you're ready to retire. Now, the fun part is that the government has instituted a law where if you deposit upto $4,000 inside of a tax year, it is considered deductible from your net income for the year. Basically, you can possibly drop in a tax bracket because you aren't spending the money. Lower the tax bracket, the more money you'd get back from the government. Say you want the money instead of keeping it in, you'll have to pay taxes on it for withdrawing it early.

The links above should offer other outlets and better explanations than I can. Once I get my refund checks in, I will be putting some into a Roth IRA. (See #5 at the bottom) Tax-free, tax-free and you won't get penalized for withdrawing early. Excellent times await for having money set aside.

There are so many chances to save money, but they are sadly outweighed by the products available at every store we pass daily. So next time you see that DVD, book, computer game, faster graphics card, CD or tee shirt, think to yourself: Do I really need that? Will that make my universe complete? Will I sleep with a smile on my face tonight? Will I feel complete with this item?

You probably won't.

Thanks for reading.