by Matiya Hill
Happy New Year and as always welcome back to Brown Girl Green Money! This is my first post of 2016, so I’m excited to get back into the swing of things. As you all know the year is just beginning and I’m sure it’s going to be full of positive things for all of us! Ok now that I’m down off the happy wagon I want to briefly discuss today’s topic, paying you first. I’ve always known that paying yourself first is essential key when it comes to building your finances. So you may ask have I taken advantage of the “essential key”, well the answer is…NO! But I have decided to pay myself first in 2016 and I hope this post will encourage you to do the same. You have nothing to lose but you do stand to gain a rise in your savings account!
Paying yourself first can be easy, effective, and enjoyable. At this time, I’m not disciplined enough to manually transfer the money biweekly into my savings account so I allow my financial institution to automatically complete that daunting task for me, lol. So yes that means on each payday I have an automatic transfer setup that will transfer a specified amount of money from my checking account to my savings account. I don’t want to see the money! I’m paying myself first (after tithing) but before bills, shopping, and an occasional gel manicure.
The strategy is simple: set aside money biweekly or monthly (automatic transfers are preferred)-that you do not access, then watch your savings flourish! I recommend transferring your “pay yourself first” funds to an account that you do not have immediate access to, for example an online savings account which provides great interest rates. This routine will unknowingly develop a habit of saving.
If you do nothing else to improve your finances in 2016, this would be an awesome thing to do! So join me in 2016 as I pay myself first! At the end of the year, I will give a progress report to all of our readers. Are you currently paying yourself first? If you are please share your tips, strategies, and stories with us! Thank you for ready this post and happy savings!