Cleveland man saves for bakery
Getting Motivated to Save
Charles Ali didn’t need Cleveland Saves to tell him he should be saving more, but it did help get him motivated. “I had a savings account, but I wasn’t saving much. I knew the rules. I just wasn’t accomplishing anything,” he said.
An employee with the city water department, Mr. Ali heard about Cleveland Saves when it started a major initiative with the city government. Saves “helped me to put my thoughts together,” he said. “I just jumped right into it strong and stayed with it.”
Mr. Ali opened a second savings account so he’d have one for emergencies and one to save toward his goals. He has money automatically deposited to savings from his paycheck. That’s important, he said, because without that “we’ll always find some reason why we can’t put that money in there.”
In order to stay within his new budget, he said, “I just cut back on a lot of personal expenses, and it really helped out. When you stop doing all those things, it’s like you get an immediate raise. When you start saving, it’s addictive, and you hate to spend money,” he added.
Like many Savers, he also collects his loose change and puts it in savings instead of buying lottery tickets, as he used to do. “That’s just your everyday money,” he said, “but it still adds up” – in his case to about $130 every two months.
As a result of his efforts, Mr. Ali saved enough in his first year to “put a nice down payment on a car” and still have some money left over. Now he’s saving “the base money” he needs to open a bakery. “It’s an incentive,” he said.
What he has in mind is a small wholesale bakery with an emphasis on pastries for diabetics, which he plans to sell to hospitals and nursing homes. He’s owned bakeries in the past, and wants to do so again “on a higher, more successful level.”
His advice for other Savers is to be patient. “Saving is a long-term, forever process,” he explained. He also recommends having a separate emergency fund, because “emergencies come up.” You’re less likely to get discouraged if you don’t have to dip into your savings to pay for them, he said.
“Even if you do have to use your savings, don’t be too disappointed,” was his upbeat advice. “You’re still alive. You can make more money.”
He admits that not everyone is cut out to do the work involved in getting their finances in order. But “it is something that has to be done.” If you aren’t good at it, find someone who is to help you out, he said. “Find the help you need to accomplish your goals.”
In the end, the key to succeeding at saving is “to really enjoy it,” he said. “Knowing that you have money accumulating is just a good feeling.”
“Saving is a long-term, forever project.” --Charles Ali