Florida woman builds emergency fund
Taking Saving Seriously
For years, Valeria Johnson knew she should be saving. Working in a bank, she even had a savings account. But she rarely kept more than a few dollars in it. “I just never took saving seriously,” she said.
That all changed in 2004 when Okaloosa Saves made a presentation at her bank. “I lived paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “I thought, where am I going to find money to save? But they made it really easy for us ... Now I’m addicted to saving.”
When she enrolled as a Saver, she set a small initial goal for herself – saving enough so that she could buy Christmas presents without using her credit cards. Once that was accomplished, her second goal was to establish an emergency fund. “I needed a cushion,” she said, “just to have something in the bank if something comes up.” Before, when her car broke down, “I would cry,” she said. Now she has the money to pay for those repairs.
She’s still building her emergency fund, with a goal of having enough in the account so that, when she has to make a withdrawal, she can maintain the minimum deposit amount. As an added protection, she wants to build up at least three months of salary in the account.
At the same time, she’s been paying off her credit cards. She also managed to save enough for her first-ever vacation – a trip to the Bahamas. “That’s the only goal I didn’t mind taking the money out for,” she joked.
She said she used to think she couldn’t save because she lived paycheck to paycheck. Then she realized, “I was living paycheck to paycheck because I wasn’t saving.”
She’s found a number of ways to save. She started small, saving loose change. Whenever she got a raise, she put either most or all of the money into savings, having the amount automatically deposited from her paycheck. “When I get a raise I look at it this way,” she said, “I’ve been living without this. I can keep living without it.”
She’s also become a more careful shopper. She clips coupons, does her grocery shopping from a list, looks for bargains, compares prices, and shops for items when rebates are offered, buying only those items she actually uses. She’s also cut back on her “impulse buying,” she said, distinguishing between what she wants and what she really needs. “I don’t visit the malls as often.” Her credit card is just for essentials. “I don’t purchase anything with it unless I’m going to pay it off right away,” she said.
Her advice to other savers is, “Don’t start big and make a goal that’s unrealistic,” she said. Instead, start small and stick with it. “As you watch it growth, it’s encouraging.”