It Pays To Save Money For Rainy Days
By Kelly16
@Kelly16 (252)
Philippines
December 29, 2006 1:39am CST
I have a friend who recently lost his job and he finds himself with no savings and nothing to start with. With the hardship of finding another job now, having savings is the thing he wished he has done a long time ago when he still has his job.
It's true that saving for rainy days like what the ants do will be most beneficial when rainy days do come in our lives. It is said that you must at least have enough savings that will last 3 months when something happened to your job like lay-offs etc.. Have you experienced something like this? What did you do? Have you learned a lesson on that experience?
9 people like this
48 responses
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
29 Dec 06
I agree 100%.... Unfortunately it is not that easy! I have had many ups and downs in my life in terms of finances and although I would love to always have money for a rainy day but it just always isn't possible! I will be trying hard this new year though!
2 people like this
@Kelly16 (252)
• Philippines
29 Dec 06
Most people work on this formula:
Salary-Expenses= Savings
but it could work in this way:
Salary-Savings=Expenses
There are things that are not necessity and yet we spend valuable amount of money in it. We can still live simply even in this world of internet and cellphones and high technology. Make a list of all the things where you spend your money and you will see that there are things that you can live without and you can save the money.
2 people like this
@vincent72 (1633)
• Australia
29 Dec 06
very true Kelly one should save money for retirement when that time comes or when a crisis happens like your friend , if you lose your job. need that safety net of balance otherwise youll be in strife.
@sushant07 (9)
• India
29 Dec 06
"PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE" implies to this. The more early you start with the savings the lesser u need to invest and then let the power of compunding work on it for your RETIREMENT.
1 person likes this
@bindishah (2062)
• India
30 Dec 06
It definitely pays to save for a rainy day. I was a master's student and saved some money every month from my stipend. This helped me stay a few months after i graduated and was looking for work. If i did not have those savings i wouldnt know what i would do as things would have become very difficult.
It does get difficult to save when you are earning very little but still if we can save even 1/10th our salary every month it will help in the future.
@EconKnowMix (858)
• Philippines
29 Dec 06
Yes i agree with you it is a must that each and everyone of us save for rainy days. i always do that but sadly because of so much confident I always failed to save. As a new years resolution, I will make it a covenant to myself that my savings will not be touched no matter what will happen as long as I am still have a job. Thanks.
@AnythngArt (3302)
• United States
30 Dec 06
Kelly you are right. I think that there are going to be a lot of folks out of luck financially when retirement comes around. People spend so much on foolish things, too. It's very hard not to live just in the moment, however. We all need to work harder to make our money work for us.
@bimmer999 (1158)
• Philippines
30 Dec 06
i always save money..sometimes even 100% of my salary is saved up
thats how thrifty i am lol
so i have not yet encountered the problem of being flat broke...
hehehe
1 person likes this
@ignoti (68)
• United States
29 Dec 06
I've been broke, jobless, and homeless before yet it doesn't stop me from spending freely. I choose to be adventurous and bold with what I do and have little problem when I am out on my own. I'd rather live than worry about what could happen to me. Of course, I do not have children or a family -- I would probably act quite differently if that were the case.
I'm the type of person that could win a million and put it all on a roulette table -- sleeping in my car the next day while digging change out of the seats to get beef jerky from the gas station. All the while, I would be happy.
@Kelly16 (252)
• Philippines
29 Dec 06
Well at least you have that in mind that you have a change of heart on your spendings if you a family or children.
But I do hope you still think about yourself especially when there is no one to take care of you when you have no savings at all for yourself. Financial independence for yourself is a good way to start and then extending it to your family. Most people who have that "one day millionare mentality" end up financially broke.
1 person likes this
@limcyjain (3516)
• India
29 Dec 06
i do have a habit of saving for rainy days. What i have learned is that the earlier you start saving the better it is. This theory is called the power of compounding. A small amount started saving early in life would give heigher returns than a larger amount started saving late in life.
1 person likes this
@Kelly16 (252)
• Philippines
29 Dec 06
Well said about compounding. It's when your savings interest added as another savings. It's good to start savings when you are young. Younger people can start with 5% savings from what they make. If you are on your 30s you need to save 20-30% of your savings for retirement.
1 person likes this
@mygreyparrot (1461)
• United States
29 Dec 06
Savings is a great idea. I've always heard 6 months worth of your salary. It's a good start anyway. It also depends on how much debt you have. The credit card bills will pile up fast if you don't have the $ to pay them. I don't have as much as I'd like in savings, but I know people who are lucky to have $2 to last them until their next payday.
1 person likes this
@MIO82001 (594)
• Romania
29 Dec 06
i am in this situation now....i lost my job and in our family only my husband works now....first of all it is hard to find a job this days and second of all u have to save money it is very important but u never know if u will uset or not .....
i had some money saved but i need more ....
in the end u have to get true every situation ...it is hard but u have to do it .
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SAVE MONEY ...AND TO HAVE A LIFE INSURANCE AND HOME INSURANCE IS IMPORTANT TOO.
1 person likes this
@pelya178 (693)
• United States
29 Dec 06
i agree but alot of ppl today live from pay check to pay check. meaning there's no extra money to save at all. when they get paid they only have money for the bills n then no money to save. so i think this is a major problem. its not that ppl dont want to save its that they cant!. its sad
1 person likes this
@Kelly16 (252)
• Philippines
29 Dec 06
Well in that case maybe try to evaluate how you earn, maybe you need an active and passive income. Active income is from your salary where you get your expenses (bills, etc.) and passive are other earnings (like earnings from stocks, or any extra business like on-line business)
http://homebusinessandinternetmarketing.blogspot.com/
1 person likes this
@clark16 (375)
• Philippines
30 Dec 06
yes, i have experienced it too, and also i've learned lessons from it. Don't try to save all your earnings because it wouldn't work, try at least to be constant in savings eventhough it's a small penny, let's say you'll be saving 1$ a day from your earnings and that would be a good savings time after time!
1 person likes this
@AnythngArt (3302)
• United States
30 Dec 06
You are right. Sometimes (like trying to lose weight), we think it is all or nothing. That is, if I can't save a lot of money, then I won't bother to try and save a little because it won't make a difference. But it does, any little amount when added up over a long time will end up being something substantial. Good luck to everyone in the new year in their saving.
@kathy77 (7486)
• Australia
29 Dec 06
what I do is put only a certain amount of money in my purse when I go shopping and then I put a certain amount aside which I keep to pay my bills this way I really do not touch it and then when my bills come in and I have to pay for something which I would not have that money to pay for the money that I have put away is there and most of the time I get a nice surprise that I have managed to put away more money than I thought was there in the first place so it helps me a lot.
1 person likes this
@payposter (10)
• United States
30 Dec 06
Yes, last month I was laid off, but it wasn't my fault. The company just went bankrupt. Luckily, I had a huge savings account.. hoping to buy a new car. Unfortunately, I had to use it to get through life without a job.
1 person likes this
@amit312_18 (638)
• India
29 Dec 06
No i have not experienced it but have learnt it from the way you have told it.yes i do agree with you that we must save something for the rainy days...they can be of any form....unfortunate accident may take 20-30days,loss of job,urgency to shift,unfortunate event as factory or company being locked,strikes...if we will save enuff in these terms then we will be secure atleast for some more days.and what else if v have some big investment to make...then our saving can have a big help.so it helps only...there is no point we should not save.
1 person likes this
@redredsnow (50)
• China
30 Dec 06
I had this experience serval moths ago.but i saved some money for it so that i could get through those rain day.I do agree that we must at least have enough savings that will last 3 months when sth happened to our job .Beacuse it takes about 2 or 3 months to start a new job.
Also, i find out that how to invest our saving money to make more money is as important as saving money.
1 person likes this
@aileen2008 (838)
• Philippines
30 Dec 06
I had been unemeployed. But because I have enough earnings, me and my bofriend put up our own business, which until now is doing ok.
Yes it is true, we should be like ants and save for the rainy days ahead. We'll never know when the rain would strike so it would help us if we already saved for the future.
1 person likes this
@keela_mark (128)
• United States
30 Dec 06
You are right. I am currently in a similar situation and really unsure about alot of things. I can say that life is a big test, however I have learned a great deal of survival tactics in my ordeal.
