Saving is Important, Even During Tough Times

We’ve had an exciting week here at Neighborhood Credit Union. One lucky member won $10,000 just for having and using our prize savings account. As a member, you get one entry for every $25 you deposit to your prize savings account. The more money you save, the better your chances of winning the grand prize.

That, alone, is a great reason to save money. Not only do you earn interest on the money you save, but you increase your chances of winning a lot of money. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know I could certainly use $10,000. Can you?

One of the reasons we offer this promotion is that we know how important it is for our members to save money, even when times are tough. I know this first hand. If you have followed these blogs, you may know that my husband lost his job at the end of February. Life has not been easy since that happened. I think we have eaten out maybe three times since February and my refrigerator is not nearly as full as I used to keep it. Even with very little debt and have very few bills to pay, we have still had to dip into savings on occasion.

Like many people, we didn’t expect to be cut to one income. When it happened, we didn’t think he’d still be looking for a job six months later. Of course, this couldn’t happen when it was cooler outside, so we have had some large electric bills to contend with, not to mention expensive prescriptions, for which we pay full price because we don’t have health insurance. If you have never been the recipient of unemployment before, I have some bad news for you. It pays very little. One two-week payment doesn’t even cover all of our prescriptions and the electric bill.

This is why it is so important to save, even during tough economic times. Six months ago, we were living very comfortably, probably eating out once or twice a week, buying whatever we wanted at the grocery store and even giving money to our church. Most importantly, we were stashing away money in savings, just because we could. I am so thankful we did it when we could, so we have it when we need it most.

Even if you don’t make much, try saving $25 a paycheck. Think of it as one entry into our grand prize drawing every pay day. If that’s too much, try $20 or $15. Do as much as you can and if possible, have it deposited directly to your prize savings account on pay day. After a while, you don’t even miss it. If a time comes when you actually need it, you’ll be glad you took my advice.

The economy is still tough, and the unemployment rate is still high. Save money now so you can be prepared for anything.