Worried you won't have money for retirement after your divorce?  Or perhaps you negotiated a good settlement and/or have investments for your golden years and just seek a little icing on your IRA or 401(k) cake? 

Anyone can save money!

Open your banking app. Even if there isn’t one extra dollar in your account(s) and no plans to earn more, you could still save over $100K in 10 years!

Who wouldn't want $100K without having to earn more through a job or business?  Now, anyone can save money!

Instead of trying to add more hours to your work week, we have 12 tips over 12 months that can increase your annual savings.  

Think you've heard this simple finance mastery before?

Think Again!

Saving doesn't have to be about earning enough to do so.  Instead, develop a lifestyle centered around passive intention and forward thinking.

Passive Intention - Find long-term value > activity/work in everything.  If it takes 5 minutes to sign-up for something that could produce as little as $30/year, do it.  Be mindful and intentional about finding worth in anything that could increase your net worth.  Feed your savings with small incremental deposits, then make deposits monthly into specific investments.  Gain financial knowledge and awareness when you stop wasting money.  Modify your lifestyle slowly as you develop a heightened sense of financial knowledge.

Forward thinking - Value your future by letting go of the past.    Be mindful of the future value of the time or money you put into something today.  That FREE loyalty program requiring a purchase equal to $5, saving you $30/year could be worth $554 of your $116k in 10 years.  But don't bauk at the small portion of your long-term investment. A good portion of that huge nest egg is made up of those types of opportunities! 

Wasteful spending today works the same way, but as a loss instead of gain.  Your coffee from QT® on your way to work a few days every week could cost your future self thousands of dollars! The simple fact is that there's minimal extra time in making it at home, but the savings is phenomenal!

The Best Part of Wakin’ Up is Folgers in Your Cup!  (and a few thousand dollars in your investment account)

Still not impressed?  Okay, think of it this way.  That 5-minutes is worth $6,648/hour when you factor in its potential daily savings and consequential growth over the term of the investment.

Some say, "Pay yourself first". 

We say, "Pay your future self by way of passive intention and forward thinking." 

How?

10 years is a long time from now, but when you get there, today will seem like yesterday.  In other words, insignificant changes today will make a dramatic difference tomorrow because they have the power to accumulate over a long time-period.  Ten years is 3,650 days and 120 months of daily and monthly changes that add minor incremental savings. Mathematically the accumulation is significant.  Invested properly and the compounding interest makes small daily and monthly changes into enormous, annual savings in comparison to the minute contributions.

Time passes faster in your mind than it does in your investment accounts.

You live day by day, so while the mathematical equations that determine interest earned on your savings account for every penny day in-day out, we reconcile time based on recency, life changing events and remarkable occasions/situations.  Weeks seem like yesterday, and we wonder where the time went when looking back 10 years ago.  This is because contributions and interest (the math) produce on every second of that time-period regardless of if you can remember it or not.  In fact, few people could recall every single day of the past ten years, but your investments 

e.g., Do you remember every single day over the last 10 years?  Most of you would say, "no".  But good investments can because the math makes more than sense, it accumulates wealth and represents growth on every single day of those ten years.

We get the concept, but somehow, we never stick with it.

A common stumbling block is that we watch this or read that and then start changing our lifestyle to fit our future goals into our lives to save big money. 

There are a lot of ideas we have to offer you today.  Books, blogs like ours, podcasts, and seminars also offer a huge amount of advice and ideas to ensure value to their audience. 

Of course, we all drop-in on your mindset and rearrange the furniture so that by the time you're done reading, listening, or watching your money goals are top-of-mind.  But your savings won't transform itself overnight and neither will your changes in lifestyle.  

Good news, the changes you make slowly over a course of 12 months will make less of a negative impact on your overall savings than widespread immediate changes.  Reasonable lifestyle modifications during the first year ensure greater success over immediate changes that are too hard to maintain, leading to an eventual return to old habits and minimal savings.

So now you have it.  The secret is to slowly add changes and goals over time.  That same concept of incremental growth is how your money grows.  Just apply ongoing improvements that support passive intentions and forward thinking like the slow, steady growth of your investment.  

This savings method isn't built on big contributions and immediate results.  Instead, it's about finding value through changes in your current lifestyle, gaining financial knowledge that provides insight for greater opportunity in everyday life and investments with potential for growth. 

Food for thought

We hope after you read this article, you'll be inspired to make changes in your life. The changes can pave the road to a financially stable retirement. Even if you are divorced, broke and over 40 years old, you could still end up with nearly a quarter-million dollars before the average age of retirement.  And the best part is you'll do this without ever having to work an extra day in your life.

Think these changes produce chump change and are not worth the effort?

Money Math Mastery:

You can start to invest in an investment account or keep your savings in a passbook savings account at your bank for the first year.  If you follow the tips, you could have over $100k.  But know the tips are just suggestions meant to help you find value in your own lifestyle changes.  Once you replace some of our ideas with yours, the figure will obviously change, but it should be near whatever goal you set for yourself.

Regardless of if you started investing in month one or are just getting started after year one, ensure the savings gets into a secure investment account earning 10-20% annually.  Then make monthly ($6,120 / 12) deposits thereafter.

Total for year one = $3,290 X 1 year = $3,290 (year 1 will typically be a lesser amount)

Total each year two thru ten = $6,120 x 9 years = $55,080

Total 10-year investment = $58,370

---

Once invested in a moderate risk investment the Total 10-year investment becomes,

$115,824.16 

Food for thought

Let that same investment mature another 10-years with the same monthly contributions ($6,120) and your nest egg becomes,

$418,011 (Total 20 years)

10-year investment details: Moderate risk investment with annual compound interest and a return rate of 10% (starting amount of $3,290 with subsequent investments of $6,120 at the beginning of each year for 9 years)

After twelve months of savings

Since you may have different amounts to invest based on your individual circumstances, we used our figures on end-of-year savings based on estimates from our '12 Months of Savings' below.  Remember the first year's savings will be less than the other nine years since eleven of the initial twelve months will not include a full 12 months of savings.  We will only list the monthly savings necessary to keep it simple.

A few things to note: The amounts above are pretax and do not account for inflation.  However, money that was previously taxed is not taxed again, only the earnings from investing it.  Other small annual earnings under a certain amount may not be taxable and/or may not be taxable upon retirement.  Consult a local Tax Accountant to consider or assess your tax liability.  Consult a Financial Advisor for more details about investing your monthly or annual contributions.

Inflation should never deter you from investing.  It should incent you.

Twelve Months of Savings 

Estimates are based on Annual, monthly average estimates based on a family of 3-5.  

October 2023 (savings based on 12 months for years 1-10)

Streaming Services - There are a great many activities that are better for you than watching anything.  Cut out at least one streaming service, reduce your cable package/channels, invest in a ROKU® Streaming Player which has numerous free streaming services and can be used in place of rented equipment for cable services.

Estimated Savings, $15/month ($180 year 1)      

November 2023 (savings based on 11 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Drive-thru Lunches - Invest in an insulated lunch bag after saving a few bucks and pack your lunch the night before for an easy grab-n-go lunch.  It's usually healthier, cheaper and wastes less time.  Note: The money you invest on your food from a grocery store to make your lunch at home has already been deducted from the savings below.

Estimated Savings, $90/month ($990 year 1) ($1,080 years 2-10) 

December 2023 (savings based on 10 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Dry Cleaning - Invest in a home dry cleaning kit for the dryer and/or avoid buying dry clean only items when possible.  Hang dry clean items in humid bathroom during a shower and use a fabric refresher to get more than one day's wear out of each item.  Fresh?  Fresh enough and save a lot of moola!   

Estimated Savings, $20/month ($200 year 1) ($240 years 2-10)  

January 2024 (savings based on 9 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)                  

Bottled Water Beverages - Buy a Brita Water Filter® and pre-bottle your water in glass bottles.  It's better for the environment, less to carry from cart to car to house and less acidic than plastic bottled water.  Ask your dentist. Did you know tap water is usually better for your teeth than bottled water?

Estimated Savings, $20/month ($180 year 1) ($240 years 2-10)

February 2024 (savings based on 8 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Convenience store items - Items that can be bought at a convenience shop that could be bought at a local grocer should always be avoided (bread, eggs, soda, beer).  Think ahead, make grocery lists and stock up at warehouse clubs on snacks, coffee, and frozen goods.  If you can't stop buying morning coffee, invest in paper products, they will still be cheaper and even more convenient than the shop on the corner.

Estimated Savings, $50/month ($400 year 1) ($600 years 2-10)

March 2024 (savings based on 7 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Shopping/Delivery Services - This has pros and cons.  Ordering your groceries online may help you avoid impulse spending, save time, and help you plan more nutritious meals in advance.  The downside is that the costs, with a reasonable tip, can also be pricey.  Avoid the delivery, have someone shop for you, but drive to the store if within 5 miles of your home and pick it up yourself to reduce the fee.

Estimated Savings, $60/month ($420 year 1) ($720 years 2-10)

April 2024 (savings based on 6 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

New Clothes - Not only is the textile industry incredibly hard on the environment, but the resale industry is on a steep trend upward, reducing any stigma of “used threads”. If you still can't bring yourself to shop resale, consider selling gently worn items to shops like Plato's Closet®, online retailers like thredUP®, TheRealReal®, Poshmark® or through sites like ebay® and Amazon®.

Estimated Savings, $25/month ($150 year 1) ($300 years 2-10)

May 2024 (savings based on 5 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Dinners Out - Make eating at home great again! Start a family digital dinner book to improve family participation and an easier dinner preparation routine.  Devote each page to a dinner that you prepare.  Include pictures, menu, ingredients for shopping list and suggestions for changes.   Along with more family interaction regarding the menu (meaning fewer requests for take-out, pizza delivery and/or eating out) you can prepare meals in advance on Sunday or at least complete some meal prep to make sure you stick to your dinner menu.  Too much?  No problem, just cut back on eating out and save money! 

Estimated Savings, $100/month ($500 year 1) ($1200 years 2-10)

June 2024 (savings based on 4 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Expensive Coffee - Isn't it weird that when you have so many options, you suddenly feel obligated to try them...ALL.  Unfortunately, with single serve options, flavors, brands, and creamers, many of us spend twice as much on our morning cup of jo than just a few years ago.  Store brands and options from discount stores like ALDI® will still provide you with a good deal of options at a much lower price.  Otherwise, Folgers® and Maxwell House® still provide great flavor for a lot less money than those Jamaican coffee beans or worse yet, Starbucks® on the way to work.

Estimated Savings, $20/month ($80 year 1) ($240 years 2-10)

July 2024 (savings based on 3 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Loyalty Programs and Coupon Apps - There are many coupon apps with ease-of-use technology that make saving money on food, gas, and miscellaneous services a no brainer.  Loyalty programs, especially at places like grocery stores, gas stations and places you visit frequently to ensure those nickels and dimes work for you instead of against you.

Estimated Savings, $30/month ($90 year 1) ($360 years 2-10)

August 2024 (savings based on 2 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Donations - Generosity is a virtue but not at the expense of your financial security.  Learn to say "no" when contacted, especially for causes or charities for which you know little about or have no previous ties.  Unsubscribe and limit your budget annually and don't be afraid to let requesters know you do not have the funds in your budget.  Once you give, you may become an annual target.  

Estimated Savings, $20/month ($40 year 1) ($240 years 2-10)

September 2024 (savings based on 1 months for year 1 and 12 months for years 9-10)

Savings Apps - Numerous apps like Acorns® can help you easily invest your money.  They also help with Round Up® programs that round up every purchase to the nearest whole dollar.  If you make a lot of transactions, the program will produce huge contributions based on a former weakness in your ability to save based on spending habits.  Now those habits help!  Remember to add debit cards for each member of your immediate family to maximize this saving program.

Estimated Savings, $60/month ($60 year 1) ($720 years 2-10)