Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 2

Budgeting, Goal Setting, and Valuing Saving

IN THIS CHAPTER

Getting in the savings mindset

Quantifying the impact of long-term saving

Budgeting and goal setting

Prioritizing your financial goals

Unless you’re the offspring of wealthy parents or grandparents who have left you a sizable sum of money, you need to save money to accomplish your personal and financial goals. Early in your working years, saving money can be a challenge, of course, especially since you’re likely not earning a super-high income.

When you’re first starting out, your salary is probably somewhat low, and after fixed expenses (such as rent/mortgage, food, insurance, cell-phone service, and other payments that you can’t easily get rid of), you may not have much money left for “fun” discretionary spending, let alone additional savings. Remember, though, that when it comes to building wealth, it doesn’t matter what you make — it’s what you spend and, therefore, are able to save. Many wealthy people didn’t get rich based exclusively on their big salaries, but through disciplined savings and wise investing ...