Best PF Practices of the Year!

Last Friday, my friend at Mrs. Micah: Finance for a Freelance Life started a writing project that asked us to share our best PF practices of the year. I thought it was an excellent way to wrap up the year, so I will add my two cents here. I wanted to refer to my old MOMA post and say, “Save 10% of your income and make it automatic,” but I am going to add a little twist.

When saving money or paying bills, it’s easiest when we do it little by little, automatically.

Footprints in the sand

Photo via stock.xchng

ChristianPF wrote a post called “Divide and Conquer.” It said that things are a lot more manageable when you do it little by little, instead of all at once. This was one reason why I switched my car and home insurance. I used to pay annually for my home insurance, and twice a year for car insurance. It was very difficult for me to come up with $1,400 right before Christmas to pay for home insurance, and another $1,300 twice a year for my car insurance. When I switched to Liberty Mutual, things got a lot easier not only because of the lower rates, but they are now automatically deducting a small amount each month from my bank account — I don’t even notice the pain anymore.

I am also doing well saving money for retirement and my son’s college education by saving little by little, automatically. For instance, I make regular contributions directly from my paychecks to my 401k, and I have monthly automatic deduction to fund my son’s 529 college savings plan with Upromise.com.

Below are other bloggers who wrote about the best PF practices of the year:

It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep @ Plonkee Money
Snowflaking – A Primer @ I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…
Charge Yourself Exorbitant Banking Fees @ Finance and Fat
Think Outside the Box! @ BeingFrugal.net
0% Credit Card Arbitrage Strategy @ My Dollar Plan
Create a Cash Cushion by Rounding @ Collecting My Cash
Own Quality not Quantity @ Early Retirement Extreme
Automate Your Finances @ Credit Withdrawal
Manage Your Finance Together @ Gather Little By Little

Lastly, I would like to leave you with a little quote I made up:

“You could walk a thousand miles, but leaping the distance is all but impossible.”

8 Comments

glblguy
December 19, 2007, 7:28

Great suggestion. I’m all in favor of “little by little” Nice image too, reminds me of the Christian poem “Footprints”.
My Dollar Plan
December 19, 2007, 8:23

There is no fee for doing monthly payments on your insurance, right? I’m not familiar with Liberty Mutual, but some companies charge extra if you don’t pay in full.
Pinyo
December 19, 2007, 8:26

@glblguy – I like little by little too, and I love that poem.
@My Dollar Plan – That’s the best thing, no extra fee whatsoever. It’s exactly equal to yearly cost divided by 12.
Joel
December 19, 2007, 9:47

love that poem
Eden
December 19, 2007, 11:46

I like your quote!
And thanks for the link.
Mrs. Micah
December 19, 2007, 14:25

Yay! It’s a great practice.
Pinyo
December 19, 2007, 16:15

@Joel – Welcome to Moolanomy.
@Eden – No problem. I like your idea by the way. Very cool.
@Mrs. Micah – thank you for starting things off.
Make Friends, Earn Money
February 14, 2008, 4:32

Love the graphic in this post and i agree with your comments about saving money little by little. If we strt with the small things we often build a habit which then feeds nto the larger financial aspects of what we do.