There is something about pockets in a dress that makes me squeal like a little girl. Strangely enough, as I was researching why women love our pockets I found quite a bit of information about the political-ness of them and how they represented freedom to women in earlier years. I knew I sensed something very liberating about them.
I’ve noticed that many women when we go to a casino or gamble tend to use our pockets more than men. When we win, we stash a bit away in our purse or pocket to hopefully end up walking out with some at the end of the night. And we typically do…if we haven’t handed it over to a begging spouse who went all in…again. (Haha)
What if we applied that mentality to building a financial legacy?
Women do 85% of all consumer spending in the country. We have the majority of the degrees earned over men which also means we owe the most in student loans. We make 91% of home buying decisions. We hold the key to walking out at the end of this life with a little something and that’s by stashing some away in our pockets.
So, what are pockets when it comes to money?
Pockets are specific accounts with a mission that generate automatic savings. A system set up for automatically depositing small amounts into accounts with a specific purpose. Some potential pocket purposes could be: emergency fund, saving for a down payment, paying off your credit card, trip to Italy, dental implants, a car or kids college money.
How do you set up your pockets system?
Of course, you can use traditional methods of putting change in a piggy bank or water jug or use envelopes but I have found more practical ways that you can automate the process to amplify the savings.
Here are a few ideas for pockets to look into:
These Apps help to automate saving a small amount every day. They are great for the beginner investor and you can build pockets setting up small automatic deposits from your bank account to purchase stocks or let them do it for you.
These cash back sites that give you cash back for shopping through their apps or booking travel:
Set up an automatic savings account like the one offered at Self Lender that automatically withdraws money monthly for a specific term and helps boost your credit along the way. At the end of the term, you get all the money in that pocket.
Set up a partial direct deposit through your employer into a separate checking or savings that is difficult for you to access.
If you purchase a discounted gift card through Gift Card Granny app for something you are about to purchase anyway move the difference into the Tip Yourself App and watch that pocket grow by you rewarding yourself with the savings.
Set a reminder to check your pockets once a month to see how they are building.
The less you see the deposits happening the better. It doesn’t have to be anything more than a dollar going into each pocket a month. The key is to set it up and let it do its magic without you noticing.
Hope you can implement this pocket mentality and that these tips empower or inspire you to make 2018 the year you create more REAL Pocket Change.