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I hope you had a wonderful holiday! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Now it is time to prepare for a new year. One thing I do every year right after Christmas, is examine at our household budget and set up a savings plan for the year.

Steps I Take in Setting Up A Savings Plan

No matter what budgeting system you use, it is really important to look at spending and saving habits. At the beginning of each year, we determine and document savings goals for the year. I love using my Intel 2 in 1 device (Acer Aspire Switch 10) to help me set up a spreadsheet to look at what our projected savings and expenses are for the year.

The first thing we do is project what we will bring home each month, after taxes and payroll deductions. Then we update our household budget, assessing our fixed and variable expenses. I use my Aspire Switch which has 2GB of RAM and Windows 8.1 to help me set this budget.

Next we look at setting some savings goals to keep expenses in check. Everyone has many factors to consider when determining a good savings goal for them, and should consult a professional when deciding. We follow the recommended national savings guildline which recommends that a person that is 35 years of age save between 10-20% of their gross income. There are many ways to compute estimated future earnings and my Intel 2in1 with its processing speed of 1.83 gigahertz allows me to check out varying financial calculations and scenarios.

Once we set our savings goal, we set maximums for our variable expenses. These are things we have a little more control over, such as groceries, clothing, utilities, gas and entertainment. By setting maximums, we can often meet our monthly savings goals. Some months, things come up and we fall a little short, but we try to make it up the following month.We do put money towards savings every single month.

With a budget in place, we can easily monitor what we are spending and saving. I can also check on stock performance and financial news using the tablet feature of my Acer Aspire Switch. from just about anywhere.