by William Bond

Created on: March 05, 2010

Large purchases means saving for a specific number of months or years, and there are a number of different ways to do it, and a combination of techniques are needed to reach for that special goal.  At the end of the winter, you find that your heating system needed a great deal of work, to fix it completely would be almost as much, as getting a new one.  You asked a number of heating contractors to give you bids on a new heating system, and after looking over the proposal, you decided to choose the ABC Heating Company, and the price will be $5,000.  You  need to save this amount of money  to fix it, and not go into debt.  Here are some simple tips to save this money in six short months.

* Emergency Fund has some money.

You started an emergency fund last year and you have $1,500 in it to cover repairs and emergencies you never expected to happen, and once it occurred, you can pay for it  partly out of the emergency fund, rather than try to pay it by credit cards, or take a loan from your 401(k) plan at work.  Other uses of emergency funds include:  repairs on your car to get the inspections sticker, medical or dental work needed but you are not covered by medical insurance,  repairs to your roof, without the repairs the roof would get worse,  plumbing and electric repairs,and others emergencies.  Now take $1,000 out of your emergency fund, and put  it into  a high interest savings account, and call it "The New Heating System". 

Consider taking a weekend job, or a few nights a week.

Retailers are always looking for honest,  hard working people to do cashier work, or stacking the shelves, or working in the clothing departments of the store.  Consider doing some a few nights a week at you community college or business school, you might be able to work two semesters and earn a few thousand dollars teaching.  If you enjoy teaching this could become an excellent way to make extra income and you really enjoy it.  You can teach anything  do in your regular job, such as accounting, engineering, graphic artwork, computer training, and website developing among others.  Put the $2,000 you earned teaching, into the high interest savings account "The New Heating System".  Now you have $3,000,($1,000+$2.000=$3,000) only $2,000 to go.  

Direct some money from your full time  job into "The New Heating  System" saving account.

Since you employer sends your payroll each  week  to you checking account, ask your bank to automatically send $60  a week for 24 weeks to your special saving account for your heating system, for a total of $1,440(24X60=$1,440).  Notice how easy it becomes to save when you never even see the money, it does directly to where you needed the money to go.  Now your fund have $4,440($3,000+1,440=$4,440).  To complete the cost of the heating system, you will need only $560.

* You and your spouse,or another  family member can split the final $560 needed.

You worked hard, and you were very creative about how your creatively saved  your money necessary to save for it in full, without touching the credit cards, or taking a personal loan for 3-4 years at a loan company or bank.  The final $560+$4,440=$5,000 and you did a remarkable job  in getting it all done.  Congratulations on a job well done, give yourself a special treat, with a nice meal at your favorite restaurant, you really deserve it. 

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