Saving is something that many of us put on the back burner. We label it as something we’ll get to when we have “extra money” to set aside. Somehow, you never get any extra cash. For every extra penny earned there comes another expense to suck it up. I know that’s my story. I never regarded saving as something that was a high priority. I knew of the benefits and ways to get started but felt there was no need because I was doing just fine providing for my family with my income.

Then Life Happens

Then, a little thing called time got the best of me, and circumstances would arise in our lives that I simply wasn’t prepared for. I was unemployed for several years and had to scrape pennies to survive, if we wanted to make a big-ticket purchase or treat ourselves to a vacation, it was impossible because we didn’t have the cash. When my oldest was ready for college, he ended up having to take out loans because we never saved a dime. Not to mention, we also had to take on the responsibility of helping our parents out for a while because they didn’t have much left in their retirement savings.

That’s Why You Should Save

That’s when I realized if I had only set up a savings plan, many of these struggles we went through wouldn’t have been this difficult to get through. As a responsible adult and parent, it is your responsibility to save for both you and your children’s futures. When you have money in an account you can access, it opens doors and saves a lot of frustration. So, I began setting up savings accounts in these areas:

• Emergencies - Throughout life, financial emergencies will come up all the time. You or your spouse fall ill and need long-term care, you lose your job and can’t find employment for years, your car breaks down and you need a new one, there’s a safety hazard that needs repairing in the house, the list goes on and on. Though you may not be able to control these circumstances, you can be better prepared with an emergency savings account. This is a savings account which would be exclusively designed for financial emergencies that your income can’t cover.

• Retirement - Some might look at planning for retirement as something you do for yourself, however, it’s for your children as well. As I pointed out from my personal experience when my parents didn’t have enough money saved up, the burden ultimately fell on us. You can save yourself and your children a lot of stress and money by putting up for retirement now. If you’re not sure of where to start or how to make this possible, you can take financial planning classes to help you in saving towards your future.

• College - All parents have high hopes for their children after they graduate high school, and college is often included in those dreams. Higher education can cost an upwards of $20,000 per year depending on what school they’re attending. When my son had to pay for college, lack of savings meant he had to borrow money. Sure, it helps for now, but when he graduates, he’ll be starting his adult life in debt. There are college savings plans and other accounts you can open to begin putting away for your children’s futures so they don’t have to start life as an adult dealing with thousands of dollars of debt.

• Common Luxuries - You ever want to go on vacation or buy a new flat screen television but you don’t have the money to do it? If you’re like me, you pull out the credit cards and pile on the debt. But there is an easier solution which would simply be to save. Putting away even $100 a month gives you $1200 a year you can use to travel, buy electronics, or do whatever you’d like without having to go into debt or sacrifice anything.

You just never know what could come up in life that you need money to resolve. I learned the hard way that I should have made saving more of a priority for my family. I hope that my story and the tips provided above will help you avoid the same troubles I went through. No matter what you have to give, it’s never too late to start securing a better future for you and your family.