Released: February 15, 2008

K-State Programs Promote Saving, Money Management Tips

MANHATTAN, Kan. – We’ve all most likely read a news story about people of modest means who donate a million dollars to a community library or fund a new recreation facility for kids in their hometown.

Such donors typically cite the value of saving regularly, yet 52 percent of the more than 2,000 representative Americans surveyed by the Consumer Federation of America and Wachovia reported an inability to save adequately, said Carol Young, Kansas State University Research and Extension financial management specialist.

Respondents cited barriers to saving that ranged from large or unexpected expenses to pressures from family and friends and trips to the mall in the 2007 report.

Spending habits can skew perceptions about the ability to save, said Young, who advised paying yourself first to build an emergency fund, increase personal savings and reduce – and retire – credit card or other debt.

Saving as little as $10 a week adds up to $520, plus interest; saving $20, a week will yield more than $1,000 annually, she said.

Either can be helpful in establishing an emergency fund, said Young, who noted that the Consumer Federation of America reported that Americans, including lower-income households, spent about $2,000 last year on unexpected expenditures.

Two-thirds of these expenditures were related to medical care or motor vehicles, she said.

To ensure regular saving, Young encouraged automatic savings plans via payroll deductions or transfers from payroll deposits to checking, savings or retirement accounts.

“Check with your employer and take advantage of money-saving employee benefits, such as matching contributions to a 401K or other savings options,” she said. If such plans are not available, set up your own automatic deposits from checking to savings.

And, once credit cards are paid off, invest, rather than spend, any annual raise or interest saved, Young said.

K-State Research and Extension financial programs support America Saves Week, Feb. 24-March 2, 2008. The public awareness campaign is sponsored by the Consumer Federation of America and numerous partners across the U.S., and targets increasing savings, reducing debt and strengthening personal financial security.

More information about America Saves Week is available at http://www.americasavesweek.org/.

More information about the state program, Kansas Saves, which includes saving, spending and financial management tips, is available at county and district K-State Research and Extension offices and on the Extension Web site: www.oznet.ksu.edu/financialmanagement. For free enrollment as a Kansas Saver, go to www.kansassaves.org. Enrollees receive an electronic copy of “Build Wealth, Not Debt” (a brochure); savings tips; a quarterly newsletter with financial management tips and links to Kansas Extension offices. Kansas Savers also are encouraged to identify a personal savings goal.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Nancy Peterson
nancyp@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News