🌈 A quick taster for you:

• Keep 3 months' salary as a buffer for unexpected costs.
• Don’t save what’s left over after spending — spend what’s left over after saving.
• OWWN actively helps you to save.

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🧐 Why do I care?

• Your goals no doubt cost money — whether it’s travelling the world, getting a new bike, or buying your own apartment. But how do you turn those dreams into reality? By saving, which is an essential part of accumulating wealth. 
• Life happens —your washing machine could give up the ghost, or your car could break down, and you want to have the money to pay for it? Then it’s wise to think about putting a financial buffer in place. And if the idea of saving sounds stuffy or boring, then we’ve put together a few tricks to make saving easy and fun.

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🔍 What exactly is happening here?

• Keep an eye on your goals
  A holiday in Bali, owning your own apartment, or taking time off work to write your novel... what’s your goal? Keep it in mind, and allow yourself to imagine how good it will feel when you achieve it — because saving will be a thousand times easier if you know what you are doing it for!
  
  
• Back to the future
  Do you know how much it’ll cost to do what you want to do? If not, calculate it and then work backwards to understand how much money you need to be saving. This way you set your own bar, and reaching the goal will become much easier.
  
  
• Think before you click
  We see something, and we want it — whether it's a new pair of shoes, the new iPhone, or ordering takeout for the fifth time this week. But if you want to save money, try asking yourself: “Do I really need this right now?” Resist the impulse to buy it straight away, and ask yourself the same question in a week or a month. And when it comes to food, remember that cooking at home is not only cheaper than ordering takeaways, but it also tends to be healthier and more sustainable.
  
  
• How many hours do you have to work for it?
  When there’s something we want to buy, the price can often feel totally abstract. To make it feel more real, try calculating how many hours you’ll have to work in order to buy it. And then ask yourself: “Are these shoes really worth working twelve hours for?”
  
  
• Saving before spending
  Instead of just saving whatever happens to be left over at the end of the month, do the opposite: First put aside the money you want to save, and then feel free to spend the rest. It's also a good idea to set up a standing order so that your savings automatically go into a separate account.
  
  
• Watch your money grow!
  Look each month to see how much money you’ve put aside — it’s really motivating to see your savings actually growing! And every euro brings you a little closer to your goals!

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🤓 What does this mean for me?

• 3 months' salary
  Gandhi once said it was wise to have 3 months' salary set aside for emergencies. Okay, it probably wasn't Gandhi who said that, but the rule of thumb still applies! It’ll give you a nest egg to bail you out of surprise expenses, or keep you afloat for a few months whenever you need it.
  
  
• And where should you put the money you save?
  One option is to simply keep money in your checking account — you can access it whenever you need it. Another option is to invest your money. To get more information about this, just read our The Briefing articles about funds and ETFs.
  
  
• OWWN helps you save money!
  You can actively save money with OWWN — with discounts, cashbacks or by creating your own rules such as ‘Round Up’ where small amounts are deposited directly into your savings wallet.

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