SALT LAKE CITY, UT (Good Things Utah) – No one can pass up a chance to save some cash! Vincenza Vicari-Bentley is an Accredited Financial Counselor and Utah State University Program Coordinator for the Empowering Financial Wellness Program. She shares six tips with us to help you jumpstart your savings!

The first tip and what Vincenza says is the key to saving is to set up automatic savings. It takes out the worry of having to transfer money from one account to another, increasing your chances of saving by 100%! With the money out of sight and out of mind resting safely in your savings account, you will be less likely to withdraw it for random purchases.

The second tip is to save for unexpected opportunities. While most people are used to saving for emergencies, why not save some extra cash for a good opportunity that might come your way? Whether it’s an emergency or an opportunity, having some money set aside for the unexpected will keep you ready to go for anything that comes your way.

The third tip is to save for retirement. The earlier you start, the better. Your future self will thank you! Vincenza’s advice is to set a specific percentage of your income to be dedicated to retirement contributions. This way, as your income increases, so does your contribution.

The fourth tip is to save by reducing debt. Paying off debt as soon as you can allows you to save by avoiding interest. Vincenza recommends Utah State’s Power Pay as a free tool to help you eliminate debt using “power” payments.

The fifth tip is to save as a family. Teaching your kids about money can do only good. Financial responsibility is an important skill to have throughout life. Whether you have kids or not, setting a family goal to save for something fun you all want to do together can help us see how saving pays off.

Lastly, the sixth tip is to save for college. Everyone knows the importance of saving for education and there are many college savings plans that make it easy for you. Plans like my529 make it easy to set aside money to cover all the expenses that can come along with education.

Utah State University teaches free weekly webinars on all sorts of financial topics. Go to their website finance.usu.edu/efw to see their schedule and register to participate. It’s never too late to start saving, so start now!