Turning a Crisis into an Inconvenience

LISTEN TO INCREASE — Turning a Crisis into an Inconvenience

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Welcome back and I hope your New Year is starting out on the right foot! This is about the time (yes, it only takes a couple weeks), where people start giving up on those New Years resolutions and go back to their old ways they were just unhappy with a couple weeks ago. 

But that isn’t going to be you! Especially when it comes to your financial goals. Because now you have a system and that system is Increase - 8 practical steps to having a full financial tank and the freedom that confidence that comes with it! 

Up to this point, we’ve talked about the first 6 steps. If you’re just joining us, no worries. You can catch up at www.trumbleagency.com/increase anytime and learn the first 6 simple steps! Today, we’re talking about Step 7: New Zero In Savings — and this step is where your foundation really begins to thicken up!

Let me ask you a question: If your car broke down tomorrow and your mechanic said it was going to cost $3,800 to fix it, would it be annoying, or would it be a crisis?

For most people, it’s a full-blown emergency. And that’s not because they’re irresponsible — it’s because they’ve never been taught how to build intentional savings, which is what we’re talking about today. 

To complete Step 7 and establish your new New Zero in Savings, you need to put away 5 times your monthly expenses - or five times your New Zero in your Checking. 

This step is about creating a thick savings buffer. Not retirement. Not investing. Not dreaming about a beach somewhere. Just safety. Just margin. Just breathing room. So if things go bad, and they often can, you aren’t digging yourself a hole with a credit card. You’ll have the cash to pay for those emergencies. 

Just like your New Zero in your checking, when you see this New Zero in your Savings, that means you’re broke as a joke. The bank is closed! You don’t have $25,000 in savings for that house project or that extra vacation, you have ZERO dollars. 

That’s the beauty of this New Zero. It makes your bank accounts crystal clear. When you see this number in your savings account, again, 5 times your monthly expenses, you know that you have a solid savings foundation and are prepared. But you also don’t have any more to spend. It is your New Zero. 

What if you have to use it? I’ve used my New Zero in my Savings on multiple occasions. My drain field went bad, my hot water heater went out and I had trees leaning up against my house that needed to be removed… all in the same month! But I had the cash. It wasn’t a financial emergency. It just sucked to have to drain that New Zero. 

But when you tap into it, you need to rebuild it. Because if it is your New Zero, when you are below that number, it means you are in the negatives. Not negatives to your credit card company, but negative to yourself and your financial foundation. 

This target is often a pretty substantial poke for people. Five times your monthly expenses is a lot of money. So don’t be surprised if it takes a bit of time to build this up. But once you are on this step, you’ll start allocating all additional income to funding your New Zero in your savings. And when you do, you’ll have a financial foundation that can quite literally protect you from financial storms when they come. 

Your New Zero in Savings turns a crisis into an inconvenience. And that’s a much better place to be.

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Zach Santmier is the owner of Trumble Agency, Inc. and the author of the personal financial course, Increase. He focuses on helping families escape paycheck to paycheck living so they can freely pursue their ideal future.