Too often, people put off saving towards a particular goal because they don't have the spare cash flow to do so. Saving can be very daunting, I recently figured out that to fully fund my child's college education, and assuming a 6% return, I need to stash away almost $500 per month. Of course, I don't have anywhere near that amount available, so what should I do?

The key is to save something. Start putting away whatever dollar amount you can afford, but do it now. In the future you can raise this amount to be more inline with what you need, but you aren't doing yourself any favors by simply ignoring the savings plan now.

In my particular case, I decided to start putting $50 a month into my child's college plan, and every year I will increase my contribution by $50 per month. Yes, the plan will be back heavy, but not nearly as back heavy as if I decided not to do anything now.

Whatever your goal is, have a plan to put a certain amount into it every month (or every paycheck). Even if it's just $10 a month, it's better than nothing. In ten years, a $10 per month contribution will be worth over $1000, even with no interest, while not contributing at all will be worth nothing.mortgage calculator