I basically ignored anything to do with financial planning for well over a decade when I was drinking, and it's taken me a couple of years to get my finances sorted since getting sober. About the only thing I did right was when I was 20 was start saving in an RRSP (Canadian equivalent to a 401K). It was only 50 bucks every 2 weeks, but it added up. Retirement's still 25 years away for me and I've since ramped up my savings, so I have time to save.

One of the best things for me, because I'm lousy at saving money is automatic payroll deductions - I have money taken right off of my paycheck and deposited into an RRSP. Once you get used to not having the money you don't notice not having it, and making regular contributions through the year is a heck of a lot easier than trying to come up with one lump sum at the end of the year.

I'm thinking of starting an automatic withdrawl from my chequing account, the day after I get paid, to put into a savings account for emergencies. I got hit with a couple of big repair bills on my car, and it wiped out my immediate savings, still carrying some of it on my credit cards. Looking forward to my tax refund to pay it off, and then the rest of the tax refund is going into locked in savings.

I know it's hard to save - but if you can make it regular, even if it's a small amount it's amazing how fast it can add up.

--splitimage