Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Keith McCord ReportingAre you regularly putting money away in a savings account? You don't have to answer that, because statistics show that Utahns, and all Americans, are very bad about saving money. A new program was launched today to encourage us to save more and spend less. It's called "Utah Saves" and its focus is simple.
Deborah Bayle Nielsen, Pres. & CEO United Way of Utah: "With today's launch of Utah Saves, we expect to reach all Utahns with messages of the importance of saving so they can reach that financial stability and peace of mind that is so important."
A recent survey by the United Way of Utah showed that the number one core issue facing families is "insufficient income". Too many of us are living paycheck to paycheck and not saving anything. Question is, how can we put away for the future, and still get by? That's where "Utah Saves" can help.
With the support of more than 90 businesses, community groups, financial institutions, and other organizations in all 29 counties, if you need advice, encouragement, motivation, you can find it, and it's free!
Deborah Bayle Nielsen: "Utah Saves can pull all that information together. We've been working on this for over a year an a half to centralize that information, so that any Utahn can pick up the phone, log on to a computer, and with one phone number or one site, find people to help for free and with nothing to sell. Information that people can trust."
Today's kick-off also featured sage advice from several of our Founding Fathers, including George Washington, Brigham Young, and Ben Franklin, who said a long time ago, "A penny saved is a penny earned."
And saving a penny is actually pretty easy. Bringing lunch to work instead of eating out everyday can save you 13-hundred dollars a year. Just a basic cup of coffee instead of the fancy lattes can save you 40 dollars a month. All that loose pocket change that you accumulate will add up to 15-bucks a month. If you buy the store brand when you shop, you can save as much as 140-dollars a year.
Little steps like these can help improve our financial future. There's much more information on the "Utah Saves" website.
