7 Serious Ways to Save Money Not for the Faint of Heart
Do you truly want to save? Take a serious look at how you spend and then change it. Quit smoking those cigars, take in a roommate, park your carand youll save as much as ,000 a year. It really is just as easy as all that!
Are you finding it harder and harder to blame savings shortfalls on your measly pay check?
Will it surprise you to learn that how much you save has little to do with your income? Well it is very true, in fact. It has more to do with whether you want to save and are willing to adjust your finances to boost your savings.
A recent study by Ventis and Wise, Choice, Chance and Wealth Dispersion at Retirement, found a very wide range in how much people at the same income levels were able to save for retirement. The study pointed out that it wasnt just the higher income folks who managed to save the most. Indeed, even people in the lowest income groups were able to save more than some of their middle-income peersby as much as 0,000.
What was their conclusion? Persons with little savings on the eve of retirement have simply chosen not to save as much and spend more over their lifetimes.
The key, then, is simple enough: Spend less than you earn and SAVE MORE.
It is easy to see why some people get into financial trouble.
Some people dont stop and think that earning money is only one part of the financial health equation. The other critical part is learning how to manage money and save.
A big part of the problem for so many is that people just dont know enough about their own financial reality. They dont even know what they earn, they dont even know what it takes to live comfortably, and they dont even know their true, discretionary income.
What can be the solution?
People need to educate themselves. Sit down with your monthly bills and statements and figure out your real income and outgo. Then, decide if you like what you see. If not, create a realistic plan for changing it.
To help with the process, ask yourself these four essential questions:
Whats my true and current financial picture?
How do I choose to live?
Can my current money support this and how do I really want to use my money?
How can I best make use of my money?
Treat managing your money as if you would any other household chore and allot enough time for it each month.
Make note that: Many of the financial tools that have made life more convenientsuch as credit cardscan promote very bad financial habits and prolong debt when misused. Credit cards should be used ONLY as the cash-management tool that they are and not as a borrowing tool.
Keep in mind that you are spending tomorrows money when you put things on a credit card. You keep locking yourself up and losing your freedom, bit by bit.
The bottom line on financial health is Stop Spending
Take your lunch to work every day!
Cashadvance
Put a set amount of allowance into an envelope and determine that this will be all you will be allowed to spend for any given week.
Credit cards are perhaps one of the most expensive forms of money. Place it somewhere that is hidden away. For the wealthy, the two can go hand in hand. My Spending Report tracks online bill payments and Wells Fargo debit- and credit-card charges, and plugs them into one of 20 categories so that you can see how much youve spent on, say, movies and restaurant meals.
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