Everyone wants extra money in their pockets and web searches show this fact everyday. Why are the same people searching for ways to save money when they already know the answer? Simple, they have the answer and they don’t like what it says. What people really want is to make more money in order to live the lifestyle that they are currently living. But get this…once people attain a higher wage they end up spending more money and are AGAIN living paycheck to paycheck. Unless people reprogram their brains on what needs to be saved and how, they will always end up in the same place no matter what the pay stub reads at the end of the day.
Must Do’s:
1. Stop drinking the expensive coffees and eating the expensive meals when you could make pretty much the same things at home. I used to love going to Starbucks but I changed that. I did splurge and buy a Cuisinart Grind ‘n Brew coffeemaker and now buy the Starbucks or Millstone whole beans and make it myself in the morning. Sure it’s still expensive coffee but I don’t want to drink junk in the morning. So I save money by not buying it by the cup everyday but I don’t take away my morning enjoyment. Food is the same way, invest in a dang cookbook. Cutting down an eat out or two a week and gradually making it a special treat instead of something common will save you hundreds per month.
2. Credit Card Killer. You can get the best saving advice in the world from refinancing to getting lower rates to opening CD’s. The fact is that nothing of that matters if you can’t get your credit cards under control. You could solve many of life’s problems without that dang bill every month correct? Try and consolidate your credit card bills with those cheap transfer rates to your lowest rate credit card. Don’t use the other cards!!! Focus on paying off that one credit card bill every month. Paying just the minimum is a killer too but not as bad as your credit rating taking a nosedive into the crapper.
3. Open a separate savings account. Is it really that hard to put 10% of your paycheck into a savings account and leaving it there until you have enough to take your vacation, buy your car or whatever? It really isn’t. If you physically took out a pen and paper and wrote down what you spend money on daily and did this for a whole month without cheating I’m sure you could come up with that 10% somewhere. When you’re tempted to splurge think to yourself if what you’re splurging on is worth putting off that towel on the beach in Maui.
Stop looking for instant gratification and take in the whole picture. Just doing these three things will put you on the right path to taking back your financial freedom.
About the Author
Matthew Faery is the Senior Editor and Researcher for Crusader Investing LLC. http://www.crusaderinvesting.com http://www.crusaderinvesting.blogspot.com
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