Posts Tagged ‘save’

October19

Saving Money is a Discipline

By: Ririan

Saving money is discipline, pure and simple. It is a discipline like exercising on a daily basis is, or like sticking to a diet. There are no huge secrets to the art of saving money, no secrets that we will reveal that you have never heard before, no earth shattering new technique, just simple focus, mental conditioning and effort. I know many of you think that you just can’t save any money on what you are making, that you barely get by as is, and I am sure for many of you that may be true, but it probably isn’t. The good news is I’m not trying to sell anything here so I am not going to tell you everyone can save money. In this economy many people have lost their jobs, their cars and homes, for them their problems are more severe then simple tips on how to save money. But 90% of you still have jobs and have an income and for you there is more than hope to save money, there is a solution.

First lets do away with the obvious, “if I just made more money I could save more,” this is completely untrue. “I have done a budget and there is no where else I can cut.” Budgets are an outstanding and needed tool for financial health, but just because you have done a budget doesn’t mean there isn’t room to save more money. As stated earlier, saving money is a discipline and like most disciplines it requires dedication, repetition and certain drills. So, for our purposes I am going to suggest one simple drill to work on and perfect, and it won’t cut into your budget, won’t require you to make more money, and will not require you to give up anything significant in your life.

Let’s start with Day one, month one, you need to do one simple thing. Before you go to bed at night take one dollar from your wallet or purse and put it in a drawer. Everyone has a dollar in their pocket, take your loose change you have lying around if you have to, but find a dollar. Now, repeat this procedure every day for thirty days, one month. This is no problem for 99% of the people who are working, do it every day, remember it’s a discipline. At the end of the month, what do you have? Thirty dollars obviously, I know it doesn’t seem like much but you saved thirty dollars more than you did the previous month.

Next, day one, month two. At the end of the day you need to do one simple thing. Take two dollars from your wallet or purse and stick it in the drawer. If you had a dollar in your pocket last month then you will have two dollars in your pocket, no one even notices two dollars. Repeat this procedure for thirty days, do not deviate, at the end of two months you will have saved ninety dollars, I know, seems like a lot of effort for ninety dollars. But you are working towards a goal, developing a discipline, and saving money.
Next, month three day one, repeat the same procedure only with three dollars, if you did two you can do three. At the end of the month you will have saved one hundred and eighty dollars. Do you see where we are heading?

Now I am not saying this can go on forever, the next month is obviously four dollars. At some point to do this you may have to give up something. For me I gave up starbucks in the morning, I made my coffee at home. For a friend of mine to meet his goal he gave up sodas from the vending machine during his coffee break to make his goal of four dollars a day. But if you save four dollars a day for a year you are saving an additional $1500, and if you could save five dollars a day by just making sure you tuck it away in a drawer every night, you will save close to $2,000 a year. And some of you may be able to save even more than that everyday and that will translates into large savings. Most of us really don’t even think about four, five, six or even more dollars, we spend it without considering it no matter our financial situation. But if you instill this discipline, practice it, take it as far as you can without altering your life, you will find that you have acquired a discipline that can save you thousands of dollars a year. Almost every working person can afford to do this, give it a try and see the results. And remember saving money is a discipline, it takes focus and a goal.

Posted in: Money & Finance3 comments

May21

Making A difference in an overwhelming world

By: Ririan

The world is an overwhelming place and it is changing faster every day. Pollution, wars, disease and famine ravage entire countries while individuals across the world are beset by violence, poverty, and a world that is generally indifferent to all of this. The world itself is even threatened through global warming and nuclear war.

Through all of this there is a natural human desire to help. A desire that can be held down by any number of reason but one of the most common is that the problems just seem to large. 30,000 children a day are dying from starvation, and more die in genocides and wars. There is simply nothing that can be done.

There is a story of a prudent businessman who worked near the beach. He would walk along the boardwalk each day and think about the world. He was an average man who understood the futility of trying to change the world.

One day as he walked out he noticed that the entire beach was filled with starfish. He didn’t understand why, but he knew they were going to die and as he walked along the boardwalk he watched them. He tried to imagine what anyone could do. He saw bulldozers pushing them back into the water but knew it was impractical.

Then as he walked he saw a young boy the boy was franticly running along the beach picking up starfish and hurling them back into the ocean. The businessman stopped and watched him for a moment and then walked down to talk to the young boy.

“There are too many, you’ll never make. A difference,” the businessman said as he approached the young boy.
The young boy grabbed another of the starfish from the beach looked at the man then threw the starfish as hard as he could into the water. “It made a difference for that one,” He said.

The story does not say what the businessman did with the lesson he learned. Some hear the lesson but it falls upon deaf ears, other hear but find other excuses. A few though understand the lesson and take it to heart and one of those men not only change the lives of those who they help, but those who understand why they are helping.

The world is an overwhelming place. The problems of this world cannot be solved by the richest or most powerful of men, and they certainly cannot be solved by us. Instead, we must learn a truth greater than that of the size of the world. We must learn that each time we choose to make a difference in a single life we save the world for that person.

Posted in: Self Improvement9 comments

April6

Avoiding Impulse Spending

By: RirianProject

We’ve all been there – standing in a store with a handful of things that you don’t really need. Or you could be the type of person who spends money just to have something to do. Or maybe you shop because you’re hoping to feel better about something. Anyway you cut it – it is impulse spending. Here are a few questions that you can think about and answer.

1.) Does your spouse or partner complain that you spend too much money?

2.) Are you surprised each month when your credit card bill arrives at how much more you charged than you thought you had?

3.) Do you have more shoes and clothes in your closet than you could ever possibly wear?

4.) Do you own every new gadget before it has time to collect dust on a retailer’s shelf?

5.) Do you buy things you didn’t know you wanted until you saw them on display in a store?

If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, you may be an impulse spender! Don’t worry though – we won’t toss you into retail therapy just yet. For many people though, shopping or just spending money in general is more than just a bad habit. There are individuals and families in North America that are racking hundreds of thousands of dollars each and every year because of their impulsive spending.

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how bad impulse spending can be. You already know that it will prevent you from saving for the big things such as a house, car, vacation, or even retirement. It doesn’t stop at just money issues though. It can also put a strain on your personal relationships – and I don’t just mean your spouse or partner. Your kids will pick up on the tension that surrounds anything to do with spending (not to mention the habits you’ll be passing down to them); if you’ve borrowed money from other people and they see you spending like mad – they will get upset with you; and of course money is a well known cause for divorce in this day and age.

Knowing that the problem exists is the first step. I know you hear that statement with every single problem management system out there, but it really is the truth. The next step is starting to set some financial goals. Make them small – even if it’s only a one week goal like not buying any coffee for the week and putting the money you would have spent into an account. Accomplishing goals is a major motivating factor for anyone. So start small, and build big.

Next, you need to start to understand the difference between your wants and your needs. This can be hard to do especially if you are a long time impulse spender. One way you can help yourself with this it to give yourself a mandatory waiting period before any purchases. If you can wait for 24 hours, that’s great! If all you can muster is an hour – then it’s a start. There are also some other ways your can help to manage your spending such as leaving your credit cards and debit cards at home. Make a list of things you need to purchase and bring enough cash to cover the cost. If you see something that you want to buy, you won’t have the ability to purchase it on the spot. The premise behind this is that in the time it takes you to go home and get back to the store, you can determine if the item is a want or a need.

What tricks do you have to manage your spending?

Posted in: Featured, Money & Finance1 comments

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