Wealth building is not always about making it big, with outrageously innovative ideas. Sometimes it is simply about saving and actively maintaining financial security. Here are some great tips to help you get started on this path.
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Amazing Money Tip #1:
The great scientist Albert Einstein once said, “It takes a genius to see the obvious.” What he meant by that is that sometimes the simplest things in life are the most powerful … but because they are so simple, we tend to ignore them, and not let them work for us.
One of the simplest but most powerful money making ideas is this: Keep a daily log of everything you spend. Go to the dime store and buy a little notebook. Carry it with you wherever you go. Write down every penny – every single penny – you spend every day. It’s as simple as that.
If you do this, you will find something magic happening in your financial life in just a few weeks.
There is something incredibly powerful about writing down all your expenditures. It makes the flow of money through your life more real and exact. It shows you simply and clearly just where you are spending your money, on what and why. Once you know that, it becomes much easier to control your spending.
Many people who have taken up this practice have not only learned something about themselves which they never knew before, but they are often astounded.
For example, one woman realized through examining her notebook that she actually spent nearly $2,000 per year on diet soft drinks, snacks and candy bars! Since her job as a office clerk brought her a scant $12,000 per year, she realized that one-sixth of her entire income was being frittered away on something entirely frivolous. The woman gave up the snacks and drinks, and found she had enough money to afford health insurance – plus has $400 left over. If you could choose snacks or health insurance, which would you choose?
The point is, it was her daily expense log that helped her achieve the insight and clarity she needed to get control of her finances. That’s what a simple spending record will do for you – it will give you control over your spending, and thus your financial life. There may be nothing but a 75-cent notebook and a ballpoint pen between your life of financial struggle and financial freedom.
Amazing Money Tip #2:
Stop deficit spending! We all know how much trouble Uncle Sam has been creating spending more money than our country takes in. It’s called deficit spending. Well, don’t fool yourself. The same rules apply to you. Using those evil little plastic cards may be the “American Way,” but it’s a damn poor way.
Today, the average credit card holder is carrying $7,000 in plastic debt!
Spending yourself into debt with a credit card is unbelievably easy, as many of you already know. The reason is psychological. When you give that clerk a credit card, it’s just not the same as handing over a stack of green dollar bills. Would you as readily hand over a fistful of ten dollar bills as flip a credit card across a counter? Probably not.
Credit cards put you in the hole and keep you there. Even for people with good incomes, paying your credit card debt down to zero is amazingly difficult. And make no bones about it, credit card debt will sap your financial strength just as readily as an open vein will deplete your physical body of its very life force. Using a credit card by choice can quickly turn to using it for need. Once you get to that point, you are already in trouble.
There is no secret to freeing yourself from the credit card game. You must take out a pair of scissors TODAY, cut your cards in half, and begin paying them back, slowly but surely. Once you stop adding to the debt, even small payment will eventually add up. You can get out of debt if you are patient and disciplined. Once your cards are history, you must adopt a strict pay-as-you go policy. Instead of buying now and paying later, save now and buy when you have the full amount.
Once again, this is not rocket science, but stopping credit-oriented consuming is one of the most powerful financial tools available to anyone today. Why not pick up this tool and use it?
Amazing Tip #3:
Sell your junk. That’s right, it’s high past time for a major garage sale. If you don’t have a garage, it’s time to search through your house or apartment for every single item you don’t need, and could convert quickly to cash at a flea market or garage sale.
Take an inventory. The truth is, most people are astounded by what they own – and how much money they have tied up in useless stuff. Why let it collect dust in your attic while it could collect interest in a savings account.
You could easily be $500, $1,000 … even $3,000 richer by the end of the week. As an added bonus, you’d have your place cleaned up, and you will have a fresh feeling of starting over. A garage sale is an excellent way to not only clean out your house, but it often gives a psychological boost that helps people get control of their life and money.
Amazing Tip #4
Ben Franklin said it long ago: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Yes, It’s still true, and still one of the most powerful money-making tips inall history.
Implied within Franklin’s famous statement is the difficulty of saving. It’s tough to save and easy to spend! You know that! That’s why every penny saved truly is earned – because it takes so much effort to hold on to that cash! But if you can do it, it will work magic in your life. Having a savings account will de-stress your life. Imagine being ahead of your bills, rather than behind. When you are ahead of your bills, you entire life comes under your control. You sleep better at night. Your mind is freer to come up with new ways to make more money and save more. Saving is contagious – once you let it get started!
Here are some tips to help you save:
* Don’t settle for interest checking. Have a separate savings account that can’t be as easily accessed as a checking account.
* Keep your savings in another bank – one that’s off your regular route, or perhaps even in another town. That way you won’t be tempted to dip into it every time you visit the bank to make a checking deposit.
* Buy short-term savings bonds, which have 6-month to one-year maturity dates. That way you will get a higher rate, while at the same time keeping your money close in case of real emergencies.
* If you can, open the account under two names and require that both signatures be required to make a withdrawal. Two people can debate each withdrawal and keep each other in line.
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