One of the biggest tips I can offer is to stop spending on credit cards. You are paying interest on that money for starters. You can save money by paying for cash. A credit card is money you do not actually have. If you have the money in your account, great! The day after you purchase, pay that purchase on the credit card off! Otherwise don't buy it. Who's to say you will ever have the money to pay it off? It happened to my parents so I know it to be true. You think you've got a secured job, you've been there 10+ years, and then you wake up one day and by your afternoon you are without a job- no warning, no money saved to fall back on. What are you going to do with that credit card bill then? It's hard to get new jobs, too. I see an average of six months between jobs with those I know. Reduce your risk of being up crap creek by getting rid of the credit cards. If you're already deep in the credit card well (like I am), then at least start digging yourself out by preventing further spending.
Of course, to stop the spending pattern is easier said than done. Instant gratification feels good, waiting doesn't. But when you're considering a five year plan, struggling with debt shouldn't be a part of it. My husband and I have found a system that works well: Wants versus needs. We're both struggling with impuse buying. Those darn superstores, like target and walmart, make it too easy to go in with a $50 grocery list and come out having spent $150. Things are on sale, you see items on display that you want- it's very easy to get caught in the trap. That's why they put those items on display.
I won't let them win, though. They're not taking my money so easily! I worked hard for it, I'm not going to just give it away now. I review my carts (even when shopping online) before I check out and pay. My first question is, "What in here is a want, and what in here is a need?" I pinpoint some big priced wants pretty quickly.
Next, "how badly do I want this item?" That may sound like an easy question, but it shouldn't be. This is not an impulse question, this is a question of good reflection. I own one very old TV. TV's are expensive, so I'm holding on it it & praying it doesn't die before I can afford to buy a new one. I don't want any new one, though. I want a snazzy new wall mount. $700- $1,2000 easy. I compare the wants in my car to my grand desire to have that new TV. Usually that's enough to get me to put my wants back on the shelf- my apologizes to those employees who find my wants in the wrong spots. :)
Re-do the process. I find when I re-do the process I'll even find things like junk food that were more impulse buys than needs. These new chips sound good, but chances are I'm going to have a couple handfuls and the bag will be left untouched until it grows stale and I eventually throw it away. Why am I wasting money like that? Oh, it's only $4.00, but $4.00 is a gallon of gas. Don't think of your money as "only money" think of it in terms of your last gallon of milk or your last piece of gum- save it for yourself, stop giving it away to the merchants. You can give it to merchants later when you're buying something you really want or actually need.
With practice the want versus need mentality becomes an automatic check before you put an item into a cart. When you slow your spending, you increase your savings, and you can start paying down and paying off your debts in an economy where many others are trying to survive by increasing their debts.
No comments:
Post a Comment