Simply Junior

I would like to share with you my thoughts on how to get out of debt and start saving money. I hope you enjoy it.

Whatever your income, whatever your priorities for your money, there are millions of people living happily on less than you earn. This logically means that not only is it possible to enjoy a great lifestyle on your income, but it is also practical.

Lots of people spend around 102% or thereabouts of their income, that is they are not saving anything and in fact they are slowly going backwards.

Have you ever received a pay increase only to find that your lifestyle does not noticeably change but the additional funds just disappear? Like you have holes in your pockets! I know the feeling, it has happened to me, and quite a few friends.

A different friend of mine went to a mortgage broker and consolidated all of his loans to one large flexible loan with all the features of his other loans rolled into one. He used to have a home loan, personal loan, car loan and several credit cards and now all accounts are linked to a central account that is at home loan interest rates and has his home as security . This arrangement can work very well resulting in the saving of hundreds of dollars a month in interest as it did in his case. But he was no better off either!

Yet another friend had his wife return to the workforce after their kids were all at school. Their household income in this case increased over 80% overnight. But. guess what, after a couple of months they too found that they were no better off.

Why is it so? It seems that without some discipline and a plan our spending habits just seem to automatically adjust to use all the money, and a bit more! If you have easily accessible cash or credit you are more likely to spend it. Most of us like spending money or at least are tempted. ‘Hide’ it and you are less likely to be tempted.

Remember before Credit Cards most of us had to save up to buy that special something. Idea : Pretend that you did not get the raise or pretend your wife did not go back to work. Then put the proceeds into a separate bank account (or get your employer to do it) and carry on as you did before. You will not miss the money!

This simple idea can be the start of an effective budget With some prioritizing and fine tuning as outlined below the results can be staggering.

Most people do not have a budget. Every successful business has a money plan. This is what a budget is, a plan for your money, you telling it what to do instead of it telling you what to do. With a budget you can set and achieve your financial goals. You will also get a better view of what your money can do for you now and in the future.

Usually people just pool all their funds and simply take it and spend it without regard to its priorities or limits. At any one time they do not really know if they can afford to or should buy something. For example a night out with friends could jeopardise the next weeks rent or mortgage payment , but they may go out and be blissfully unaware or unconcerned about their bank balance. They could well get a nasty surprise later.

Experts say it takes at least 90 days to break a habit, whether it’s a drinking habit, smoking habit, or spending habit. If you are living from paycheck to paycheck, not able to make ends meet, or just frustrated with how consistently small your savings account is, here are some tips to help you decrease your spending and increase your savings.

Our family of 5 will soon be a family of 6 in just a few more weeks so we have finances on our minds. During this down economy with the price of food, gas and just about everything else on the rise, how does a growing, single income family budget and continue to build up the money in the savings account. Here are some tips that we have been using and have worked to help us successfully save money.
Start by changing your spending habits – Re-evaluate where you shop for food. If you shop for all your groceries at one store, you are not getting the best deal on many items. We shop at six different stores for our groceries and buy items that are on sale from each store while avoiding the high priced items. Don’t eat out – Many people live busy lives, but if you really want to start stuffing away large amounts of cash, you will need to re-prioritize your schedule. Cancel your weekend sporting events, and start cooking up meals in bulk. You can freeze dozens of meals from each bulk cooking session which will provide you with a couple of weeks worth of meals. The more time you spend making large quantities of meals each weekend, the less you will have to eat out. Most folks spend easily over $7,000 a year on eating out. Imagine having an extra $7,000 sitting in your savings account – that should be a big incentive for you to start making your own meals. Take a drive out to the farm - Drive outside the city to visit the local farms. You will find many of them offer farmers markets that are much less expensive than the farmers markets in town. We find deals that can’t be beat – 50lbs of corn on the cob for $12, 50lbs of cabbage (about 10 heads) for $8, etc. We then spend the rest of the weekend shucking corn, chopping cabbage, and freezing everything to last us through winter. Processing your food – Learn what to do with all the food you will be buying for less. Herbs can be frozen or dried, cabbage, carrots, corn, potatoes, and more can be frozen, meats can be prepared then made into freezer meals, etc. We invested in a 25 cubic foot freezer and it has helped us to save an incredible amount of money on our grocery bill. You may not need such a large freezer, but will definitely make use of extra freezer space no matter what size you buy. Document your spending habits – Challenge yourself personally, and then challenge each family member to try to change their spending habits by increasing the consecutive number of days you do not spend any money at all to replace all those days where you were dropping cash left and right. If your documentation shows you have only two consecutive days of no spending per week, challenge yourself to double that to 4 consecutive days of no spending the following week. Eventually, you can make it to 7 days in a row of no spending for each family member, and be sure to give yourself a big star for each day on your calendar. Create a budget - On designated spending days, write down every item you need to purchase in advance such as fuel for the cars, groceries, pet food, and other items. Start managing your household items, topping off the gas on spending days so you don’t run out of it on a no spending day, etc. Come up with a tight budget for each category – monthly groceries $500; Gas and oil $150; Medical $100, etc., then try to stay within or close to that amount. Get creative – look for new ways to save money – eat out of your garden, take the kids fishing, turn old towels into rags instead of buying rags or paper towels, shop at second hand stores, shop at farmers markets outside of town directly from the farmers themselves, buy in bulk when on sale, look for free items on Craigslist, have garage sales to sell unwanted items, turn off lights in the house, use a clothes line, etc. Explore free entertainment - Make a list of all the free activities to do with the kids that are available in your town. Visit all your neighborhood parks, lakes, city gardens, free outdoor music events, open to the public events, etc. Venture out into the surrounding cities in your neighborhood too and take advantage of all their free activities and events too. Have fun and stay focused – Fill your No Spending Days with free fun activities with your kids and fill your designated Spending Days with focus and discipline – watching the quantities of items to be sure you do not run out of diapers, fuel, dish soap or other important necessities before your next spending day. Continue to better yourself weekly – Don’t beat yourself up if you struggle to pull it off at first. Seek for progress, not perfection and you will inevitably start to see your savings account grow. Depending on your families success rate, you could see some substantial savings start to build up right away in your savings account. Don’t get excited and decide to spend it all though, but try to see how high you can build that account up. In the meantime, enjoy all the quality time you will suddenly find that you have with your spouse and kids on those no spending days.

Happy Travels!

Building and maintaining a savings cushion is vital for your financial health. Most financial experts recommend having a minimum of three months’ worth of living expenses set aside in case of an emergency, but many people may find it difficult to build up that much money in savings. If you think that you might have difficulty in building up the savings that you need, you might want to consider some of the following ideas.

Focus your spending

Create a budget and track your spending. After seeing where your money goes, it’s much easier to decide where you can cut. Then live by it.

Treat saving like a bill

Consider your monthly savings amount a bill that has to be paid. Pay your account every month or every two weeks.

Think small

Many people don’t think their budget allows room to save, but even a small amount adds up over time. Depending on the size of your family, skipping a meal out each week could result in a $160 per month savings deposit. Take a good look at your spending habits, and you probably can find $150 or so each month in extras that you could do without to build up savings.

Save your raise

The next time you get a raise at work or a tax refund, consider directing half to savings. If you’re not used to the money, you won’t miss it.

Continue paying

When you pay off a car or other loan, consider making half of the payment to yourself and put it into your emergency savings account. You will not miss the money if it is in savings, but you will find a way to spend it if it remains in your checking account.

Turn off the TV

Don’t listen to the advertisements, Ignore sale flyers or mail-order catalogs. The latest sale tempts you to spend money unnecessarily.

Think before you charge

Unless you’re in the habit of paying your credit card bill in full each month, don’t use the cards for anything you can eat or wear.

Consider a refinance

Shop for loan quotes and see if interest rates are lower than they were when you took out some of your major loans. Consider refinancing your mortgage and your car loan.

Alternate your commute

If you live in an area that has good public transportation, see if you can get around without the car. Maybe you can get by on one car instead of two.

Conserve energy

Do an energy check on the house. Replace cracked storm windows and renew the weather stripping.

Java-jolt savings

If you’re a coffee drinker, don’t stop at the coffee shop each morning. Make your coffee at home.

Participate in a 401(k) or 403(b) plan

If your employer doesn’t offer these plans, then you could start saving in a tax-advantaged IRA or Roth IRA account.

Involve the whole family

Even the youngest child can contribute change to the savings goal. It is easier for children to get involved if they understand why they must give up pizza night (or at least cut down the number of toppings!). Also, you are setting a good financial example for your children.

Savings rewards

Plan a treat for you, your family or both when you reach your emergency savings goal. Make it something everyone will look forward to, but not something very expensive, like a day at the zoo or at the beach. The important thing is to mark the occasion and congratulate yourself and all those who helped!

The excesses of today’s world has permeated the entire nation, and more often has overruled good judgment and common sense. We see this in the example of how people simply love to spend, even for things that are wholly unnecessary and pointless. Shopping has become an entertaining pastime, eating out at the most posh restaurants has become a lifestyle, and generally spending way more than one can afford is prevalent in our society. With the economy going in shambles, we certainly should never allow ourselves to let our spending habits go out of control and in the end drown in debt. Tough times call for tough measures, and one of the ways to stop ourselves is by committing to manage our money, save for the future and to control impulses by self-discipline..

A large income doesn’t always guarantee that a person has quite a lot of money put away for his or her savings. Sometimes it’s actually worse, because it’s not how much money you generate, rather how much you put away. Self-discipline is the key to successful savings, as t is training yourself to follow a behavior and overcome the impulse to do the very opposite. One relevant example is controlling one’s impulse on an expensive shopping spree to “treat yourself”, in order to save the money for something more important or putting it away for a huge addition to the savings account. Self-discipline is self-control.

Now we can see how Self-discipline is essential, if not the most important, aspect when it comes to successful savings and financial management. Here are tips to remember:

Self-disicpline is not selling yourself short. It is simply an attitude you adopts to do the right thing and overcome impulses that delude them into doing things that you normally wouldn’t. It gives a kind of power and freedom, and helps them get their decisions right. Self-discipline, at its core is “one’s ability of putting off one gratification for the chance to get a different kind of gratification at a later time”. Think of the money you would squandered away just to get that instant “high” from shopping and getting a brand new luxury item, and how that money could have been put away for something incredibly important. Savings are a must. Your future’s standard of living depends on it. Working on your self-discipline will greatly help you to see the light in managing your money, controlling your spending and building your wealth. Save as much as you can. When in doubt about whether to spend or save, don’t. Simply save. Self-discipline leads you to become a better person. And makes you wealthy for it too! Revel in the fact that the rewards of your perseverance will gratify you. Because in the end, you get your money, achieve financial stability and imprint a valuable lesson for you. Think positive. Don’t think that you’re “punishing” yourself by curbing your spending habits and saving money. Try to develop a healthy attitude toward living frugally and being content with what you currently have. Other people actually commend and appreciate those who try their best in disciplining themselves, it makes for a good example to everyone.

You have the power to change your attitude in life, and it’s never too late! Get started on re-focusing and deal with what is most important. Saving money has never been this crucial as before, and you can manage your finances by being aware that you can put the greatest effort in they way you control your spending and how best to save money.

Do you believe that we model good money-saving habits to our children? If we keep on the way we are will our children learn responsible ownership, how to save money for emergencies and significant life events while keeping their spending habits in check?

Children today are bombarded by the media. They are spammed mercilessly. Unfortunately, many adults haven’t figured out healthy money saving habits to counter act all this abuse and brainwashing. Children are programmed at every turn to spend more, want more and be entertained more.

I am so blessed to have learned money saving habits. It came after many years of a poverty mindset governing my life. Luckily the man whom I married was a generous provider as well as my own success through my home business. I learned that a poverty mindset is just as damaging to children as being spend-crazy and frivolous with money.

Living with not enough, without enjoying a sense of control and freedom over life, living with a sense of boredom, gloom and neglect because of poverty is very damaging. It is well documented that this affects a child’s sense of self-esteem and their self-concept is compromised. The result – they often lie, steal and become delinquent as they get older, struggling to be heard and seen as valued members in our society.

Throw in some common addiction disorders stemming from influential peer groups in typical social settings and the results are inevitable – it will take years to clean up, repair and deprogram many young adult`s poor money-mindsets.

Even if we are fortunate to live a fun challenging middle class lifestyle, raising our children in big homes furnished with all the toys and luxuries that they have come to expect as owing to them, the debt incurred to live this way is sinful. (And I am not religious)

Economic times are not guaranteeing a better future for our children.

My purpose in life now, thorough my career is to help families turn their financial situation around through a home-business opportunity. Saving money is what I first get you started doing each month, as you pay your bills.

One bad habit I formed from my children’s free education is that I didn’t get in the mindset of saving for their adult education. Not to mention that my parents didn’t save any money for all their five kids education.

The good news is that all this is repairable in us and our children. Saving money is possible effortlessly from home every time you pay your bills. Through my unique home-business opportunity, when you help others get started saving too, you immediately begin earning that much-needed extra income.

How do you teach your children to save? How well do your friends and family save? Do they overspend and borrow still or have they realized how important saving is and begun putting money away. Have you found a way of earning extra money so you can save extra money each month?

Now I am saving for my children’s education fund, my retirement, an unforeseen medical emergency, dental work and my own house payments.

Through my home-business my son has also learned the value of money. He has learned how to invest it for a return or profit. By seeing how to leverage your time and build a residual income he has learned that our money goes automatically into a savings account.

Children need our constant help with finding a balance between desiring money, spending money and saving for valuable things. Children are never too old or young to learn about the value of money. Saving for meaningful experiences or activities can be a great growing and learning experience for them.

It is our duty as parents to role model good spending and saving habits. It is up to us to teach them how to value money and the other important things in life that are money can’t buy.

I hope I can help you reach your goals for teaching your children. The gift of having a home-business online allows me to reach people in all parts of the world. Old and young, rich or poor, saving money in our lives has never been as important as it is today.