by Trent Hamm
Available in 24 free installments
Owner:
96. Buy staples in bulk. We buy items we use a lot of in bulk, particularly items that don't perish - trash bags, laundry detergent, diapers, and so on are purchased in the largest amounts possible. This cuts down on their cost per usage by quite a bit and, over the long haul, begins to add up to some serious money. Even better, we don't have to shop for these items very often, saving time and a fraction of the cost of a trip to the grocery store.
97. Connect your entertainment center and/or computer setup to a true smart power strip. A device like the SmartStrip LCG4 basically cuts power to all devices on the strip depending on the status of the first item on the strip. So, if you have your workstation hooked up to this, every time you power down your workstation, your monitor powers down, your printer powers down, your scanner powers down, and so on. You can do the same thing with your entertainment console - when you turn off the television, the cable/satellite box also goes off, as does the video game console, the VCR, the DVD player, and so on. This can save you a lot of electricity and significantly trim your power bill.
98. Don't beat yourself up when you make a mistake. Even if you make ten good choices, it's easy to beat yourself up and feel like a failure over one bad choice. If you make a big mistake and realize it, think about why you realized it now instead of then, and try to apply that later on. The memory of that mistake can end up being very valuable, indeed.
99. Always keep looking ahead. Don't let the mistakes of your past drag you down into more mistakes. Look ahead to the future. The choices you make now won't affect the past - but they definitely will affect the future. Think back, and remember how the bad choices you made earlier are costing you now, and constantly remember to not make those mistakes now so that they don't cost your future self.
100. Never give up. Whenever the struggle against debt feels like it's too much, go read a personal finance blog and remember that there are a lot of people out there fighting the same fight. Read around through the archives and learn some new things -and perhaps get inspired to keep going, no matter what.
Break Your Bad Habits
Most people have some sort of routine in their day where they buy a morning latte or a bagel, or they drink six cans of soda, or they eat out at the same place each day for lunch. What these routines add up to is a lot of money. Spending $5 every day in a workweek adds up to $1,300 over a year - that's a mortgage payment for a lot of people. Spend some time looking at the stuff you do every day, especially the ones that require you to spend money, and ask yourself if they're really necessary or could be replaced.
Don't Make Yourself Miserable!
Most of the time, when you cut a bit of spending from your life, you'll find that you never miss it. However, there are times when you find yourself really regretting it. If that's the case, then it's probably a worthwhile expense for you. Saving money doesn't have to equate to misery, it just means that you cut down on the unnecessary.
Don't Forget the Big Picture
That, of course, doesn't mean that you should justify every purchase with a basic "I want it and I have money in my account." That shouldn't ever be enough to motivate a purchase. I find that using a visual reminder in my wallet [91] of what I'm financially working towards does a great job of keeping my mind on the big picture and helping me filter out what's really needed and what's just a fleeting desire.
Idea #4: Manage Your Money!
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On/y wfren the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked. Warren Buffett
Whenever you increase your income or decrease your spending, you'll find yourself with more cash at the end of the month. That cash is your ticket to financial freedom, and the more you can get each month, the better off you are. The trick, though, is to not spend it, but to do things that will build a stable future for you. Here's the game plan.
Pay Off All High Interest Debt
