Personal Finances- The Power of Savings

byMannyM

464 followers

11 years ago

Personal Finance Money Need Retire

Personal Finance Money Need Retire Image Courtesy of Steve at FreeDigitalPhots.net

Saving for The Present and Future

The one subject most people dread, including myself is Savings, Unfortunately it is very necessary for many numbers of reasons and it is a practice it took me a long time to develop. It was not until I turned 29 that I really began to suffer the consequences of practicing bad spending habits, wasting, and creating a plan for the future.

I will not go into detail because I want to stay on track, but like many people out there I made a lot of bad choices, which landed

me into a pretty sticky situation. I had terrible credit, no savings, and not a single dime working for me(passive income) and I can tell you I was stuck and going hungry at times all because I did not give any importance to my finances.

Once I got a grip on things and finally woke up and started realizing that the blame was nobody’s, but my own. The thing of it is most people think that because they are not making the income they desire it is impossible to get out of their situation. The same thinking process that a fair portion of people in the United States keep falling for and I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but only you have the power to change your circumstances

Self-Improvement

People are conditioned to think that is okay to live the kind of life they are living and I am here to tell you it is not. In fact, I am here to challenge you to break out of the sleeping masses that think living this kind of life is acceptable. A few adjustments to your life is all you need to make to begin forging a strong future, but it does require you to keep an open mind and make certain lifestyle changes.

Some of the same practices I’m going to share with you have made it possible for me to going from owning a beat up car to owning a brand new vehicle. First thing you need to do in order to figure out what are certain areas of your life where you can afford to make some cuts so that you can achieve your dreams and goals?

Bad Habits- Analyze Yourself

Let me tell you this is a question you need to sit down and meditate over and over so that you can actually see for yourself what that actual area might be. What are some habits you can cut back on? Let me give you a quick example so you can relate to this topic. I was a smoker for almost 17 years and I would smoke 1 to 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes a day depending on how rough my day was.

Now let me show you what that translates to as far as finances goes. Average pack of smokes in Maryland is roughly $7.00 dollars and let’s just say I smoked only one pack per day, which is $7.00 x 7 days in a week totaling $49.00 in one single week and $196.00 a month and thousands of dollars a year. I was wasting almost $200 a month on cigarettes alone. Once I gave up smoking not only I feel better than ever, but I can use that money and make it work for me investing in things that can possibly net me a return.

Who said you need to be an expert to save money and invest it?. Now this not the only problem, sometimes we have several habits and we end up working a lifetime paying someone else’s vacations, wages, expensive cars. Once you find all of these things that are crippling your finances then you can take that cash and invest it in the stock market, or buy CD’s (Certificate of Deposit) at a local bank or online bank. If you are not comfortable doing this kind of thing then you can simply put it in the bank and begin saving.

Preparing for The Unexpected

Take a good look at your finances and analyze one thing. If you were to get fired tomorrow. Would you be able to cover any of the bills the following month? The average person has less than $150.00 dollars in their bank at any given time and trust me that is going to pay about one thing…Your cell phone or your insurance, but how about the mortgage, rent, car, water, gas, electric, etc…One of your biggest financial goals should be to save enough in the bank so that you can live off of it for no less than 3 months at the bare minimum, obviously the more the merrier.

The same type of practice will allow you to target finding a new job instead of stressing trying to figure out how you are going to feed the children. I’m not here to judge you, but to help you and open your eyes because I was sitting in the same hot seat as some of you are as you are reading this article and it does not get anymore real that this. The way our economy is structured right now there is no way to tell whether we have seen the worst of it or if we could be headed to another disaster.

Inflation- Do you know what it means?

Inflation is very erratic and interest rates are at a very low point, which tells us only one thing. If you don’t know a lot about economics then I will simplify this for you. When interest rates are as low as they are right now it only means that sooner or later inflation is going to kick-in because they are naturally opposite. The government continues to print more money to continue “aiding” the economy, but sadly there has not been one instance where a government has successfully accomplish the same principal we are trying to do right now by pumping money into our own economy.

If you really want to begin forging a strong financial future then you must begin by learning how to budget. If this is something you are not comfortable with then there are inexpensive programs out there and nearly free programs, which will help you balance your budget and begin saving for a rainy day.

Follow The Steps

One good practice you can begin to follow is taking a percentage of your pay and have it automatically sent to your savings account. Even if it is a simple $20 dollars per pay period, assuming you get paid bi-weekly, then it would turn out to $40 per month and $480 dollars per year. Simple steps will reward you at the end and it is your responsibility to educate yourself because nobody is going to safeguard your earnings better than you.

Perhaps there might be other areas where you can afford to make come more cuts leading to more savings. The ultimate goal is to cut out from wasting money on things you don’t need to things that you may not even like. Good practice will eventually yield good results and you don’t need experience to save, only the desire to gain control on your spending and utilizing those funds to accomplish things that matter to you the most without having to resort to credit cards and loans.