SAVING CASH FOR YOUR FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE  

 

If you want to know how rich you really are, find out what would be left of you tomorrow if you should lose every dollar you own tonight.
— William J. H. Boetcker

The best way for you to attain financial freedom is to earn more cash and save more of what cash you earn.

Although money can’t buy happiness, sooner or later you will likely want a measure of financial freedom that adds to your feeling of overall freedom and the feeling of prosperity that comes with it.

People who are good with money are respectful of themselves and respectful of their money. A long time ago they learned the basics of earning money, spending it wisely, and investing the remainder to attain financial freedom.

Most important, they don’t spend their cash before they earn it.

Five basic ways to save a lot of $$$$$$$$:

• Buy it for less money.
• Use it less.
• Maintain it and take good care of it so it lasts longer.
• Try to fix the old before buying a new replacement.
• Don't buy it at all.

Here are some tips on how to save cash that I liberated from a book called Don't Hurry, Be Happy (written many years ago by no other than yours truly and for which I received an advance of $21,000 cash).

#1 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash

Keep your overhead low. Cut down expenses and have "a high joy-to-stuff ratio" by reading Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. This powerful book has helped tens of thousands of people get their financial lives in order so they have to work less.

#2 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash

Buy quality instead of luxury.

#3 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash 

When you are considering buying something, ask yourself how many hours you will have to work to pay for it. Is it worth it?

#4 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash

Live below your means. Attempt to get the Joneses to your level instead of aspiring to keep up with them.

#5 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash 

Don't look at your limit on your credit card as a required spending amount.

#6 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash

Go one step further with your credit cards. Don't ever use them for credit. Use them for convenience and to acquire airmiles. Pay the bills immediately.

#7 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash

When spending on any item, spend only as much cash as you have to and as little as you can get away with.

#8 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash

Don't buy something just to be cool. Cool and intelligent are not synonymous. The urge to be cool has driven many people into personal bankruptcy. Note that most "cool guys" are broke.

#9 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash

Don't buy something just because it is on sale.

#10 of Top-10 Tips on How to Save Cash

Above all, remember that spending money wisely on a limited income and saving more cash can be more productive and powerful than earning more money.

Kids' Tips on Spending Less Cash and Saving More of It

A class of elementary school students aged ten and eleven recently gave their advice on saving cash and spending money wisely. The fourth- and fifth-graders at Hiawatha Community Elementary School in Minneapolis could teach many adults a thing or two about how to attain financial independence.

Here are their ideas onhow to save cash:

1. Spend money on things you really need, such as food and clothes.
2. Make old stuff last longer: "If your furniture is old and dirty, wash it.
3. Save some money for medicine or an operation or cavities.
4. I have a spending jar and saving jar. I try to have more in the saving jar.
5. Don't buy junk food or cigarettes.
6. Give the toys or clothes you don't like to friends or charities.
7. Take a bike instead of a car: My family bikes 600 miles a year.
8. Turn off the lights when you leave the room.
9. Pay the bills you haven't paid.
10. If you don't have the money, don't buy it.

Resources to Help You Save Money 

1. American Savings Education Council: Nonprofit national coalition of public- and private-sector institutions trying to raise public awareness about saving for retirement. Offers online tools.

2. Choose to Save.org: A Website completely devoted to financial education. Savings tips on a wide range of savings topics as well as links to related resources arranged by subject category and alphabetically.

3. Consumer Federation of America Savings and Wealth Page: Brochures on 6 Steps to Six-Figure Savings, 66 Ways to Save Money, Build Wealth Not Debt, and Teaching Your Children How to Save & Spend.

4. Saving for College.com: A comprehensive guide to 529 savings plans. Saving for college.com was established as a private company in 1999 with a mission to help individuals and professional advisers better understand how to meet the challenge of paying higher education costs. Bankrate, Inc. acquired Savingforcollege.com in December 2007.

5. National Save for Retirement Week : National Save for Retirement Week is a key event employers use to inspire their employees to save more for retirement.

6. Retirement Saving Tips: From the Choose to Save Website.

COPYRIGHT © 2010 by Ernie J. Zelinski
 All Rights Reserved