subject: From Cents To Thousands [print this page] You work for hours to gain money yet you spend it all in just a few minutes. That is the bitter truth nowadays. So as much as we want to earn some bucks, we must also take effort in saving some of it. Saving money is not an easy task especially with the presence of temptation in almost every corner in town. When you see an ice cream vendor in front of you, can you resist your craving? When you see your favorite t-shirt on sale, would you rather save your money or get a new shirt right away? If you can not resist the temptation, then you will need the following tips to help you learn to keep that hard earned money intact -- not just for a couple of days, but for quite a long time. Step 1: Have a goal and focus on it. When you decide to save your money, have a goal amount or a thing to buy. This will help you think of a strategy to earn and save your money. If you will firm up yourself to really achieve this goal, your mind will be focused to saving and not on other places to squander your money on material things. Have an emergency fund set aside to handle most of those unpredictables in life: car repairs, home maintenance, and downturns in business. You know they say to save for a rainy day because you can count on rain coming some day. Step 2: Things on sale are not necessarily a good deal. Why do you think they put it sale? Many retailers will cry "sale" to get your attention, but their prices may be too jacked up in the first place for their sale to be meaningful. Often a sale is just bait to draw you into the store to buy things at full retail. This should be your mindset about these things. When you see a commercial or ad saying "sale," put your chin up and say, "I'm not falling for that trick anymore." Another truth you need to accept about saving money on sale items is that a bargain is not a bargain if it is not for something you would have bought anyway if it were not on sale. Step 3: Save those pennies. A hundred dollars can never be a hundred without a penny. That should be your logic. When you see coins, never think that they are not of great value to be saved. Have a can or any other container and put all those coins in. For sure, you will be surprised to see how much they will be in total after a few days. Step 4: Learn to have limits. Like in everything we do, too much is bad. So when you start doing activities that will surely cost you too much, brace yourself to think "stop." Say to yourself that you will not pay full retail for anything unless it is an absolute need for the moment. Step 5: Say No. Sometimes no matter how much we are successful in bypassing temptations, when it is our friends who pressure us to spend, we can not say no. This is when you give your friends the opportunity to prove if they are really your friends and will help you to be the best you can be. This is one of the major problems of shopaholics. Learning to say no does not only save you from unwanted buys, but it will also teach you self control. When you have got all of these five mastered, you will surely be rewarded with what you have saved up and with how much room you have left in your budget to pay extra on your debts, get out of debt and stay debt-free. Then you will have the beginnings of accumulating a decent retirement and also have the blessing to be in a position to help others in need.
