WHY BEING MONEY MINDED IS GOOD FOR YOU
An average American earns around 59K in a year. Do you think its enough to support a family of 4. If your answer is yes, congratulations you are a happy person. But if your answer is No or “kind of “then this article might be for you.
What is money minded even mean? Am I asking you to leave everything and run after money.? Certainly NOT. I mean what’s the point in that. All I am asking you to earn more, save more and spend less. Sounds easy right? Then why can’t Americans save more. An average American has 65k in his/her bank account. Is that enough? Again, if your answer is Yes, this article is not for you. If your answer is No, please read on.
Money is an important aspect of life though not most important. Others being health and family. But if you have money in your hand, you can buy comfort, a good education, good food on table and that in turn can make you happy or less stressed I would say. In this high inflationary environment saving money has almost become impossible. Most people live paycheck to paycheck and in case of job mishap, become dependent on social welfare. If you or your friends do not want to be in this trap, here are five simple tricks you can incorporate in your life to save more.
1.Tax your food
In simple terms, budget your food. No, you don’t have to spend a dollar on can of soda. a. Soda is non-essential food item. B. By decreasing your sugar intake you are saving yourself from future medical bills.
Here are some practical tips to save money on food:
- If you are habitual of take-out food 5 days in a week, for 1 month do an experiment and get takeout for 4 days instead. This is a gradual process and not a crash diet thing. In few months you will notice, your takeout count is getting low.
- Cook more wholesome dinner at home. Internet is filled with one bowl wholesome recipes. You can choose any of your liking. Get your kids involved in preparation and enjoy fresh food at home.
- Make a list of items on paper the next time you visit grocery shop. Stick to the list. This way you are not impulse buying and in turn save money.
- Do not buy in bulk. Contrary to popular belief when we are in habit of bulk buying, we tend to buy unnecessarily and do not use it wisely.
2. Do you even need cable and dozen more subscriptions
One of my colleagues complained to me that he doesn’t get time to do exercise. I asked him what’s his routine as I was pretty sure he had time in his hand. He explained his daily routine where he had scheduled 2 hours to catch up on new TV shows. 2 whole hours out of whole 24. That’s almost 10% of your day. All gone in watching TV, munching on unhealthy snacks and just being couch potato.
Though this at first feels tempting it has severe consequences in the long run. Your brain gets wired to 2 hours of TV shows, after some time it doesn’t secrete enough adrenaline after watching for 2 hours. You tend to watch more to derive the same happiness, and this is a continuous loop. Cut off your cable subscription or Netflix whichever is easy for you and save that extra buck.
3. Run in parks not on treadmill
Gym owners are busy on new year day and free for rest of the year. Most of the gym going people start with enthusiasm which fades way in a week and gym owners know that. That’s the reason they charge you for at least 6 months in advance. If you are there only for treadmill, then parks are better option for you. They offer convenience, fresh air and you might get you good company. If you have a gym membership and you are not using it, sell it somebody who is willing to join. It’s a win win for both.
4.Write down everything on a paper
Get a diary and pen keep it in your living room. Make a habit of writing down every single expense for the week. At the end of week see where you could have saved money and make informed choices afterwards. Being aware of your expenses is the first step to financial freedom.
5.Save first
Whenever you get a paycheck no matter how small it is, keep aside some money. Let’s see where you can park it next. Keep aside for your spouse or children if you have any. You can start from 10% of your paycheck and keep increasing once you get a hang of your expenses.
6.Pay in cash
Yes, the world is moving towards cashless, and everything is available online but when you pay in cash it strikes your brain to make wise choice about purchase. In most of the cases you would not buy unnecessary stuff.
7.Buy Insurance
Life is uncertain but medical expenses are certain in case of a mishap. Have enough cover to protect you family members.
Now you know how to control you expenses it is equally important to learn how to invest your saved money so that inflation doesn’t affect. Technically the inflation is US is ~3% but if you look around do you really think its 3%. No. That’s because inflation data does not capture you can of soda or your take outs or an occasional meal at a nice restaurant. We do not want to deprive ourselves of simple joys of life hence the official inflation cannot be taken as a measure to assess your investment performance. Start with following to grow your money.
9.Get another source of income
Yes obvious right? But 80% of the people do not even think about it. If you have a stable job which gives you 60-70k per year, you might not even think about getting a new Job. But if you try to take steps towards it you might find an option which can generate you some income.
There are many online skills ex. Digital marketing, video editing, teaching courses online which you can take up and experiment. Of course, it takes some commitment, but you will be thanking yourself for this.
8.Learn investing
Schools don’t teach this. An average American doesn’t know how to invest. If you are new to investing and it feels too scary to you, invest some time to learn about it. If you do not have time to study start small. Invest 15 min daily to learn. Its difficult to take out an hour of a busy day but 15 min everyone can. See wats 15 min a day can teach you in 30 days. That’s compounded 7.5 hours in a month.
Being mindful of your money and earning extra may not be a need for everyone but for few, this might be of help. Money gives you freedom. Freedom to utilize your time the way you want. Freedom to eat, travel, education, experiment and sense of security in your wee hours. Yes, being money minded is good. Do you agree?
