When reality hits us hard, sometimes it is already too late to make changes! This is often true for those people who find themselves overindulging and overspending. People who stretch their wallets to the point of ripping them off...sometimes literally.
When money flows, expenses seem to get blown out of proportion. Some people who get a pay raise each year, more often than not, would think of what they can afford to squeeze into their budgets now that they have more to spend. Since there is more money to spend, they search of ways to spend them. This illusion of a safety net that they have created in their minds only masks reality. We become our own victims and our own worst enemies! Before we know it, it is too late to undo the financial havoc that we have created.
We are a society that lives for the day...a society that spends more than what we can afford...but as we all know too well, we have to live for tomorrow as well. But is it really too late? There is a famous saying that "it is better to be late than never". So, I will borrow that line of thinking and state that while we still live and breathe we have a chance to make positive changes in our lives. We can all accept this challenge to improve our way of living so that we can stabilize our future and the future of the next generations to come. The next generations will learn not only from our mistakes as a society, but how we also fixed the problems we have created and came out as a winner in the end.
To get started look at your financial profile. Use the basics of budgeting by listing your income and your expenses. Do you spend more than what you can afford? Do you live from paycheck to paycheck? Is there never enough money left over at the end of each pay period? Or, worse, is the money all gone before the next pay period comes.? Then, realistically set a goal. Ensure that you are able to make ends meet. Cut down on unnecessary expenses. Cross out things from your list that you can do without. Pay yourself first, set aside monthly savings fund for emergencies. Try to add more to it each month, even an extra $10 a month helps. Avoid using credit cards when buying items that you use each day. Cut them all if you can or set aside only one for future emergency needs. Don't bring this card with you at all times, use it only when necessary. And when you do, pay it in full if you can to avoid interest accruals.
Don't use coupons to buy items you will never use or consume. Only use coupons to buy what you will definitely use. Create a list of things to buy before going out to buy them to avoid impulse buying. Bring food to work instead of eating out for lunch. Don't buy bottled water to bring to work, use your work's water cooler or fill up your travel cups from your own refrigerator water dispenser to bring to work. You will save more money by doing so! Walk or bike to work or take public transportation if it is far. You can save big on gas money! Turn off the lights you are not using, limit the air conditioner usage during summer. Set a temperature that your family can agree on...my family only turns on the A/C when it is 83 degrees F and higher. Open the window or use the fan to economize. There are more ways to save money that can be beneficial to our environment too. I wrote a few of them on my other blog: http://greenerhorizon.blogspot.com/2008/07/green-living.html.
Once you get yourself on track you will definitely be on your way to financial freedom. It is a big challenge, especially if you are used to extravagance. But, once you put your mind and heart into it, you will realize that only you have the power over you. You can teach yourself and learn from each pitfalls, and remember not to go back from how it was knowing you had experienced so much hardships on the way to fulfilling your goals. And...before you know it, you will taste the sweet taste of success!
