1. Save even if it's a dollar a week. Find change and put it in the bank.
2. Pay one credit card at a time with more than minimum payment. Every card should be paid by $1.00 over the payment and hit the highest interest one as hard as you can.
3. Snowball that payment to the next high interest bill.
4. Don't use credit by staying home.
5. Have a comfortable home that you can enjoy. You exit your house; it costs money.
6. Try it a month at a time. Don't berate yourself for setbacks. It's like dieting; it simply takes time.
7. Be consistant.
8. Most importantly, be poor. Don't try to show off your financial prowess! Say, "I can't afford that." You won't remember in a month who you told, but you'll have the money.
9. Piggy Banks or a jar work just as well.
10.. Good luck and let me know if it works. It works for me.
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Comments: 27
Finally one day I heard that very special word.....refinance. And I did, several times. Oh yeah I am so happy to be in debt......NOT! Things financially have been better in the last year. Instead of saving I prefer to use tax refunds to pay high debts all at once. It is suspensful teetering on the brink of being taken to court only to stop them dead in their tracks by paying off the entire debt suddenly. I love being able to do that.
But seriously I like no. 8 the best but not with the positive spin on it. It is much more fun to just say you are poor, because you are!!!! ENJOY IT FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!!!
Your article was good and had good advice. For years I have shopped in thrift stores. Many things still have tags on them and are brand new. Once I even got my husband a silk suit for $18 and he loved it. I have also been able to get some nice suits on Ebay for a fraction of the price. Ebay is more of a gamble though.
One hint I have is if you are buying an new suit, buy two pairs of pants. The jacket tends to last forever but the pants don't. The other hint I have is to buy a good suit, the more buttons the better and fully lined is quality. A good suit will last longer than a cheap suit and you will look good on less, especially if you get a second set of pants.
Sorry, to hear about your husband's job. We went through that twice within three years. He hit fifty, and they came into his office after 23 years, and said, "We don't need your services anymore."
If we hadn't saved, we'd be 'I'd hate to think about it."
I worked for 13 years and had not a nervous breakdown, but a stop sleep breakdown. I mean, I just stopped sleeping for days on end. Even with sleeping pills and every drug my doctors could prescribe. My doctors ordered me to quit work. I am on disability. At first, I thought it would be temporary, but I still need pills to sleep. The lesson learned was that the second income is never certain. Nothing is certain, Save, Save. Folks, it's the only salvation when hard times come. The flip side is that we are afloat again. God has been good, and I know he'll be good to you. I never blamed God. I must admit I had and still have some negative feelings for a corporation who uses the words, "We don't need your services anymore." When the truth is, my husband never went out drinking and partying with the big boys. No regrets. Just lessons learned and shared. Take care.
11. explain carefully to your children how credit works and why it is such a tempting ticket to hell. It is a bit like smoking- don't just tell them they are free to do as they wish when they are 18, tell them about the phlegm, the hacking, the wasted money, the stinky breath, the cancer, the death. Tell them that an added 10 years of life means nothing when you are 12, but it means everything when you are 72 and dying from emphysema. If you do not say these things about health and money, you are failing as a parent.
12. Be a voter. Write your Congressman and your state legislator about balloon ARM mortgages and payday loans and ask them why they tolerate them. Ask them how much money from the financial industry went into their campaign funding kitty and what was requested in exchange.
Cars are a depreciating asset. Most people owe more money than their cars are worth.
Finance as little as you can when buying a car. Keep the term as short as you can.
Drive a car as long as it is safe and cost effective to operate. I keep my cars 10 to 12 years.
When you finish paying for your car, start a savings account for your next car. Put the amount you used to pay to the bank each month in that account.
By over buying if your house payment is breaking you to the point of not being able to go out to the movies or buy a new suit it would be best to get something that you can actually afford so that you can save for retirement and your kids education. Real estate agents play on people when buying houses and will oversell in a heart beat- if you'll over buy!
I especially like the tip about making your house a home -- a place where you want to spend your time, and cook in, and enjoy lounging. There's no sense paying a $10 corkage fee for a bottle of wine when you can just as easily enjoy it at home. You've provided me with just the incentive I need to finish off a few home projects that would enable me to relax a bit more in my present surroundings. Thank you for the nudge....
Note: So long as it's safe.