It may seem like simple advice, but so many need to hear it. The best way to save money is to not spend it We as a society have grown impatient. We don't like to wait or save up for something. We want it now. We somehow become willing to pay 15% interest on anything from a video game to our groceries because we don't want to wait till payday. "Back in the day" people just made due until they saved up enough to buy a car. They did not buy special things like toys, games, decorative items unless they had cash to pay and all the bills were paid first. Not so any more. Many 20 year old kids are getting in debt and filing bankruptcy. That's sad huh? We just need to say no. To ourselves.
This is why I'm always against using credit cards to buy anything. Pay for everything you buy in cash. Even if you spend all your money before the next time you are paid, if you strictly pay for everything with the cash you have, you'll never be in debt. And in time you'll know what to prioritize so you won't have to do without things you actually need and learn to save so you'll have enough money to buy other things you want.
My opinion is also strongly positioned against the use of credit cards since you have to pay huge interest in case you just so decide that the 'freedom' of a high spending limit is something you don't really care about. Purchases pile up, so does the interest and you may find yourself quite fast being in debt just by buying 'a few groceries and clothes' worth $5000 within a month. I would rather get a proper loan and pay monthly for it from my paycheck rather than use a credit card with $5000 spending limit.
There is a strategy that most people in my region use to buy things that they can't afford. It involves saving cumulatively over a period of time and then when the amount is reached, a person makes a purchase. Alternatively, one can arrange with the seller to be paying small amounts of money incrementally until the target is achieved. This strategy is good to purchase products with the quality aspect in mind since in the long term sometimes, cheap is expensive.
And the best way to avoid an illness is to not get sick xD. It just don't work like that, Why do you want to work so hard anyway if you are not going to spend it? If people think like that our economy would be quite stagnant.
I always buy moderately priced products. I don't have an iPhone or Mac computer because they are expensive gadgets. If I have can a good Android phone for the half price of iPhone, I don't see a necessity to have an iPhone. Same is the case with computer. If I begin to save money, I can buy iPHone or Macbook, however, I am not buying because I cannot afford to own Apple gadgets.
I am gettting good at this method myself, I only buy what I need most of the time. I do admit that sometimes I buy things without needing it but doing so once in a while is not bad, I mean this is one reason we earn. I am always trying to save money to have extra incase of an emergency, for example if my baby gets sick.
There is a saying that declares "live within your means". It is a simple saying but many come short of it. They spend their money beyond their capacity to earn and fall into the danger of getting credit which in the long run could make them miserable. People are naturally like that. I am very cautious about that for I am a spendthrift kind of a person.
I am the careful one trying to budget for everything,but on the other hand my husband is the spendthrift who will buy things we don't need. My husband is the sole provider in our home. As much as I want to keep our budget and spending on check, It is hard for me to control the way my husband spends money. some tips on how I can go about it?
It seems so simple, doesn't it? Yet, as we all know, people just cannot seem to get a handle on it. I should not act like I am someone who never gives into temptation or anything, but there are people are a lot lot worse out there.
I only buy stuff I can afford and I happen to have very simple taste and pleasures in life. I prefer to secure myself and my child in the far future than enjoy luxuries and stuff that lose their value soon enough. I use the power of credit in ways that will help strengthen our financial position in the future. Using credit is not bad in itself if you have the discipline, the wisdom, and the vision.
I never buy anything that I cannot afford, I don't buy even the things I actually want if I don't have money. I don't use a credit card and don't buy thins on credit. Unless, it is something that is must, food for instance, I don't buy things when I don't have money.
The best approach to spending is to prioritize. There are the basic needs and there is leisure. Some activities cut across. I can spend more on basic needs when I can't live without them. I only practice leisure activities that I can afford. Sometimes I avoid them completely and choose to save.
This thread is a neat lesson for those people who have the impulse of buying. Especially for those with just enough money, it is important to consider the budget. I find some people buying something expensive that I know they cannot afford. One actual example is my wife’s sister who used her credit card to buy furniture and other household items with the use of her credit card. And later on she became delinquent that resulted in her facing a lawsuit for the unpaid credit card debts. Her only mistake was in buying things that she couldn’t afford at that time.
