Creating Wealth With What You Already Have

It is a known truth, and emphasized by our current economy, that people have a hard time saving money. Most of the time, most people spend all of their money. They get accustomed to spending a certian amount and varying from this is becomes very difficult. Every financial advisor and personal finance book will tell you the same thing—pay yourself first. It is the best tactic to securing your financial future. But, how do you do it? How can this be done without an insane amount of difficulty? Well, read on.


1. Make your savings automatic. In fact if you can, have it come right off of your paycheck so you don’t even see the money. In some cases your employer or bank can assist with this. Since you never see the money, you don’t even have to make a concious effort to put it away. By paying yourself first you limit your ability to spend that money on other things.


2. When paying your bills, don’t pay them first. Pay yourself first and deposit money into your savings account. Many of us historically have done the reverse and paid for everything else first. The problem with this is, we never seem to have anything left over to put into savings. Simply put, if you wait to pay your savings last, you probably won’t pay it.


3. When you spend, you can save money as well. Purchase items that grow in value. Extra money lying around? Invest it in the stock market. Invest it in paying off your mortgage early. Use it in ways that make you money. Pay off your debts and invest the rest.


When you save money, the key is to really save it. If you buy something on sale, what happens to the money you saved? You probably spent it on something else right?. Nothing really got ‘saved’. From now on, when you save $15 on groceries, put that $15 in your savings account. When you don’t buy a new pair of shoes because you know you need to save, put the cost of those shoes into your savings.


Bottom line is that saving money isn’t that hard. It is simply a habit that has to be learned, just like brushing your teeth. Psychologists say it takes 6 weeks to make an action a habit, so start paying yourself first today and in a little over a month, you will be doing it without a flinch

Culled from:  http://prairieecothrifter.com/2010/07/creating-wealth-with-what-you-already-have.html