Enlightened Individual

Previously I mentioned briefly about shopping; in particular not to go buying each day; but instead buying in larger batches.

What I should have advised back than, which I normally do, but which slipped my mind while writing is of course the most obvious thing to do prior going to the shop: Always make a shopping list. And stick to it. Don’t make exceptions to buy groceries or items that are not in your list.

This is a valuable tool to use to save you from additional expenses. Write down what you need; ask yourself if you really need these items and buy them. Do not buy things that are not in your list. When you write a list you could also add which place you can get the item cheapest. It’s a nice exercise; and will make you aware of where the best place of shopping is.

Another good trick is to start making homemade dishes; there are a bunch of books out there on how to create good meals from almost nothing. If you want to save some money; you could check out your local library to look for cooking books suitable for you.

I know how easy and nice it is to buy these prefabricated meals; and yes; you might save some time on using them. But you would save both money and give you better health if you educate yourself a bit on cooking simple and cheap meals at home.

The prefabricated meals often contain chemicals to preserve and give artificial tastes. These chemicals are not always the best for your body. I believe a lot of the overweight problems we see today come from using chemical sweating added to soda or other food we buy. I think a lot of us would be better off preparing the food ourselves with natural vegetables and meat instead of these premade solutions. I am sure if we all educate ourselves better to create homemade food we would save both our health, and benefit financially.

I am also aware a lot of people out there is playing the lottery and hoping for the big win, saving them from the financial situation they are in today. Please don’t it to yourself. The chances of you winning are practically zero; and you are just wasting your money. Instead use some of the lottery money to pay bills as I suggested in the first posting. WAKE UP!! It’s much better if you regain control of your life. I will also start writing a bit on possibilities to earn some additional money online; but if you have a hobby like playing guitar, sewing etc you could start small businesses at home. Teaching others to play instruments or sewing dresses or fixing clothes for others. Use your talents to earn you some additional money.

Stop waiting for the big win you probably never will get and start acting to get financial sercurity.

-Kentaki-

In my last post i saw briefly on how to pay down your loans faster, to get away from liabilities, and how to later use this money for saving, personal use and investments.

This time we are going to look a bit on mentality. It’s a simple technique that might save you additional money. The first step is normal shopping; many go to the shop on daily basis, and often buy items they had no intention to buy, neither do they need it. And yes; I often fall to trap myself; but have reduced days I go shopping food etc to avoid buying unnecessarily items I normally would have bought. It is also to be advised to be looking at prices; often there is a price variation on groceries that might save you lots of money by finding the cheapest from each shop. You should of course be aware of the danger of buying additional groceries and items as you might have to go to more shops than normally. You should also keep in mind the driving expenses it might include to buy a cheaper shop far away. If its far away you might lose money going there if it’s just one small item from another shop. Remember it also cost buying gas, and maintaining the car. Make sure you include transportation expenses when you go shopping as well.

Another advice is to ask yourself if you really need what you are buying. I don’t mean you should ask stop buy everything, but there is no need buying more than you really need. I can give a small example; recently the display of my mobile phone broke. I went to the local shop and tried get a mobile phone. Of course the seller wanted me to buy one of the newest Nokia phones, and of course he tried sell me the new iPhone.  But to be completely honest; I don’t need a phone with touch screen abilities, mp3 or camera. I have both mp3 player and a digital camera which a mobile phone can’t compare with. I had a small argument with two sellers, one started agree me with me, and the other kept coming with great arguments as “iPhone is cool”. Why should I buy a cool mobile phone? Why should I buy the most expensive phone on the market? I didn’t find any suitable phone that day; but some weeks later I found a cheap phone suitable for what I need: SMS and calling. It probably saved me for some hundred bucks, and it still works great!

-Kentaki-