About a year ago my friend won
tickets to a special premiere of the new 007 movie. The host of the event told
everyone to check under their seat, low and behold mine had an envelope
underneath it. I won a book called Davey Ramsey's Complete Guide to Money. My
first reaction was that I didn't need this lame book and that I wish I could
have won all the other cool prizes. Around the same time the same friend got
the chance to see a financial advisor, this opened my eyes.
All of this started my thinking
process, my friend was older than I was and was spending like she made a lot
more money than she really made and paid the minimum on all her credit cards.
She was a slave to being a consumer and material possessions. This got me to
start reading the book and it opened up my mind of all the possibilities and
inspired me to learn more.
I wanted to gain financial
independence early in life. I was now motivated to control where my money goes
and not let it control me. Money is a large stress factor in most people's
lives and marriages. I think why have that stress if you can greatly remove or
cut it?
I made my first budget after reading
that book, I started looking up other books and resources to read, and now I'm
hooked on becoming financially free and independent. I still have a long way to
go with a car loan, student loans, and trying to build savings. After creating
my first budget I realized how hard it was for me to stick to it and how I too
was a slave to my money and possessions. Here I was reading a book about how
all these people made huge sacrifices to pay down their debt and I didn't want
to give up DVR.
There are so many simple changes you
can make in your life to gain control. What Americans don't do is live beneath
their means, which is how most self-made millionaires become millionaires. I
have learned how to sacrifice a lot and only live with what I need. Every once
in a while that devil on my shoulder gets me to give in but I have come a long
way. Some things you can do to help cut budgets in your life would first be
calculate how much money you spend a month on things you don't need. For
example as a college student I shouldn't spend $100 a month on eating out and
buying groceries of the same amount. Now I hardly ever eat out even though I
love it more than anything, I pack my lunch and cook most meals at home which
ends up saving me a lot of money. Cutting grocery costs by making a list and
sticking to a list, USE COUPONS, and compare prices from other stores is what I
do to cut my grocery bill.
Other simple ways would be to put
20% of your paycheck in savings. Also look at how much money you are putting
towards bills, I read once a college woman who got flip phone without data and
fancy things and her cell phone bill was $9 a month! While that's not something
I think I could do, sometimes you have to cut those things out to get by. The
important thing is what I have already stressed, live beneath your means and
don't be a slaver to consumerism. Look at what you're spending every month, and
resist the temptation to grab lunch with the girls, and if you can't miss out
than limit yourself to a "eating out budget".
Most important do your research
before buying anything, including loans or a pair of shoes. Be smart about your
purchases and don't buy things you don't absolutely need. I have a plan of
being debt free in two years, they might be a "boring" two years but
in two years hopefully I will be out of debt and ready to start a financially
free life.
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