If you are like most, your money controls you, and not the other way around. Would you like to get control? Take charge of your money? How would you like to look at your money in a different light and regain control of your financial situation. There are some secrets to gaining control of your money and it is not a closely guarded secret for only the wealthy, they can be used by all of us in any income bracket, they will help you feel rich.
[Read: Plugging Money Leaks in Your Budget]
Factors to Consider
- Savings
- Spending
- Earnings
- Long Term Goals
In order for money to work for you, you have to understand that there are many factors about money, first you must have some, either you are given money, by a friend or relative, or you make money, you go to work and earn it, you can save it or spend it, and that you have to have a long term plan in place so that you do not run out of it later in life.
PAY ONLY THE ESSENTIALS
When it comes to savings you have a couple of options, you can do a bare essentials plan to which you only pay your bare minimum and required payments for a period of time where you are able to take the remainder and sock it away and start that nest egg, this is hard to do if you are in the habit of spending all the money that you have coming in each pay period, but if you can do this for six to twelve months you can have a nice savings. And do not forget to pay yourself, you can even go to the extreme of actually making a bill out to yourself, mailing it to yourself, like a regular bill, and paying it when it comes in, yes, paying yourself.
CURB THAT SPENDING
If you get to a point where you only pay cash for your purchases you will be ahead of the game, see cash is not something that you have to pay interest on once you pay it, like your credit cards or charge cards, they charge you hefty interest for the luxury of not carrying cash around, and if you are in the habit of paying that charge card off every month, why not just pay cash and avoid that all together, which leads us to the next thing.
Hide those credit cards, it is not wise to just close out those accounts and get rid of the cards, they are good for emergencies and travel, but use around town and in everyday purchases are killer, lock those cards in your safe and keep them out of your purse or wallets and do not take them with you when you go out, this will curb that credit card spending and get you back in control of your money.
MAKE MORE MONEY
You do not have to go out and get a second job, unless you want too, but there are other ways to earn more money, such as through rebates on things you already buy or places that you already frequent, you can get cash back bonus’ or extra products that can save you real money. You may need to use your credit cards to get some of these perks so be sure to do this wisely as you do not want to fall into the trap of credit card debt, because it may completely cancel out the savings or result in going in the other direction and spending more.
You could get rid of things that you do not use any more, you can sell your things, or others things and make a few bucks every month to set aside for the future. There are many websites where you can list your stuff for free, and sell them at any price you want, and there is not limit on what and where you can sell your stuff, so go through that house, basement and garage and look for things that you have not used in some time and decide if the time is right to part with it for some cold hard cash, you will be amazed at what people will buy.
[Read: Money: Are You Spending Too Much?]
IN CONCLUSION
As you can see there are many secrets to getting control of your money and not letting it control you, if you follow the steps and keep these in mind you will be on your way to financial freedom and savings galore. There are three aspects, savings, earnings and spending that will help you achieve your long term goals. When you understand that there are more things to money than just earning it and spending it pay check to pay check you will be conscious of the factors and be able to follow them to perfection.