Do you have some little (or big) things that you think it would be nice to have? Do some of these persist off and on or year after year? Do you wake up from the day dream being very practical and acknowledge that you really can’t afford it, so you forget it again. ‘Can’t afford it’ means not even on credit, which is not free money but quite the opposite.
You may or may not begin to resent this, feeling deprived or punished. You work hard and you take care of business. Why can’t you have just this one little thing you want? You can. If you look at it from the perspective of saving the money to buy it, maybe you can!
Saving money means putting it away – say every payday whatever you can – just a few dollars that you won’t notice if you are running things pretty close to the bone like most of us. Even small amounts will add up after a while. So next time the dream comes up and you say “I wish I had that” you realize you can have it because you have the money! No reason not to!
There is another way to set yourself up so that you come up with this wonderful “I can afford it, I deserve it, I am going to get it” day. That is to start a small part-time business at home. This is very practical because you are using ‘spare’ time to earn ‘spare change’ and once you get it rolling, you can start to save money that doesn’t come from the paycheck-to-paycheck squeeze.
This part-time business can become so productive that after you get your heart’s desires you have had to do without, then you can just keep up your momentum and start to use the money you earn to pay down bills so that you spend less on interest; you start to save for emergencies. In case you don’t remember the feeling, it is wonderful to realize you actually have a comfort zone where savings are concerned.
The dread of unexpected expenses need not give you nightmares anymore but let’s face it, it can happen to anyone at any time. The water heater or the car can die, there can be a tornado or a flood, someone in the family can get sick and require deductibles and co-payments. Again if we are running paycheck-to-paycheck how do we absorb these extra expenses? Do we go into debt with credit? Unfortunately sometimes that is the only alternative unless you have savings.
So make it a point today to find a way to earn extra money that you can save for fun or otherwise! Start a home business part-time. Make even your spare time count to build your present and future security!
