Warren Buffet is an amazing man and he demonstrates that you do not have to live rich even if you are rich. I watched a show the other night called Wahlburgers, and Donnie Wahlbergs mom shops at discount stores even though she could afford more because she does not like to.waste money. It feels good to see wealthy people shopping.frugally.
Yeah, most of the people you see living very extravagantly aren't really rich, or else they're people who just came into a large sum of money that they will soon blow through. Sometimes they're people who inherited some or all of a very large fortune who live on generous trust fund allowances. Self-made successful businessmen usually live relatively modest lifestyles and put most of the money they make back into their companies or other investments. It's very hard to build up a fortune when you're overpaying yourself and squandering most of your profits on a wasteful lifestyle. Those who live extremely high are usually people who earn a decent living who borrow as much as they can to live on in order to impress people. If they lose their job or have their income interrupted for whatever reason, they're usually in big trouble.
What helped for me was that I stopped getting loans from banks and stopped borrowing money from people. Interest rates will kill you in the long run. Also, transportation takes a lot out of your income so if possible bike to work, get a condo closer there or ride public transpo instead.
I always make sure I budget all my spending. Matter fact, saving is part of the budget and I prefer to cook at my place rather than eat out at restaurants. That just helps me save significantly.
I am currently working out a system to save money at the grocery store because this seems to be my biggest expense other than bills. I am planning meals out and am trying to find things to make that require less expensive ingredients. I think I have already eliminated $100 every 2 weeks just by doing that.
I'm just the opposite. I use my credit cards wherever possible in order to maximize my rewards. With my Amex Blue I get 6% back on grocery purchases. This includes gift cards purchased at the supermarket as well. I recently had an out of the country visitor wanting to buy an ****** 6. They were happy to give me the $700 cash and I purchased that amount in Apple Gift cards. 6% of 700 = $42 Now add on to that my supermarket offers $0.20 a gallon off gas for every $50 in giftcards I buy. $0.20 x 14 = $2.80 per gallon off gas $2.80 x 30 gallons (max) = $84 So in the end I netted $126 on this deal. I can buy Amazon Gift cards as well and repeat the process on just about anything. Granted there's a $75 service fee once a year for it, but I'm at $250 so far this year in rewards. I turn around and spend this on Christmas gifts so I incur ZERO holiday debt. And if I may get a little commercially here ... Their current sign up offer for anyone interested is $150 in rewards cash (Statement credit) if you spend $1000 in the first 3 months. If anyone is interested feel free to PM me your e-mail address. I get $50 for every referral.
In my case, whenever I get my paycheck I go straight to the bank and deposit an amount. I only keep around half of my salary in hand which I try as much as possible to budget for the month. So far, it has worked for me since I am the kind who really keeps my budget tight. It has always been my attitude to go to the bank first and deposit right after receiving my paycheck to make sure that I already have something kept for saving before even spending anything.
Save money is important to face the day to day situations. If we don't have any savings and something happens what can we do? Also, savings allow us to enjoy the good things of life, that's important too.
I don't really care about rewards myself - just not something I tend to think about. And I'm not an extravagantly huge spender of my own money or even a bank's money anyhow, and I see rewards as just another hook to get you to spend more money.
What has surprisingly saved me a lot of money, is waking up earlier every day. For me this is twofold, firstly I now spend an extra 10 minutes in the morning making and packing my lunch for the day. This is just so much cheaper than the alternative of buying lunch. I also leave for work a lot earlier in the morning, I can drive slower which saves fuel and most importantly I dodge the traffic. From the extra I've saved I can pay off a little extra on my credit card, or buy myself or my dogs a few extra treats (which kind of defeats the purpose). The greatest thing about most cost saving actions is that the open you up to so much more, you really start seeing some of your expenses and bad shopping habits for what they really are.
