saving vs SAVING

I‘ve been encouraged by several friends to start putting down in writing these many thoughts I have when it comes to money. And, in today’s world, pen and paper just don’t work anymore. Even though I don’t tweet or facebook, and, text is still new to me (just an Old School guy), they still think I have something to share. My life’s work had nothing to do with money [except of course earning it], but still it fascinates me. But enough about that, let’s talk MONEY.

You know that we can’t live without it. It’s a relationship that will last a lifetime. Best we can do is treat money with a healthy respect for all it can do for us. That’s a tall order in a world of credit and advertising aimed at your pocketbook. Take savings, for example, 0% car loans, BOGO, % off coupons; all designed to sell you something. But that word SAVINGS has another meaning more like an action (to save), whereas to put aside money for another time, purpose, goal…. saving has one feature SAVING does not; that is you must spend to enjoy “saving” not so with “SAVING”.

Even so, some folks, feel quite proud “saving”, by not paying full price for purchases. But one can morph into the other. For example, many stores show you on your receipt just how much you “saved” with a “Thank you very much for spending with us”; and that’s fine but here’s an opportunity to set aside that “savings” for SAVING. Or this: when the grocery cart is full, & heading to the checkout, pause…. reach in and pull out $5 worth of goods to re-shelve. When you checkout, you’ll pay $5 less; when you get home, hide the $5 someplace safe. Then there are these: take a bag lunch to work once a week……rent (1) less DVD (you can borrow from the library for FREE)…… when eating out – drink water…. and at fast food restaurants – order from the VALUE menu.

Let’s summarize:                                              Action                                      Savings

Bag lunch from leftovers                        once wkly                                     $5.00

DVD rental                                                           1 disc                                           $1.50

Water at dining                                             once wkly                                     $1.50

Fast food value menu                                once wkly                                     $2.00

You can see that a small sacrifice can make a big difference; a couple could “not spend” as much as $17, if both made an effort at this.

So now you’re “saving”…. how can that equal “SAVING”? Discipline is the answer and the hard part. Say our couple each budgeted $30 for a weeks allowance; continue the budget, but carry $25. Hold back the $5 for “SAVING” since each of you has begun carrying a bag lunch once a week. This same couple could now SAVE $40 every month……

Sacrifice and Discipline is all it takes.