Money Talk Matters

Posts Tagged ‘saving money’

This morning got up a little late and started hitting it on a project that has a quick deadline. Thought to myself must have needed the rest. When it comes to money and marriage, most days there’s always something you can talk about. Today it would be completing applications for this project that I am working on and one requiring quite a sizeable deposit. The good news is that the deposit doesn’t have to be made until close to decision time. Let me tell you, if I had to do it yesterday it would have been a deal breaker for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in investing in my business. I like to do a thorough investigation of everything that I am doing and make sure I weighed all the costs and benefits. It is will serve you better to not be an impulse spender. You can usually weed out the needs from the wants this way. I also like making sure that any project I am working on is very sound and has potential to be huge! As long as I can make the difference for one person when it comes to money and marriage it is all good. It only takes one to change a family, neighborhood and then the world!

After I finished working on a couple of business items, I needed to go out and do some errands. Part of my thought was also focusing on lunch since I knew we had dinner plans. This week was not as good on the meal planning but will pick it back up on Wednesday. How many of you know you fall into the trap of picking up something quick and already made because you didn’t take the time to plan. Hmm, can also prove to be costly. So far this week, Monday was all about the frozen strawberry smoothies and french fries and I can already see that today has the potential for Chick-Fil-A. Needless to say no more fries for this week – Green beans, mashed potatoes, asparagus and other veggies will be on the menu.

When you don’t plan your finances the money tends to get away from you. Within a few days you may not even be able to recall how you spent the money! Tracking your spending is key to get where you want with your goals.

Money and Marriage Lessons for Today:

1) Business owners look at all applications and see what fees are due upfront so you don’t end up in a situation.

2) When you meal plan, be able to keep it up for several weeks. One or two slip ups is all it takes for some of us to get off course. You can JUMP back on it.

3) The lessons you are learning when it comes to money can also be lessons for your children when it comes to money (age appropriate of course).

Money and Marriage Encouragement for today:If you have set a rule and its to stringent, modify it and keep on going. Do not get into the trap of setting yourself up for financial failure – go FOR success. That will make a BIG difference in your life, family and marriage.

I know its the weekend and you thought surely I would be done writing on savings. Not so fast – money circulating is money working for you. That means whether you have invested your money or put it into a savings account it is working for you. So while you are reading this on a Saturday, what is your next move when it comes to savings?

What do you want to see different with your savings strategy within the next 3 months, the next 6 months? If you have children are you expressing the importance of saving money? Have you heard Pay yourself first. Well, you should be paying yourself first. Don’t think you are not worthy because you are.

If you make an effort to save repeatedly and create the habit, then you will do it regularly. Change your mindset when it comes to saving. Your mindset should be savings is a GREAT thing and my money is working FOR me. Mindset is really important when it comes to money. There are too many people living in a poverty mindset and it is time for CHANGE. REPROGRAMMING if you will when it comes to money.

As a wife and entrepreneur as well as money and marriage advocate, I thought I should address saving money as an entrepreneur. Most business owners have experienced the ups and downs in business, the busy times and the slow times. Therefore, when you know that business is cyclical you have to be prepared and therefore saving money is crucial as a business owner.

Ways to look at saving money:

1) For the business owner regardless of start-up, been around a few years one of the first things that you should do is make sure you are marketing to the proper target. If you are marketing to the wrong target you are throwing money away. It is almost like the “shot gun” approach. Where you advertise to the masses and hope to hit a client or two. Whereas when you have done your research and market effectively to your target, your dollars are being spent wiser and should go longer.

2) Re-evaluate the different services that you are using for your business. Do you need cell phone, blackberry, pager, etc? I think we sometimes get off track because we become GADGET driven. Think about how much you could save if you only had what you needed not getting all the things that you want.

3) This one is huge. How many subscriptions to different memberships, e-courses and such do you belong to? How much are you spending per month on subscriptions? How much of it do you really use? I remember about three years ago, I cut every subscription off. I was spending almost $200 a month in subscriptions and the business was not paying for it. Take a look you might be surprised. As a personal finances person, we have to evaluate situations in our lives too.

Those are just a tip of the iceberg of ways to save as a business owner. Don’t take it lightly when you are an entrepreneur that you should not save because you should. That way when times are slow, you can fall back on money you have set aside and get really creative with marketing and institute a referral policy at that time.

Savings is not just for the individual, but also married couples, business owners, students and more.

Welcome to Money Talk Matters Blog. This week’s THEME is dedicated to blogging on Savings as a Part of America Saves Week, February 21 – 28, 2010.

America Saves Week is individuals will be encouraged and assisted to assess their savings progress and take action to advance this progress.  This encouragement and assistance will be provided by organizations and professionals with an interest in improving the financial security of individuals and families.

As a Personal Finances Expert, Money and Marriage advocate, it is also very important that couples have a savings plan whether you are engaged, newly married or have been married for several years. It is my HONOR to be a partner of Black America Saves and support America Saves Week.  What does that mean for you the reader?

You will receive tips, recommendations, maybe even downloads that focus on different methods of saving. I know that savings can be a fun part of life whether you are a kid, high school student, college student, young adult or even adult. It is all in what you make it. So this week let’s have a lot of fun as we talk about savings, working our savings plan and changing lives.

Savings is not something that should be overlooked regardless of financial situation. However, it should be recognized as a financial means of be prepared for emergencies, way of building wealth, learning how to save money at the lowest amount and watching it build over time and much more.

I remember having a discussion with a Local Pastor several weeks ago and one message we agreed that when it came to investing we were not told about investment at a young age. What a difference it would make if the youth were taught how to invest $5 and watch it become $50. Then invest $50 and it became $500 and so forth and so on.

We are going to have loads of fun this week with creative ways of saving money wherever you are. If you have a recommendation, send it in.