Hopefully, after keeping a daily or monthly log of expenditures,
you’ve begun to notice your pattern of spending habits. You
should be able to see where all your money is going and not just
wondering. You should now be able to look at what you can cut
out or cut back on.
Why do you need to do this * OverHall *?
Several good reasons could be if you’re having troubles making
ends meet, living from paycheck to paycheck, or don’t have any
money in reserve for unexpected emergencies. Other reasons could
be that you want to buy a home, take a vacation, buy new
equipment for your business, go to college or send your children
to college. Still other reasons could be that you're
self-employed and you need to save or invest for your retirement.
Let’s get started by making two lists, one for your NEEDS and
one for your WANTS.
What’s the difference?
Let me give you an example of how I see NEEDS vs. WANTS.
A NEED is something that you NEED to survive such as food,
shelter, and clothing.
A WANT is something you desire. Something that you might already
own, but you WANT another or a new one such as shoes, or a
jacket, or a car. A WANT can also be something that you don’t
currently have. As humans, we all have unlimited wants,
therefore we must make choices. In economics this is referred to
as * opportunity cost *, the highest-valued, next-best
alternative that must be sacrificed to attain something or to
satisfy a want. Some refer to this as a trade off.
Now you need to ask yourself how much you are willing to spend
or need to spend on your needs to survive and are you spending
too much? Do your clothes have to be new, with big name labels?
Does your home have to be near the water with a hot tub and a
swimming pool? Does your food have to be the best cut of meat or
dining at fancy restaurants every night? You get the idea?
What about your WANTS? What are you willing to trade off to make
your WANTS a reality?
Let’s look for a minute of a WANT of a vacation to Alaska.
You will need to take some actions and ask yourself, possibly,
some hard questions, and make some hard decisions.
~~ Do you have to save for this and how will you save?
~~ What steps must you take to estimate the cost of such a
vacation AND what steps will or can you take to save for the
trip?
~~ How long do you want to vacation?
~~ How will you travel and what are those costs? Planes, Trains,
Automobiles? Hike, Bike, Cruise ship?
~~ Where will you stay and what are those costs? Hotel, Motel,
Inn? B&B, Igloo, Tent? Friend, Relative, Friend of a Friend?
~~ How will you eat and what are those costs? Bring or buy food
there? Eat out? Skip some meals?
~~ Do you need to purchase * special * clothes? Where can you
purchase? How much will that cost?
~~ When do you want to vacation in Alaska? Now, next year, five
years, or ten years?
Once you find the estimated answers to those questions you’ll
need to look at how much you need to save and where in your
daily expenses can you cut back.
TIP: Use this type of exercise for any wants you have for your
life and business. You’ll discover if you can really turn your
wants into reality, if they are realistic and feasible.
Top 10 Tips for * OverHalling * Your Purchases 1. Plan, plan,
plan ahead 2. Don’t pay retail 3. Shop at thrift stores,
consignment shops, secondhand boutiques, warehouses, or in the
slightly damaged department. 4. Get in a co-op or collectively
buy with others 5. Don’t shop with your emotions, use your
conscience when shopping 6. Rent big ticket items when possible
(for instance, if you need to fold 10,000 documents on a
quarterly basis or use a saw-zall once a year) 7. Use the
library 8. Barter 9. Comparison-shop for EVEYTHING! 10. Don’t
buy because it’s on sale or because you have a coupon
Let’s look at some items or habits you can stop this month in
order to start saving (Use your items and figures that you had
logged into you daily expenditures).
$208/yr – newspaper $72/yr – 1 movie a month at $6 $720/yr – 20
breakfast drinks a month at $4 $48/yr – 1 magazine at $4 a month
GRAND TOTAL of SAVINGS a YEAR=$1,048
In ten years that would be $10,4800
Now, think a minute, what can you do with that $1,048 extra a
year or that $10,4800 in ten years?
Get a big jar; water bottle, tin can, piggy bank, or something
to start throwing your MONEY into (don’t forget a container for
your car).
If you pay cash for a daily newspaper, throw your paper cost
DAILY into your container. If you pay monthly, write yourself a
check for that cost. Start a new habit by being selective on
what you NEED to read and see if you can read it on the Internet
or at the library. Can you hear about it on the tv news? Better
yet, try a life change and STOP readin gor listening to the news
and start making your own * news * to share with relatives and
friends.
When you go to rent a movie, STOP, and throw that money into
your container. See if the movie is at the library, if a friend
has it to borrow, or wait for it to come out on regular tv.
Start making your * special drink * at home in the morning. You
are now able to ENJOY your * special drink * because now you
have more time because; you don’t have to drive to the * special
drink * place, get out of your car, stand in a sometimes long
line, wait for your order to be prepared, and guzzle down your
*special drink * while sprinting off, racing off, or dashing
down the street to wherever you might be headed; NOW you can
relax and throw your $4, your stress, problems, and concerns
into your container and REALLY ENJOY your * special drink *.
(whew, didn’t mean to get off on a rant ).
That magazine that comes monthly, that you never have time to
read, and is piling up on the table or floor; stop it from
coming into your home or office and write yourself a check at
renewal time! If you think you can’t live without it, see if a
friend gets it and ask to borrow. See if it’s on the Internet or
at the library
I’m not trying to tell you to be a penny pincher or a miser. I
just want you to REALLY look at where your money is going. Stop,
think, and look at how you can * OverHall * your daily
expenditures so you can get some of your hard earned money back
and bring a sense of financial BALANCE back into your life.
If you find you are spending money on something that TRULY
brings happiness, pleasure, comfort, and BALANCE into your life,
then don’t give it up. Although you might consider cutting back
on that item.
The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional
Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is the owner of OverHall
Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE
organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com
Copyright ( c ) 1999, 2000, 2001 by OverHall Consulting P.O. Box
263, Port Republic, MD 20676 All Rights Reserved. Permission is
granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute so long as this
copyright notice and full information about contacting the
author is attached.
About the author:
The Organizing Wizard, Janet L. Hall, is a Professional
Organizer, Speaker, and Author. She is the owner of OverHall
Consulting, and Organizing By Phone. Subscribe to her FREE
organizing newsletter at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
or visit her web site at http://www.overhall.com
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