An Easy Money Saving Strategy

From every individual paycheck save:

Below $50- Save $5

$51-$99- Save $10

$100-$199- Save $20

$200-$299- Save $40

$300-$399- Save $60

$400-$499- Save $80

$500-$599- Save $100

…

You Can Do It!

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Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco

How to Save Something

Many financial, money, success, entrepreneur experts will tell you that the key to being wealthy, as demonstrated by those with wealth, is multiple streams of income.

Well this post isn't about income, but what you do with it.  The multiple streams principle can be applied to saving as well.

It's important for everyone to put money aside for rainy days/future plans/etc.  Everyone, no matter what you bring in and what you spend and pay in expenses, can save SOMETHING.  If you can even save only five dollars a week, great!  It's putting SOMETHING away and doing it periodically.  You must stick with it.

THEN FORGET ABOUT IT.  Your savings should not tempt you, because you don't have it ;)
Pretend you don't have it.

If you can afford it, having multiple spots to stick cash is a great way to diversify your savings.  Whether in a lockbox under your bed or in a separate bank account, you can set different rules for each spot on to how you contribute to it.

My method:
I probably go a little overboard but saving money becomes fun once you find a good way to do it.  With online banking nowadays, its even easier.

1.  Immediately after getting paid, I move 5% of each check to a growth account.
2.  I withdrawal a certain set percentage of one check and put it in a personal lockbox.
3.  Any other checks get 50% withdrawn and put into the lockbox.
4.  The remaining fifty percent gets split, putting half in a reserve account.
5.  Periodically, at the end of a set time period I put a set percentage of the lockbox savings into a safe.
6.  All pocket change goes into the lockbox.
7.  Before a pocketful of change goes into the lockbox, the biggest coin and smallest coin from the pocketful go into a jar.

This is fun for me, but I'm not saying anyone has to go this nuts.  What's important is that you ARE saving SOMETHING.

A few years ago I saw a image on reddit about a guy who saved every five dollar bill he got over a period and it added up quickly.  I thought it was a great idea and started doing it.  Over time, my savings method changed and evolved to what I have now.

That is what I wanted to hopefully spark with this post.  I had no savings method until I came across one guys method and got the idea from him.  Hopefully, I've inspired you to try out one these methods and it leads to your own effective method and BIG savings!

As always, please comment, share, put in a lockbox, safe, whatevs!

Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco 

How Do Physical Assets Work? Briefly, kinda

What is a physical asset?
A physical asset is something such as gold or silver.  A physical asset has an intrinsic monetary value, a value which fluctuates according to the market of that item.

Why is gold or silver valuable?
They are both pure elements and rare earth metals that are extremely un-reactive and do not deteriorate.  In other words they do not depreciate in value over time.

How do physical assets work?
Physical assets, like stocks and real estate, are investments.  Since the US dollar and many other world currencies are not backed by any real value and economic problems are rampant, people over the last few decades have bought things like gold and silver as a way to secure their wealth.  You often hear phrases such as, "it's a hedge against inflation."  That means if the dollar was to go south, your wealth would not be lost.  In a collapse, such as the great depression, physical assets are not what you use to put bread on the table.  They are for when the market inevitably rebounds.  When the economy is back running smoothly and their is a valuable and secure currency in use, you can then sell some of the gold or silver and you will not have lost that much wealth.  At this point you can reinvest in industry and create new wealth for yourself and the market.

I know this is complicated stuff but not understanding it is why people poorly invest.  The key to understanding this stuff is knowing the prerequisite vocabulary and learning some basic economics.  I'm not going to explain things like inflation or how currency values work in this post. There are many resources out there to use.

I'll leave you with this:
George and Gary have $1000 each.  George uses his money to buy $1000 worth of silver.  Gary does not.  He keeps it in his bank account earning negligible interest.  After some time passes, the economy in their nation collapses.  Gary's money has been in a bank.  But, we know banks don't just keep the money in their vaults, they use it to invest and give out loans.  When the economy collapses, people could not repay the loans that were given to them with Gary's money.  Gary's bank goes bankrupt and Gary loses his $1000.  George, on the other hand, holds on to his silver, hoping in a few years everything will be rebuilt.  And so, the nation digs itself out of a terrible depression and the economy is thriving again.  George goes out and sells his silver for around $1000.  Gary has squat.

How to Save At Least $20 a Week

How to Save At Least $20 a Week

Okay, this article is intended for college students!  If you are in college and are working part time, making minimum or almost minimum wage, this article is for you. 

Chances are, if you are in this scenario, your three biggest expenses are food, gas, and perhaps something like a cell phone bill.  These were my main expenses when I was at university.  You are making something in the range of $100 to $200 a week, most likely. Just for an example to work with, let’s pick $150 as your weekly income. 

Now let’s budget it out.  Budgeting is the key to having money, and spending it wisely. We start with the monthly expenses we know will be due at the same time every month.  At this time in our lives we only have one.  For the example we’ll go with the cell phone bill.  $90 is a reasonable amount to set it at.  Now, you know that of the five weeks/month of income you receive, $90 of that is going to the bill. 

So, let’s see what you make for the whole month.  $750 is your total income for five weeks.  Subtract the phone bill and you are left with $660.  This is the capital you have for spending/saving this month.  Next you figure out what you spend on gas in a week’s time. 

If you’re living on campus, then you probably aren’t driving around much other than going to your job and back.  The cost of gas may be different with someone who commutes to school but let’s focus on the resident student.  A commuter can budget their gas the same way.

You spend $25 a week on gas.  Multiply that by five and subtract it from you’re the $660.  You now have $535.  Still a pretty good sum.  Now you know you have $107 for spending on food and other things, and saving.  If you have the meal plan and have access to your university’s own version of bonus money for food on campus, then you should be able to pull something out of the $107 to set aside. 

As in the title, we are going to save $20 a week.  Not too much money, but for a poor college student it’s a lot.  And it adds up quickly too.  You can save $100 a month.  And if you’d like to save even more, use the ATM, pay with cash, and any coinage you get in change, SAVE IT!  Every five dollar bill you receive, SAVE IT!  On Friday when you get payed, if you have any one dollar bills left from the week, SAVE ‘EM!  Then once you have it stashed away, pretend like you don’t have it.  And do your very best to never have to tap into it.  Only in absolute emergencies (like being broke…but don’t let it happen!) should this be done. 

These rules and rates can be all be adapted to your own style or desires, and income.  You can even tailor your savings strategy to save up for something specific, like concert tickets, a laptop, even a car or investments.  Not to mention you’ll need to pay off those college loans when the time comes (probably the best idea…no seriously…I should’ve read this article…but I wrote it now with the postgraduate wisdom…so hindsight is 20:20…ok enough of this parenthesis diatribe…). 

Everyone brings in different income and this is not a system that will work for everyone.  Though, this is what worked for me throughout my university years.  The big idea here is budgeting!  The best way to make ends meet, drive, eat, and save a little is with proper budgeting.  Yes, it will take some self-discipline and planning, but that is what allows all those who are successful to become successful!  The more financially responsible you are, the more financially secure you’ll be, and you can live a better and more free life!

Oh yeah…and never get a credit card. 

You can read my brief argument against debt here.

A Brief Case Against Debt

A Brief Case Against Debt

There is a certain dignity in being poor or truly broke.  When a man is not indebted, he is not beholden to any other person or institution.  He is truly free.  Any way the wind blows, he may do what he chooses to make himself prosperous again.  When indebted he may only work to keep his masters at bay.

This same idea applies to taxation as well.