Intelligence, education, and experience are great things to have if you are trying to make money. But those three things won’t guarantee that you make money, or that you’ll make the most of it if you happen to acquire some. Money management is as important, or more, than high earning potential. By using your money efficiently, you will have to earn a lot less of it. By making more with less money, you can spend more time outside of the office, out of a traditional career path. With more time to yourself, you can be free to explore your own dreams and goals. But it takes efficiency with money to get to that point. If you’re smart and gifted, here are three ways to focus on money management so that you can make your cash go alot farther.
- Forgotten Payments. Everybody automates and subscribes for various payments and services. This is a very convenient way to manage your financial life, but it is a strategy that has some problems. For one, most people forget about at least a few of the services as time goes on. The companies to which you are subscribing really like this kind of customer. Take a close look at your debit and credit accounts to see what payments are being drafted. You’ll no doubt notice some that you had forgotten about, or some that aren’t familiar at all. This was the experience for people who discovered they were paying for Payment Protection Insurance. “Have I Got PPI” is still a very popular search term in England because the insurance was fraudulently sold to people as they signed mortgage and other big loans. Similar payments may be robbing you of thousands each year.
- The Cost of Being Too Busy. Plenty of people are so busy that they have to pay other people to handle their crazy lives for them. If you have to buy a lot of your food out of the house, pay people to watch your kids and your dog, or various managers to keep track of the details of your life, you may be paying more money than you need for a lifestyle that is unnecessary. Figure out how much you are paying each month just to keep your lifestyle on track. Now think about how much you could save if you had the time and energy to manage these factors yourself. If the difference is enormous and you are at all unhappy with your present course of life, see what happens when you dismount.
- Career Rut. Everybody stalls out in their careers at one time or another. If this sounds like you, consider how much more money you might be able to make if you were to change jobs or get a raise that you deserve. Considered from a purely accounting perspective, annual returns can be increased by a lot just by asking for what you think you can get.
There are plenty of ways that people waste money, but these are three of the most important considerations for people who want to learn to do better.
