Building a nest egg

Can you just save $5 a day?  It adds up and here is how.  For easy math let’s say there are 30 days average a month.  That would $150 for month in savings.  So if you do that for 12 months you will have $1800 for the year.  Let’s take it a step further and say you do it for 5 years you will have a total of $9,000. 10 years and you will have $18,000.  That is a easy way to put a few dollars in your savings and those numbers do not even include the interest you will be earning.  I can already see your nest egg beginning to grow. 

What if you do not have $5 a day to put away? Then start with $1 dollar.  Also if you are that tight on money you need to look at all your spending and see if you can cut out anywhere on the Starbucks runs, eating out, cable, and other luxerious items. 

Try it and see how it works for one month - Turn saving a little money into a habit!

I sold my car

Here is the deal. I sold my car today for what I paid for it 14 months ago.  I always get my cars from a wholesaler so it works out good.  I have not got a replacement car yet but my wife and I have decided that we will take our time on figuring out what car to get next.  We still have a nice SUV that just got repaired so we are good to go for some time.  So why did I sell my car?

My wife and I both work about 1 mile from where we currently live. The sale of the car was not because we need the money but where we are currently working and driving to at this time doesn’t really require us to have two cars.  As a result we put away all the cash from the car I bought 14 months ago so when it comes time to buy a new one I will have the cash to do it again.  There will be a time in the coming months where we will want 2 cars again especially if we end up moving again.  So as a result of the car we are going to save about $100 in gas a month and about $100 in insurance for the car. $200 a month is not a bunch, but at least I can walk sometimes to work and get some excersise.  Sometimes we can carpool which is my way of going “green” since everyone is talking about it so much. Ha!  I really feel like we did not drive my car that much other than maybe  a 100 miles a week so for now this was the best move. 

Renting storage sheds

Are you a pack rat?  Are you a packer so much that you need to rent a storage shed?  I think a waste of money is to put stuff in storage.  You pay at the least $50 a month to throw stuff in there and sometimes people keep them for years.  By the time they get their stuff/junk/crap out of there they realize it was stupid to even get a storage unit.  For $600 a year ($50 a month x 12) you can go buy a new coffee table, or a new mattress.  I am sure the even bigger storage units cost much more.

People are paying places to store their junk.  If you can’t fit the stuff you have where you live, sell it.  Even if you know you will want it in the future, sell it.  When you want it again shop around to buy it back.  A lot of money is wasted on these units and I really do not see any value in having them. 

I think that is the business I want to get into. Maybe one day I will own a storage center.  Seems like good monthly revenue.  Liability insurance cannot be that much considering people are storing junk in their units.

Compensation is why we work

Every Tuesday night I have class.  I am currently in a Human Development class which is a fancy name for Human Resources.  Last night in my class we were discussing what is important to us in job.  I knew right away what was very important to me.  Compensation! We all work to make money so we can afford to live.  I was very surprised that many of the others in the class said, “Job Security” was just as important.  I was not sure really why that is so important to them but here are my thoughts.

The reason why I think job security is less important is because I feel like if you work hard, that companies are less likely to let you go.  If a company is going through a ruff time and the need to re-org, then they will look at who they have and figure out who is getting the job done.  Why would they get rid of the hard worker over the average worker?  If I am a CEO, I would want the people who are helping my bottom line and working hard to build the company. 

So after I thought about that it then came to me that most people are not savers!  Many live paycheck to paycheck, and barely are able to make ends meet.  So of course they are going to need to have job security to pay the bills.  I am even willing to go out on a limb and say that many people actually worry and waste time about their job security frequently.

Do not get me wrong.  I think knowing that you have job security is great.  However, if you were able to save 3-6 months worth of salary by cutting little things out of your life,  than most people would not have to stress over this part of their job and enjoy the compensation they are earning.  If for some reason you get let go in a company then you know that you have that cushion to get you to your next job. Work hard and save.

What is the most important thing to you in the workplace?

Paycheck to paycheck

Do you know someone who every time they get their hands on cash they spend it right away?  There are many people out there no matter how much money you give them they will always spend and never really learn how to save.  I am surprised at the people I know who live paycheck to paycheck but yet they smoke, have satellite TV, the $400 dollar car payment, and much more.  If they only spent a few minutes and changed some habits the stress of that kind of living could be lifted off their shoulders in very little time.

Plain and simple here is the way to always have a cushion of money.  If you make money then you are off to a good start.  If you always have more money coming in than is going out then you are doing even better.  Try to cut back on things you really do not need. Finally if you get a raise  at work there is no need to increase your spends just because you got a raise. Try to the next time you get a raise increase and move it into savings accounts.