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"Why Resisting The Temptation To Spend All You Earn Is So Important."
Posted on: 2006-05-10 09:28:23 "Why Resisting The Temptation To Spend All You Earn Is So Important." Ed Kalski What are you spending your money on? Are you like many people who spend all they earn? If so, it's likely you squandering your future happiness with the purchases you are making today. Short-term joy can destroy your chances for long-term happiness. If you take a look through history, one virtue you'll see mentioned over and over and over again is the virtue of frugality. We have all heard Benjamin Franklin's famous quote: "A penny saved is a penny earned." Well, Franklin was actually understating the case for saving. In reality, a penny saved can be many pennies earned. Regularly saving a part of your income, and not squandering it, will have a tremendous impact on your future. Many wealthy people, early on, learned that if they save a percentage of their income they get in return much more control of their life. You can do the same. Here's the key - pay yourself first. When you get your paycheck, do not spend first and then save what's left over. Save first and then spend what is left over. Develop this habit of saving a part of your income and you will gain peace of mind and financial independence. You may have to start with small amounts. Just about everyone does. But it does not matter how little you save. What matters is that you just get started. Americans have a very poor record of saving. It's almost as if Americans today believe that debt is the American way. And truthfully, looking at how low the savings rate is in America, perhaps it does reflect the new American way. But it hasn't always been that way. What has changed? And why? It can all be explained with one word. The word is "Sacrifice." Today, the word "sacrifice" is a dirty word. No one wants to do it. What a mistake this is. It is here, dealing with sacrificing in the present for a better tomorrow that we must start. There is no doubt that sacrificing can be painful. After all, the money you save today obviously cannot be spent on things you are tempted now to buy. But you must focus on the big picture. Living just for today ignores the fact that for most of us, tomorrow will come. And the day after that, and the day after that. In the long run, sacrificing some for your future is a major plus for you. It can set you apart from the millions who will feel the weight of their debt their whole life. Everything you want and do requires some kind of trade off. Instead of squandering your money, start saving. Here's the process you must strive for: to give up those things of lower value so you can gain those things of greater and more lasting value. You can save much more than you do now by resisting the temptations you feel to buy those items and services that add, at best, only a little satisfaction to your life. So many material things bring short-term happiness, but by doing so kills your chance for long-term lasting happiness. Put in other words, spending all you earn destroys your chance for financial independence. The payoff for learning to sacrifice a little today for a better tomorrow can grow very large. To win at this battle, here's what you must do. Recognize: 1. That there are a plenty of things you can comfortably do without, or with less of. 2. That tremendous rewards can be attained by becoming prudent with your earnings. So you think that you have no room in your paycheck for saving? A little reflection will reveal that there is plenty you can eliminate and hardly miss. Looking at the big picture, do you really need that new CD? Does having a new cell phone just because it's a little smaller than the one you have now bring you more happiness? It's so easy to think only in terms of the here and now? To ignore the requirements your future needs. Are you like so many people who are unaware of the large rewards they could give themselves by cutting back on things that are largely superfluous to their well-being? We are in no position to judge what trade offs you should make. The costs and benefits of doing anything are, at their core, subjective, and so only you can really grasps the costs and benefits of saving. Take some time now to think this through. Learn what power there is in Compound Interest when you invest your savings. Finally, here's some more good news. When you resist the temptation to spend all you earn, you will create more than just financial gains. You also establish a sense of self-control that is an integral part of any satisfying life. When it comes to money, like everything else, you must learn to choose wisely and deliberately. If your only response is emotional, you become like a feather in the wind. Instead, establish your hierarchy of importance. Learn to make better tradeoffs. By doing so, your profits will be enormous and your happiness more secure. About the author: Ed Kalski is co-owner of www.everyday-wisdom.com where visitors can get the ideas they need when they need them. |