"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:11
In today's world we have become accustomed to excess. We can never have enough and this behavior has overruled good judgement and common sense. We see how people love to spend, even for things that are entirely unnecessary and useless. Shopping has become our favorite pastime, eating out with friends and families at the most extravagant restaurants has become a lifestyle.
This type of behavior is destructive. With families suffering from the results of our most recent recession, we most take extreme measures to be able to counteract the result of the lack of discipline of the last decades. The best thing we can do for our families is to commit to manage our money, save for the future and to control impulses through self-discipline. One of the best way to save money is to be aware of the fact that one has the power to define the state of his finances specifically through a conscious effort of disciplining the way one spends and controlling one's expenditures.
Self-discipline requires to act in accordance with wisdom instead of feelings. Many times it requires the sacrifice of short-term pleasure and thrills for what matters most in life and long-term rewards. Self-discipline is what drives us to:
* work on a project after the initial thrill has faded away.
* keeps you going to the gym after January 31st.
* wake up early and go to work when all you want to do is lie in bed a little longer.
* say no when tempted to deviate from wisdom.
There is never a better time than today to practice financial self-discipline. There are many ways we can easily be tempted into a debt trap. Self-discipline is the key to reducing one's debts and increasing the possibility of growing one's savings. Otherwise you’ll continue to become ensnared in cycle of endless debt, ruining both your present financial circumstances, as well as your future.
One of the essential keys to successful money management, specifically saving money is to possess proper attitude. Self-discipline is at the topmost of this proper attitudes list, of course. Understanding the high correlation between self-discipline and saving money, the next logical question is, how do we start acquiring and developing this self-discipline, which often appears so evasive? Well, there are a lot of methods which folks often times take for granted. Here are a few of the easier ones that are almost effortless to follow. Memorize them, and they will grow on you. Attempt to implement these steps gradually in your day-to-day living and certainly they will deliver you tremendous fruits on your path to financial stability.
Here are some helpful money saving tips.
1. Focus on liquidity - Realize that the most convenient method of building one's wealth is through saving money. Start by developing a three months of reserve, with a goal to increase it to six and then to nine months. This will create the cushion you need to sustain the next storm.
2. Cut Unnecessary Expenditures - One of the biggest culprits in the erosion of family wealth is the excessive spending on items which are not necessary. Trips to fast food, movies, trips to the beach, trips to the salon, etc. Each of these things need to be cut to a bare minimum.
3. Eliminate Impulse Purchases - One of our worst enemies and destroyer of family stability. Take your time when buying, especially the expensive items. If you really need it, it would most definitely not slip your mind. Otherwise, if you go along forgetting all about it, then it isn't really worth the money you have to spend on it at all.
4. Eliminate Credit Card Debt - The biggest culprit of debt slavery. Credit card debts hold the number one slot as the cause for financial drains in our society these days. Learn to manage and eliminate your credit card debt. It is also important that we teach our children about the proper use of credit cards to prevent them from becoming debt slaves.
Credit Card Debt Statistics (source: Consolidated Credit)
Credit card debt represents a big portion of our total national debt. It is also a major source of financial hardship for many Americans who struggle to pay their bills each month.
* Total U.S. revolving debt as of May, 2011: $798.3 billion - 98% of that is made up of consumer credit card debt
* Average credit card debt per household: $6,600 - However, if you count only households that use credit cards: $15,799
* The average consumer has an average of 3.5 credit cards - This number has been greatly reduced during the economic downturn; prior to 2008, Americans averaged 5.5 credit cards
* There are 178.6 million credit cardholders in the U.S.
* The average age to get a first credit card is now 20.8 years
* Average credit card APR (interest rate) as of November, 2011: 12.36%
No matter how you look at it, saving money is easy to do. It requires discipline, a little bit of imagination, and some creativity which will take you a long way in keeping hold of your hard-earned money, restoring peace to your family and building true wealth.
