Get 15% to 30% More From Your Money
I am often asked why I bother with a few pounds, dollars or rands here and there.
Firstly, living a small mean life isn’t abundant and isn’t a wealthy life.
So, it’s not about being penny pinching, it's about being savvy with my money - are you being stingy or are you being savvy?
I bother to record and acknowledge small amounts because of the combined principles of awareness and compounding.
Awareness is about control and choice.
It’s about acknowledging I am responsible for every outcome in my life and I have a choice to do whatever I want with my money. Knowing that some choices will create my freedom feast and some will destroy it. Either way it’s my choice.
Compounding is about acknowledging that every cent is a seed, every pence is a golden egg and has value and every dollar has unlimited potential which I can release or destroy.
So yes, I do bother with small amounts. I am also sometimes asked why I don’t necessarily stay in the most expensive hotels and so forth. Again, it’s about a balance of choice, value and abundance.
I love nice things and experiences, and I don’t deprive myself, but I don’t need them in my life to feel wealthy.
Feeling wealthy comes from inside of me, it comes from knowing that I value the money in my life. I feel wealthy knowing I now live life on my terms, I get to do the work I love in a way that fills me. I am immensely grateful for all I have in my life and so I look after it and grow it. But mostly, I manage my money because I have a huge WHY. My life’s vision is huge, the legacy I want to leave, the people I want to help and the difference I want to make in this world needs me to be great with my money, and so I am.
Your vision needs you to be great with money too, and needs you to ensure you get the most out of it.
Here are some money squeezing ways for you to apply in your life to get 15% and 30% more value from your money without reducing your standard of living.
- Look at your Bank fee’s – change to a low cost bank account
- Interest payments – destroy your debt
- Know what insurances you really do and don’t need and how much you need. This is a huge area of money leakage for lots, and lots of people. One Gourmet Wealth Chef client saved herself $2000 just in this area alone.
- Magazines – get annual subscriptions for the magazines you really read and get value from and never buy them from the corner shop again. Subscriptions will save you up to 70% of the cover costs. Better yet, agree with your family to give magazine subscriptions to each other as gifts.
- Culinary comfort – Stop buying prepackaged, readymade and take-away meals. Not only are they full of preservatives and other bad things, this convenience costs you over 120% more than the base ingredients. When you cook, double the quantity & freeze the extra amount, ensuring you already have your own pre-prepared meals available for when you don’t have time or don’t feel like cooking.
- Gym memberships – if you use it fantastic – in reality fewer than 87% of people regularly use their gym. Cancel the membership and rather go exercise in your local park.
- Other memberships, subscription programmes – look through your direct debits and question whether you use them all.
- Buy a filter for your tap water instead of drinking bottled water
- Challenge the Grande double shot skinny no foam latte culture. How much are you spending on concepts that barely existed 15 years ago? Do you really need that cappuccino every day?
- Take your own lunch to work – this alone could free up the money you need to put into your financial freedom pot.
- Make your hair coloring last two weeks longer than you normally would. Instead of getting it done 8 times a year, have it done 5 times. Wow, you’ve just found your Debt Destruction Fuel.
- Know the different times when your landline and mobile phone rates are cheaper and use skype instead.
- Turn off appliances and use low energy bulbs to reduce your electricity bill
- Install solar heating in your house
- Maintain and service your car regularly
- Turn down the temperature on your water geyser
- Go to movies on discount days
- Get books from your library
- Start a book club
- Eat fruit and vegetables that are in season
- Make your own cleaning products that are cheaper and better for you and the environment. – I’m going to send you a great list of these.
- Go to restaurants that let you bring your own wine
- Do your monthly grocery shopping online with prepared lists
- Plan your weekly meals ahead and only buy what you need for them.
- Buy generic products
- Ride to work. Buy a low cost scooter or better yet a bicycle to get to work
- Set your pool filter to run during off peak electricity times
- Base your weeks menu on sales items
- Buy your household items on sale and from bulk wholesalers
- Buy nearly new from the classified, bid or buy, junk mail etc.
- Use the internet to know your prices and values before you buy
- Get at least three quotes for all services, insurances, and major purchases
- Never buy a new car. It loses up to 20% of its value as soon as you drive it off the show room floor.
- Check out charity shops, second hand merchants and garage sales
- Consider giving up some of your vices. Smoking, alcohol, gambling, sweets and chocolate
- Christmas, Eid, Diwali are not emergencies. Spend half as much as usual on these holidays. Talk openly with your family and friends and share with them your vision for financial freedom.
- Use you ATM card a planned number of times in the month to withdraw the cash you need
- Once a month have a no money Sunday. This is a fun day where each person must come up with an idea of having a fab day without spending anything. Make and fly a kite, have a picnic, watch airplanes, walk in a forest.
Make your own list of cost saving ideas. Get the whole family involved. Once you start you will be amazed at how much extra money you can find without reducing your standard of living.
I'd love to hear from you, email us on [email protected] and share your ideas so we can all get more out of our money.
P.S If you have not yet calculated your freedom number and the price tag of your free life then dive into the Wealth Made Simple training here and become one of the elite few who knows where they are headed..
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the world has become an uncertain place.
Whether it’s a recession, tough job market, or a global pandemic… the only way to have true security and freedom is to create it yourself.
The ultimate freedom and security are having a robust portfolio of diversified assets growing in value and earning you the money you need to live the life you want… plus a wealthy money flow so you can spend your time and energy LIVING YOUR LIFE - YOUR WAY.
