Pay Yourself First.
It’s one of the oldest truisms of personal finance. Yet it’s the one most people ignore. Why? Become life happens. The month gets filled with extra expenses and you end up saying, “Next month…”. You may not feel it now, but if continuously don’t pay yourself first, you may be working well into retirement.
One of the easiest way to make sure you keep a percentage of each paycheck is to make it automatic. Set up an auto-withdrawal of 10-15% of each paycheck to your mutual fund or money market account. If you never see it in your paycheck, you are less likely to miss it. 10-15% of your income may not sound like a lot, but after a few short years, you’ll be impressed how much it adds up to.
Stop Using Credit Cards
The average credit card balance per household was over $8,000 at the end of 2008! Does that number ring a bell? Is your balance lower or higher? There’s been a growing trend lately to begin paying off these destructors of wealth. The problem is, many of these people still use their credit cards while they are trying to pay them off. That’s like running a few miles while eating a few donuts. Any progress you get will be negated.
Stop using that credit card for gas. Cut up that card you use for points and rewards. And if you aren’t quite ready to take the scissors to your credit cards, here’s a great trick: Fill a plastic zip bag with water and drop in all of your credit cards. Then tuck it into the back of your freezer. They’ll be out of your wallet so you can’t use them on an impulse. And if you absolutely must use them for an emergency, you can get them out and thaw them out. In the time it takes you to thaw them, you can re-group and ask yourself if there might be any other way rather than using the credit cards. (And yes, once they are thawed and dried, they’ll still work!)
Become Indispensable
There’s no such thing anymore as job protection. Every position in every company is venerable. But there is a way to put a shell of armor around your office or cubicle so that your position will stand up to any downturn, downsizing or next round of layoffs. And it’s simply this: Become indispensable.
So how do you become indispensable in this highly competitive world that we live? You must do everything in your job description plus about 20-30% more! Just imagine that there are about 50 people standing around your desk. And each of them are waiting for you to fail so they can take your place. Believe me, it’s not too far from the truth. Arrive early, stay late, work at home. Get training, take classes, and ask your boss how you can improve.
Learn how best to secure your future with our ebook 7 Steps to Secure Your Future
It’s one of the oldest truisms of personal finance. Yet it’s the one most people ignore. Why? Become life happens. The month gets filled with extra expenses and you end up saying, “Next month…”. You may not feel it now, but if continuously don’t pay yourself first, you may be working well into retirement.
One of the easiest way to make sure you keep a percentage of each paycheck is to make it automatic. Set up an auto-withdrawal of 10-15% of each paycheck to your mutual fund or money market account. If you never see it in your paycheck, you are less likely to miss it. 10-15% of your income may not sound like a lot, but after a few short years, you’ll be impressed how much it adds up to.
Stop Using Credit Cards
The average credit card balance per household was over $8,000 at the end of 2008! Does that number ring a bell? Is your balance lower or higher? There’s been a growing trend lately to begin paying off these destructors of wealth. The problem is, many of these people still use their credit cards while they are trying to pay them off. That’s like running a few miles while eating a few donuts. Any progress you get will be negated.
Stop using that credit card for gas. Cut up that card you use for points and rewards. And if you aren’t quite ready to take the scissors to your credit cards, here’s a great trick: Fill a plastic zip bag with water and drop in all of your credit cards. Then tuck it into the back of your freezer. They’ll be out of your wallet so you can’t use them on an impulse. And if you absolutely must use them for an emergency, you can get them out and thaw them out. In the time it takes you to thaw them, you can re-group and ask yourself if there might be any other way rather than using the credit cards. (And yes, once they are thawed and dried, they’ll still work!)
Become Indispensable
There’s no such thing anymore as job protection. Every position in every company is venerable. But there is a way to put a shell of armor around your office or cubicle so that your position will stand up to any downturn, downsizing or next round of layoffs. And it’s simply this: Become indispensable.
So how do you become indispensable in this highly competitive world that we live? You must do everything in your job description plus about 20-30% more! Just imagine that there are about 50 people standing around your desk. And each of them are waiting for you to fail so they can take your place. Believe me, it’s not too far from the truth. Arrive early, stay late, work at home. Get training, take classes, and ask your boss how you can improve.
Learn how best to secure your future with our ebook 7 Steps to Secure Your Future
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