The moment I started making my own money, I felt empowered and in control of my future. I had so many plans, to save for my own car, my own house, my own business. So many things seemed possible. But of course, once you start making money, you start spending money, and I spent my money – a lot.
And the adage that the more you earn the more you save was completely untrue for me. In my case and I’m sure as well as most of yours, the more I earned, the more I spent, the more I wanted. Bigger paychecks didn’t help and I realized I actually saved more when I had a smaller paycheck. And now, almost 7 years into my career, I realized I’m no closer to the getting the things I wanted than when I had just graduated from college. To make matters worse, we have bills, credit card debts and other obligations to pay, leaving us with less and less to save for our future.
Time flies everyone, believe me. And unless we take a step back and realize that we need to make changes NOW, we’ll wake up one day and realize it’s too late.
Yes, it’s time. Time to recheck our finances, pay off our debts, start spending wisely, start investing for the future, start realizing the value of money we are wasting on things that we don’t really need. We’re very fortunate to have so many options available for investments. With mutual funds, VULs, short and long term time deposits and so many other financial products out in the market, there’s really no excuse to not invest. The earlier we start, the bigger the returns, and it takes so little to start, we just need to have the will to do it.
As for me, I started out small, first I left all my credit cards at home, and only use my cash on hand. If I can’t pay for it in cash, it means I probably can’t afford it. I consolidated my credit card debt, used a balance transfer facility to make payments lighter and planned out my expenses for the next 6 months. I started paying for an affordable life insurance and investment policy. And after checking my finances, I realized I still have enough to spend on the little ‘luxuries’ I know I can’t give up, like going out with friends or traveling. See, it’s really not about giving up all your wants, it’s about reaching a compromise between current and future expenses and realizing where to draw the line on spending. And it feels so good to know that at least, as of right now, I’m finally on the right track.
