◣ D R E A M B I G | What is one (very large) thing that you want? A house? A car? A piece of land? An office? What ever it is, start saving for it. In the first chapter of, I Will Teach You How To Be Reach, by Remit Seth, he speaks on how a lot of American’s have Million-Dollar Dreams, but only want Million-Dollar Things. We have to become millionaires before having million dollar things. And unfortunately, over 80% of us won’t ever be millionaires. What does this mean to us? Set realistically big dreams, cut spending, and increase saving. All I want are once a year trips and a house. So that’s why I haven’t bought much clothes, shoes, and other little things over the years. Pick something big that you want, search online (as if you’re ready to buy), and figure out what it takes in order to obtain it!
◣ A I R L I N E + H O T E L | Sign up for airline and hotel reward programs! Ladies, Ladies, Ladies — you see all of the girls you admire traveling like crazy online?! Well 75% of people who travel regularly are on reward programs for the hotels and airlines they use the most. I have saved so much money, just by being on these programs. For example, Airlines like Airtran, give you a free one-way ticket after you take about four to six round-trip flights. What a steal! And hotels? You get tons of points with each stay. And when you stay at hotels, like Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, and Crowne Plaza, you can redeem a free night stay just after a total of ten hotel nights! Everytime you travel, don’t hesitate to join a rewards program! They’re free!
◣ M O N T H L Y S A V I N G | Open an account for monthly saving. Give yourself a $10, $20, $60, $100, $500 budget, and be sure to “pay that bill” to yourself each time you receive each check. You can even go as far as to give yourself a “due date”, to keep in mind for each monthly deposit. And a set percentage to save with any cash/checks you receive as gifts and/or incentives.
◣ H A N D L E Y O U R S | Pay your bills upfront. As soon as you get a check, pay off your bills and/or make a small payment towards your credit card. Avoid going into overdraft by not overspending.
◣ C H U M P C H A N G E | Open a chump change account that doesn’t have a debit card attached to it. Stop by your bank’s drive through once a week, while out and about, and deposit the change and spare bills in it.
◣ S I D E H U S T L E | Profit off of your passion. What is it that you can do on the side to collect some fast (and legal) cash? Perhaps babysitting, guest blogging, dogwalking, event planning, tutoring, interior decorating… Figure it out and make it happen! A quick $100+ is beautiful especially next to another paycheck. And always remember to let at least three people know where you are and what you’re doing in case of an emergency. You may clock into work but when you side hustle don’t forget to “Check in” with those you love and trust via text!
◣ S E L L S O M E T H I N G | I’m sure you have tons of clothing and shoes that you no longer use. Why not sell them on eBay or at your local thrift store? Sell the things you own and no longer use and use the cash to put towards your big investment! Every little thing counts! It’ll get you closer and closer to the thing you so desire.
A N D A G A I N Randomly jot these things down in your journal or planner for random days of the year, so you’re constantly reminded of the different ways to save! Ex: “Thrift it this week!”, “Side Hustle this month!”, “Chump Change Deposit today!”. You have nothing to lose, and a lot more (than you currently have) to gain.
Image Credit | Vogue Italia May 2011
