CASH EATERS

POST 3 | 100715 | CASH EATERS

RENT DROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD.. 5 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR POCKETS INTACT WITHOUT BECOMING A SOCIAL PARIAH

Pay Day hits, jubilees abound and then Boom – next thing you know, couch cushions are flying in search of that long-lost quarter you dropped with reckless abandon 13 days ago.

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How does this happen? How do you go from 60-0 in what seems like no time?

I’m sure Cosmo, The Economist, or some normalcy in between has covered the nuances I’m about to review in as many ways as there are target audiences – but in case those didn't sink in..

1.     DECIDE WHAT IS MORE VALUABLE IN YOUR LIFE – TIME OR MONEY. They are both valuable currencies. If planning out and shopping for your brown bag lunches on Sunday is more of a life suck than shelling out $200/month (5 lunches/wk x avg. 4 wks) for mass-produced salads/sandwiches/Shake Shack, don’t do it. Pick your poison. For some, the time saved by convenience foods – that is the point after all – is well worth the extra (thousands) of pennies.  For others, know you could make a savings profit of $100-$120/month by bringing your lunch to work (=$1,200-$1,440/year.. on weekday lunches).

2.     IS THIS TUESDAY REALLY A SPECIAL OCCASION? Personally, I am uber guilty of rationalizing in my head – “But when will I have this chance again!?” talking about getting seasoned curly fries on any given Tuesday. In these times, remember one important thing – You live in America. You pretty much will always have the chance to do whatever it is that is plaguing your conscience, again and again and again.

3.     SCHEME HARD ON YOUR PRINCE/PRINCESS PLAN. I call my 1/5/10 year ‘plans’ my princess plan. First, so that I keep my expectations in check and remember dreams are dreams. And second, because it’s just more fun that way. Imagine your wildest dreams and then backtrack – what kind/amount of capital/swagger are you going to need to pull those dream scenes off? You will organically save much more money along your daily crusades if you have an actual reason for saving the cash now for use later.

4.      50/20/30 ALL DAY ‘ERY DAY. Borrowed this little rule from LearnVest and hundreds of other sources. Really helpful if you just HATE THINKING ABOUT IT. Book out 50% of your monthly net mula for necessary life expenses (rent, utils, weekly groceries etc.), put 20% immediately in savings so the inevitable, ‘but we’re at the Standard and I just neeed this Apple-tini’ doesn’t happen.  The other 30% is yours, baby. Eat out every weekday, buy all the StarWars collectibles online, refuse to watch any movies that aren’t IMAX, go crazy. You have already done your saving and necessities for the month.

5.     CARRY CASH. Breaking a crisp $20 for your $3.76 Venti Iced Coffee with 2 Mocha Pumps is more painful than wrist-flipping your Platinum card, so you might think twice.  If you don’t bank where you live (BB&T reppin..) you can get cash back at most chain grocery and convenience stores. May not be trendy, but when they're broke and you’re like ‘whaat, let’s go to Napa!’ – may be worth it.

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