Save Money And Get Rich Faster
I just finished a Venti Latte at Starbucks, my fifth this week.
As I enjoyed my coffee and thought about my next "save money
grow rich" article, it hit me like a ton of bricks that my
coffee could be the subject of my article. I started doing the
math on the latte in my hand; Three dollars and forty cents
multiplied by five times a week multiplied by fifty two weeks.
That's eight hundred and forty dollars I'm spending a year on
fancy coffee! If I saved that money each year and invested with
five percent interest, which is pretty easy to get, I could have
sixty thousand dollars in thirty years. I'm spending sixty
thousand dollars on a cup of coffee. I'm not even accounting for
inflation which is going to make that latte cost over eight
dollars in the last eight to ten years of that thirty year
period. At eight percent interest it would be one hundred and
ten thousand dollars. Yikes!
What little things are you spending your money on? You might not
drink fancy coffee, but I'll assure you that there are other
things you're spending your money on that can be cut from your
budget. That money can be saved, grown, and used to become rich
or at least retire comfortably. How much do you spend on bottled
water, cigarettes, beer, and lottery tickets? You don't have to
give up all of your favorite vices..., I mean luxury items. Life
is pretty boring if all you do is save every penny, but it is a
good idea to take an inventory of what you are spending, what
you can give up, and what it is worth to you in future dollars.
Track your daily expenses for a week. Make a list of each of the
expenses and separate them into the items that are absolutely
necessary, like gas, and the items that are not necessary, like
the coffee.
Here are some other areas that you can cut back and save:
- Eating out. Only eat out occasionally and take your lunch to
work. - The mid afternoon candy bar. Hey, it's good for your
health too. - Pre-packed convenience foods. - Carry over credit
card interest. Pay your credit card bill off monthly. - Extra
cable channels.
You'll be amazing how fast you can come up with two hundred and
fifty dollars a month that can be saved. Using the savings
calculator at www.rich.fq
te.com/savings-estimator.htm you can see that two hundred
and fifty dollars saved monthly for thirty years adds up to a
lot of money. Time to ditch the latte, save money, and get rich
faster.