We all strive to get ahead in life, to have more money, to work less. But how does one actually get ahead? And is there in fact a secret key that we don�t know about?
Asking these questions to hundreds of people looking to retire all produces surprisingly similar answers. Save more. Spend less. So could this be the secret key if ever one was to exist?
One of my co-workers, Dail, gave the advice, �Save something each month. No matter how little it is, just be sure to save something.� Easier said than done I thought. Working overtime and still struggling just to make ends meet I was left wondering, �Who has any money leftover to save?� This, herein, lies the key.
Forcing myself to face the financial fiasco I had put myself in, the hard truth was right in front of me. I work because I spend. I spend what I don�t have. I have to work more to keep up with the minimum payments on my credit cards because as I spend more, the minimum payments rise.
Caught up in the vicious Cycle of Debt. How does one break out of the cycle? There are many things you can do and many places you can turn to. The free article, I�m in debt what do I do? Options are? will get you started on the right path. Another great resource is the free E-Book: Debt Disaster Relief. It is filled with information on how to lessen your debt load, how to stay out of debt, and how to take control of your life.
So the first step to getting ahead in life is to get out of debt. You can also cut expenses. There is always money to save somewhere. You just have to find it. Keeping track of what you spend, even the loose change that finds its� way into the vending machine at work is key. It all adds up. Often times, we spend far more than we realize.
Once you take control of your money, you must save. Does saving always mean letting money just sit in the bank? No, it doesn�t. You need to make the most of your money. The acclaimed book, The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clayson, provides the big picture to getting ahead in life and how to make your money work for you.
We all know we should have money in the bank for emergencies, etc. But what are some other ways to save aside from putting money in the bank? If you have a mortgage payment you can make more by paying additional towards your principal than you would earn with interest from the bank. Have you ever taken a close look at your mortgage statement to see how much of your payment is going to pay off the principal balance? How much you are giving to the bank in interest? On one of my past mortgages, I was only paying just $100 towards principal despite I was sending more than $1000 to my bank for my mortgage payment.
There are many financial calculators available online that let you calculate how much money you can save in interest by sending a little bit more each month. A neat thing to do is to get an amortization schedule on your mortgage. Information on how to obtain one of these is found on your mortgage statement or you could call the customer service number. They usually cost $20 or so to get. If you don�t know how to do your own amortization schedule , it will be money well spent. It provides a clear listing of every single payment and how much will go towards the principal amount. Pay a few months ahead of the principal amount with each mortgage payment you send in. You will quickly see how fast your money can work for you. It produces a snowball effect, where the more you send in, the more you will be paying towards your principal on future payments.
Look at your bills and see how to make your money work for you in the best possible way. It may be to pay off your credit cards if you are carrying a balance, it may be to pay off your car. Whatever the case, armed with knowledge, you can�t go wrong. Know how much you are paying on interest on every single debt you have. Be informed because when it comes to your money no one else cares as much as you do.
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