I learned the hard way that it does matter what I do with every penny I get from my income when I struggled to keep my life balanced financially, with monthly rates for my car that were a large percentage of my total monthly income. Of course, there were also bills to pay, food and clothes to buy and other smaller expenses, but I was lucky I didn’t have to pay for rent. My parents were generous and gave me their apartment after they got older and moved to the country. As I tried to manage my finances, I had this idea that maybe I could cut some of the expenses for things that are not really necessary, such as small treats and other things that I thought people could live without. Calculating the amounts spent on sweets, visits to the gym, phone bills and other similar stuff, the conclusion was that I could save good money if I don’t drink soda every day and if I eliminate sweets from my menu, as these things are not healthy anyway.
I noticed that I can lower my phone bill by not talking over the number of minutes that are assigned by default by the mobile company I am assigned to. When it comes to saving energy by using the lights in the home only when necessary, I think everyone is aware of and it does count a lot. To spend even less, I started to look for promotions to the products I usually buy and to look for cheaper merchandise, without losing on quality. Another idea that came into my mind while I was reading some articles about energy efficient appliances was that I could sell the appliances that I already use and buy new ones that have a lower energy consumption.
My computer was quite old and I didn’t have the money to buy a new system, but a friend told me he upgraded his system by selling the older one piece by piece on the Internet and bought second hand pieces one at a time for assembling a better system than the one he had. So, this is another way to spend way less and save money for other things.
All these measures were a success. Even if the savings were quite small, (in some cases just pennies), it proved to be awesome in the long term and as a whole. I soon realized that after I pay all my bills I can save some money for buying healthy foods, more clothes and I afforded a vacation. When I was living with my parents, my mother was always telling me that every penny counts and that she does everything to minimize the costs for everything. I decided to follow her example.
So why does every penny count? It is obvious that the reason is that doing this allows you to balance your finances and afford more things for yourself and your family. If you agree and you have some experiences related to this, please post a comment so others can see more examples and learn how to value every penny. Such measures are compulsory in a time in which saving money is one of the most important aspects of life.
