It doesn’t matter how much you earn or how many bills you have to pay, you can save something by noticing how you spend your money. The savings habit may have been one reason why John D. Rockefeller became the richest man in the world. Accounting for inflation, he would be worth $340 billion dollars today.
Here is the advice he offered young adults about 111 years ago on how to be a good money steward:
“Now let me leave this little word of counsel for you. Keep a little ledger, as I did. Write down in it what you receive, and do not be ashamed to write down what you pay away. See that you pay it away in such a manner that your father or mother may look over your book and see just what you did with your money. It will help you to save money, and that you ought to do.”
3 Tips to Save More Money
With that in mind, here are 3 tips on how to save money that you may not have heard before:
- Save the things you value.
Money is just one type of value you have in your life. Save anything else you highly, too. For instance, if you are on a career track, save any information that will help you improve your knowledge and skills in your field. In a knowledge economy, you will quickly find a way to use this to get the winning edge. It may lead to a new job or help you build your own profitable business. Since computers are the most convenient way to save information, be sure to backup all your information. In the worst case scenario, should your hard-drive crash before you’ve backed up your information, you can use Secure Data Recovery services to retrieve your information.
- Raise your financial awareness.
The reason you might spend too much money on things you didn’t really need is because you are not keeping track of your incomings and outgoings. You aren’t aware.
- Set a financial savings goal to make it fun.
Goal-setting makes savings fun, rather than drudgery. If you don’t enjoy the savings habit, if you feel it’s something you should do but don’t like doing, you will find a way to sabotage your savings. A savings goal statement might look like this. “Each month, I will set aside 10% of my income. At my current rate of earning and spending, this will come to $X by Y date.”
In Defense of Savings
After reading this short list of essential savings habits that are easy to adopt, you may have one of two possible reactions. You might be completely on board and decide to implement these ideas or you might still be skeptical about the value of savings.
If you could ask John D. Rockefeller about the secrets to wealth and success through an Ouija board, and he said “save more money,” you might dismiss his answer. It might not only sound like an evasive answer but also bad advice. After all, we live in an economic era of high inflation where banks pay you a token interest rate for savings and the value of money erodes fairly quickly when you park it.
Still, despite your understandable emotional response and your logical reasoning to back it up, Rockefeller would be right. His advice not only worked in his day but will work in ours as well. That’s because it’s not based on the state of the economy but on a financial principle. The only reason his answer might appear absurd to you is because you are thinking of savings in a naïve way.
If you’re like most people, you think of savings as some type of deprivation. You also think in terms of the rapid depreciation of the value of money. Consequently, from this perspective, the idea of stockpiling money doesn’t make much sense. It makes more sense to spend your money while you can on things you like and enjoy before it drops in buying power.
Rockefeller, however, was not thinking of the present satisfaction of money, but the power of what that money can do in the future.
First, the money is seed money. If you have enough of it, despite a drop in value, you can invest in something that will grow over time. Even, if for some strange reason, you never ever find a decent investment, you will benefit from the miraculous power of compound interest. Albert Einstein described in the following glowing terms: “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.”
Second, having money will raise your financial consciousness. Knowing that you have some money available should you ever need it is a comforting thought. If you ever have an emergency, you will be able to weather it without having to beg or borrow. If an unexpected opportunity shows up, you will be able to take full advantage of it.
Adopt the savings habit. It might just change your life.
Hey, I am Raj. I am the owner and content publisher at Financenize. I have completed my education till intermediate school and after that turn to a full-time blogger and content writer. I usually share the quality information for the readers in Financenize, which helps the small business, individuals and entrepreneurs and the information I share makes their task more manageable. I am expert in analyzing the current situation and deliver a profitable period to the extent. You can find me on various social media handles online.