Some people have been telling me about their financial resolutions for this year and a lot of it revolved around trying to avoid specific things in order to save money. For example, not dining out as much, trying to quit cold turkey on bad habits, etc. People often say that most things done in moderation is okay. Example, if you normally spent like $200/month on coffee you don’t necessarily need to avoid it all together.

When it comes to saving money on things that are clearly more of a “want” I usually just cut it out first. For example, let’s say the movie budget was the $200/month figure. If for some reason I needed that $200/month for something else I would literally just say “No more movies.”

Now you may say that is a little harsh. But again, these are non essentials in my mind. If something else truly needs the funds which would be more beneficial it only makes sense to do it. But what’s the catch? I actually enable myself to spend money on the activity again by earning it. How? I have to find a way to earn more.

Basically, I need to generate an additional income stream for it. It’s like being a kid again. If you want to spend more on those snazzy items you can do things like open a weekend lemonade stand. I think as adults the essence is the same except what we are putting our money in is a little different. I find that this forces you to mange and make money efficiently. Not to mention how much experience you can gain from it as you are more open to all the ideas that are out there.

I was with another person while doing some shopping the other day and was at first so shocked that he took out a $100 bill to buy like a $10 item. The funny thing was I wasn’t so shocked at the fact that a $100 bill was used but instead was wondering why he didn’t use the credit card to get free points/cashback.

The reason was that he was afraid to use the credit card as he found that when he uses it he is more likely to spend more money than he intended. I then threw out the idea where if that was the case he could try using the credit card and then just go to the bank and pay off the bill by the end of the day. Course, that idea would only work if your bank has no service fees in these scenarios.

To me, even if you aren’t technically gaining a lot financially the financial management skill you would be teaching yourself is priceless to get you in the groove of only spending within your budget and actual funds. I know for myself I always start to think about my bank account while comparing the value of what I intend to buy at the same time.

Basically, I never go shopping without having that bank digit stuck in my head which in a sense is exactly like you physically seeing how much cash you have in the wallet and are limited in spending. This is opposed to the dangerous way of using a credit card where usually people simply think of how much credit limit they have and then thinking about how much they get paid every week/month to determine if it is feasible.

That way you could get some immediate feedback about your daily spending too that should spruce you up fast. Example, are you the type of person that dines out like crazy and putting everything on your credit card which creates a massive debt? Try paying it off the same day as if you were using cash at the restaurant. This would not only make you think twice as you start to see like the $20 in food bills everyday but at the same time you will get in the habit of wanting to use your credit card responsibly. You will start to use it more in correlation with your actual funds and not your credit limit.

I was watching a news segment today that talked about shoppers that refuse to pay the full retail price on any product as the item has to either be on sale or that there is a coupon that can be used on it. They then showed how many of them had stacks of coupons as if it was a card collection of some sort. One thing I noticed is that everyone that was interviewed was a female.

Kind of interesting I thought as stereotypically I think most people would label guys as the ones who always want to save money when it comes to shopping. Usually when you read sites or watch segments like these though it’s usually a female crowd that has all the tips and sources on how to get bargains.

I guess for many guys using things like coupons in some ways lowers your status if you are trying to impress people on how much money you make. I’d like to think though where if that is truly the mentality then all you need to do is adjust your way of thinking and that you base your ego on how much is in the bank at the end of the day.

I personally use coupons when I see them available but never actually keep like a collection of them. I tend to get most of my discounts by understanding which products are like the loss leaders and such.

I was hearing two sides of a debate today where some people were going to go on a two week vacation since during this time a lot of people do so. Of course, people that work a full time job get vacation pay as well. At the same time, I was hearing how some people mentioned that taking vacations like these actually cost you double and instead they just bank the vacation dollars and invest it.

I remember when I used to work at a full time job my vacation pays just kept accumulating. Basically, I didn’t even treat it as like an entitlement but rather something I ignored. So when time came to bank it it’s almost like you winning a small lottery. My decision was always to save it personally until I could find something decent to invest it with.

I know the purpose of a vacation pay is so that people don’t overwork themselves and the intent is that you take days off. In my opinion, unless you truly have no financial predicaments it only makes sense to use that money to further push yourself ahead I’d say.

I was reading some incredible stories today of people who signed up for these low interest credit cards where to entice people to sign up the offer was something like 2% of the entire balance until you pay it off. Essentially, you can treat it like a bank loan where you can take a cash advance option for say $10,000 and then only pay 2% once until you pay off the balance.

Of course, in the fine print it indicated that the rate could change at anytime. Guess what? After a few months all those people kept revolving their routines around taking cash advances out of the card with little thought about paying it back anytime soon. All of a sudden, they are then told that the interest rate will be changed to about 20% now. Saying that they are definitely paying for it is an understatement.

Living life through a credit card is risky enough as it is I’d say which no one should be doing. But this example sure shows you that if you were thinking of getting a free ride of sort through these types of promotional credit cards that you better think twice.