5 Small
Financial Decisions with Big Financial Impact:
In
spite of the recession, do you believe that your saving and
spending habits have anything to do with your financial success?
Well,
I personally believe that the financial choices and decisions that you
make today concerning your saving and spending habits, will have a lot
to do in determining if you are successful or unsuccessful in reaching
your financial goals. Through this article, I will focus on the
significance of 5 small, yet practical financial decisions involving
saving and spending habits that by implmenting will help you to achieve
some of your financial goals in spite of the recession.
1. Open Up A Bank Account.
This will help you to save and better
track your money. There is also a
correlation between the more money you immediately have in your
pocket(s) at
any given time and the money that you spend.
Simply put, this means that the more money people have at
their
discretion in their pockets, the more they are likely to spend. Thus,
by
putting your money aside in your bank account, this may save you from
spending
unnecessarily or unplanned amounts, which will help you to save more
money.
2.
Save Your Receipts
Start saving your
receipts. This
can be a very helpful practice when it comes to managing and
maintaining your
finances. By
getting in the habit of
saving receipts, it will also allow you to track your spending habits
from your
day-to-day spending activities.
3.
Start to Save Money for Yourself as if you are paying a bill.
Pressure yourself
to start
to save money for yourself as if you are paying a bill.
Moreover, discipline yourself to save at
least a consistent amount or percentage each month (i.e. like $100.00
or
33% of your earnings from each pay period, or some
other amount). Also, whatever amount you start to put
aside, continue to gradually increase it over time. In
addition, please note that it is a healthy practice to give
yourself small, positive rewards when you accomplish your monthly or
yearly
financial goals of saving money. Some
of these personal rewards could be as simple as going to the movies
with
friends or taking a planned vacation.
Please make sure that you budget for whatever your reward is for
yourself.
4. Start an Emergency Fund.
If you don’t have an emergency
fund, start one! Please
note that emergency funds are usually 3-5 months of income saved or
invested conservatively based on your immediate bills and life expenses
for
emergency use only. For example, if
your bills and life expenses total $1,000 per month, then your
emergency fund
should be between $3,000-$5,000. Please
be sure to separate the money you use for spending, saving, or
investing from
your emergency fund money.
5. Pay Tithes to God.
Trusting
God with your
money can be one of the most challenging things that you can do with
your
finances. But, once you understand its
significance and try it by giving your finances to Him, it is one of
the most
fulfilling and rewarding things that you could ever do with your
finances. The reason you should tithe (giving 10% of
your income) to God is not to give to Him in expectation of getting
something
back in return. Instead, when you
tithe, you are acknowledging that the reason that you
have is because
God gave it to you. In addition, it
solidifies the bond that He is your Father and you are his children and
servants; and through this bond, He has protected you, provided for
you, and
through Him, your life has been reconnected to its true
purpose. This is the significance of the tithe. The
tithe represents the 10% of your earnings that you should willingly
give back
to God. So try it, not for little me,
but for a great, mighty, powerful, and magnificent God.
If you
have been successful in achieving these initial
goals, I congratulate you! Job well
done! However, if you have not stepped
out to pursue these small decisions that can make a big impact on your
finances, then I encourage you to do so as they will help you to
achieve your
financial goals. I pray that this
insight from me has been able to be a blessing unto you.
About
Juan Chisholm
Mr. Juan P. Chisholm is the author of
two financial
books: How To Make Your Past, A
Blessing To Your Future (ISBN: 0-9755110-0-9) and Investitude
(ISBN:
978-0-9755110-1-5), a noted motivational speaker, and a respected
authority on
business and finance. He is the
President/CEO of Chisholm Investments & Financial Services,
LLC, a financial
firm and Young Investors, Inc, a nonprofit corporation that educates
individuals on investing. He also
completed the Strategic Finance Program at the Harvard Business School
in
Boston. If you would like to purchase a
copy of one of his books or have him speak at an event, please visit
his
websites: www.JuanChisholm.com and www.Investitude.com.
