There's More than One Way to Skin Your Financial Cat

Take your computer for example. You personally have ways of doing things based on your experience, but I'll bet your work colleagues and family members know different shortcuts and ways to do what you can do.

For example, here's one you may not know:

Did you know that on a PC if you hold down your Alt key and tap your Tab key, it will switch you between your current window and any others you have open?

Maybe you knew about that one, but if you didn't, knowing this new info could speed up your productivity significantly over the course of a day.

Of course, if you find that other people are faster and more productive and can run rings around you at work, it would be in your best interest to find out what they are doing differently so you can stay competitive.

There's More Than One Way to Skin Your Financial Cat

Anyway, my point for today is that I have noticed over the years that people who struggle to get on top of their day to day finances seem to behave like there is only one way to solve most of their problems and that is by throwing money at them.

In other words, they are victims of life, being carried along by circumstances rather than dictating what they will and won't spend their money on.

• If the car breaks down they have no alternative but to pay to get it fixed...
• If the cat gets sick they have to pay the vet...
• If the refrigerator stops working they have to go shopping for a new one, and so on...

Now don't get me wrong, sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, but given that there is always more than one way to achieve almost anything I personally have always taken the stance that throwing money at a problem is only one solution (usually the last option I will consider), and in many cases, I have found other more rewarding ways to solve my problems. Such as:

When my car was off the road I simply had to find another way to get from A to B. Sometimes I rode my pushbike and other times I got lifts from friends and work colleagues.

When my refrigerator ran out of gas for the third time and I had no money for a new one, I phoned up the refrigerator mechanic who had re-gassed it each time and he told me where the leak was likely to be found. I found the leak, put it back together, and got a few more years out of it (which allowed me to save up for a new one).

In our modern society, businesses have emerged from (and thrive on) making it easy for people to do just about anything you can think of. Before those easy solutions came along we all survived, we just had to be more resourceful or more responsible, for example, we would make arrangements to meet at a certain place and time before we left home.

Now we don't plan our meeting points, we use our mobile phone to locate family and friends when we are out and about. How many people struggle to pay the mobile phone bill each month? Rewind 20 years and you probably didn't even have one, you just had to be better organised!

Look for Different Ways to do Things

So I want to encourage you to look at your expenses and identify where you are throwing money at problems when you could be doing things differently (and better).

• Look at your grocery bill each week. Could you grow your own veggies and make the food scraps become compost?
• Do you need to purchase all those cleaning products? Is there a cheaper and just as effective alternative?
• Look at your fuel bill each week. Do you really need to drive as far as you do?

How many expenses have you just accepted and no longer even question? You do have the power to say, “There must be another way!” When you have no spare money and get a speeding ticket, somehow you find the spare money to pay the fine. When you use that same principle in reverse to say I can save money even where I think there is none to be saved you will start saving money!

Certified Spending Planners are extremely passionate about helping people who are experiencing financial stress/difficulties or who are simply looking to save money for their dream holiday, car, house or wedding.

Or maybe you just want to break the vicious cycle of debt, get a handle on where your money is going every month, and start enjoying financial stability.

You can choose one and give them a call, with nothing to lose and lots to gain. A short relationship with a Spending Planner will provide you with tools and training to benefit the rest of your life!