The Saver's Mindset

Good day soon to be savers! 

I know why you're here. 

You REALLY need to save money to...

Get out of debt 

Catch up on your bills 

Pay off your car

Go on vacation

Buy an engagement ring

Throw your parents an anniversary party 

The list could go on and on... 

BUT you really, REALLY suck at saving! Why else would you be here? If you could do it on your own, you already would be, right?

So, first things first...If you keep doing things the same way that you've been doing them, you'll never get there. There's something very important that you need to do before you do anything else. YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR MINDSET. If you keep the same attitude that you've had for all of these years, you'll just end up back in the same place that you are right now...frustrated, stressed out, and scared. So, I'm going to help you out a little since I'm a couple of steps ahead of you on this journey. I'm going to teach you how to develop a saver's mindset. 

What's that, you say? What credentials do I have to be "teaching" you anything in the first place? Well, I used to be JUST LIKE YOU, living paycheck to paycheck of my own free will and volition (Read: not an actual "poor" person.  More like a middle-class person with a poor person's mindset.) with NO MONEY SAVED and no clue where to even begin!

Then, one day, I was about to turn 36 and I figured that my life was close to being about halfway over, so I decided to change things. Things like being CONSTANTLY OVERDRAWN in my bank account, and living off of PAYDAY LOANS. And other things like being OVERWHELMED ALL OF THE TIME trying to rob Peter to pay Paul. The sad thing is, I had convinced myself that my husband and I just didn't make enough. We needed more money in order to survive. It wasn't until I got REALLY SERIOUS and REALLY DESPERATE about my money, that I actually started making headway.

I started trying to get a handle on my financial situation by turning off our overdraft "privilege" as the bank calls it. That was definitely a step in the right direction, but it wasn't until several months later that one of our cars got repossessed (OUCH!) and I became decidedly determined to make a change. 

My husband and I cut out EVERYTHING that wasn't an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY and SURPRISE, we actually had A LOT MORE MONEY to work with than we thought. It did not involve anything that you would label "quick" or "effortless". It's not easy and it's not for the faint of heart, but the small sacrifices now (Like not buying the "good" coffee or the "good" shampoo or the "good" toilet paper, basically nothing deemed "good".)

are worth the pay off in the end.

And honestly, that's the crux of the saver's mindset.

SMALL SACRIFICE NOW = BIG PAY OFF LATER

Here are some examples of small sacrifices:

Not eating out

No cable or dish

No home internet

No phone

Buying basic groceries

Buying basic toiletries and household items

Getting rid of a car (Preferably BEFORE it gets repossessed!)

Shopping garage sales and thrift stores FIRST and buying new as a last resort

I realize that those probably don't sound " small" to you, BUT in the grand scheme of your life it will be such a small amount of time that you did without, that you most likely won't suffer PTSD from not having home internet. (We actually did it for about a year and look...we're STILL HERE.)

If you haven't already checked out because you MUST HAVE THE GOOD SHAMPOO, let's talk about the big payoff.

Examples of big payoffs:

Becoming debt free...as in you don't owe a single soul anything and you have a ton of income left to do whatever the heck you want with.

Emergency savings, which means NO STRESS when an emergency comes your way!

Paying off your car

Paying off your house

This next set is all done with cash, no loans, because you've been SAVING!

Your dream vacation

Owning your own business

Remodeling your home

Paying for your children's college

Giving to the less fortunate

THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER!

As for my husband and I, we are in the process of becoming debt free. We are in the thick of this. We are living on SO MUCH LESS and SPENDING SO MUCH LESS than I ever imagined. We have magically been able to pay all of our bills on time, stay out of the red, save, and we even got through Christmas and a few birthdays.

BUT, HERE'S THE THING...nothing "magical" actually happened. We just got really serious about what we wanted...THE BIG PAYOFF. We didn't start making more money, we simply changed our mindset. THAT IS ESSENTIAL! That is step number one. Until you get really sick and tired of how things are now and embrace the sacrifice, you'll never get to where you want to be. 

Step two is making a budget. I'll talk about that in my next post, but BUDGETING IS VITAL for you to reach your goals. It's the part I was missing every time that I had tried to get my money in order, previously. Without a budget, you simply can't win.