Let's Talk About The Jones's

We are all familiar with the Jones’s. They are the family who live in the extravagant homes, drive luxury cars, have all the latest tech toys, seem nicely put together when they go out and they have perfectly groomed kids. We envy them; we aspire to be just like them. There is only one problem; they do not exist, at least not in real life.

Don’t get it twisted, there are people out there who pretend to be the Jones’s, I know a few of them.  Everything that glitters is not gold….Trust. I don’t know why someone would pretend to be something they are not, but I am for keeping it one hundred all the time.  I do know what the fantasy of living like the Jones’s will get you.  It will get you broke, stressed, depressed and in extreme case; contemplating suicide.

At all times, but especially in this economy we all need to be proactive in sustaining the lifestyle we have. I am not a financial expert.  I began seriously slashing money drains a few years ago.  Here are a few things that helped me.

1.       Let it go.  Let go of what other people might think of you and focus on what makes you happy.

2.       Learn the power of “no”.  It’s so refreshing.  Try it, I promise you will like it.  “Do you have $5 I can borrow?”, “Can I borrow your car?”, “Do you want to go out tonight?”, “Would you like to make a donation?”, “Can you watch the kids?” You get the idea.  The answer, NO, NO, NO!

3.       Do not lend money that you cannot afford to live without.  It will probably turn into a gift.  If you do lend, always, always have a contract, regardless of the amount.

4.       When you use coupons, save that amount.  If your coupon says save $1 off your next purchase, make sure you actually save that dollar.

5.       Always pay with full bills, then save that change.  If your purchase is $2.02, give the cashier $3. When you get home, find a place to keep that change.  At the end of 6 months or a year, you will be pleasantly surprised when you redeem your pocket change. I redeem half of mine in September and the other half in December for my birthday and Christmas gift (yes I buy myself a gift, from me to Me.) which brings me to the next tip.

6.       Be selfish.  Not all the time, but some of the time. It can be difficult with small kids if you are a single parent or if you have a large family, but it is emotionally important that you do something for you.

7.       Always have a hustle. If you don’t have one, get one.  Whatever you are good at; find a way to make money from it.  If you can’t figure out what that is, ask somebody. Even if it is something you don’t enjoy as long as it’s profitable who cares?  The thing about a hustle is, it’s not permanent.  You can dabble in a few temporary things, as long as you make money do it. I think everyone has the ability and the skill to have a hustle.  What we lack is motivation.

8.       Hide money from yourself. I like to spend.  If I can get to it, it is just as good as gone.  I will find a way to justify it.  I know my weakness.  Last year I came across www.smartypig.com.  It’s a great way to save automatically, any amount you want and it has the highest yield I have come across.  I tried it, I liked it.  You can cash out when you get ready, but you don’t have instant access to it. They send you updates on your money. With automatic withdrawals you will not even miss it, but when it’s time to withdraw, you will be glad you did.  It works.

9.       Go cold turkey.  This may scare a few people, but it is not as bad as it sounds.  Only go cold for a little while, not completely.  Only go cold on things you really don’t need anyway.  I had every channel under the sun on Direct TV.  That was costing me well over $100 a month. What’s so crazy about that is that no one is home the majority of the time, we only get about 5 hours of television a week.  I reduced the package first to the $60.  Once everyone adjusted I dropped it to the cheapest package. Now my family does not even miss it. Reduce fast food.  This was a hard one for my group, but financially we were spending almost $140 a week total.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner (more times than I care to mention). Now we brown bag it and fast food is now a reward, not a necessity.

10.   Write down everything you spend.  Everything. I know you have heard this one a million times, but it works.  If it’s not a habit of yours try it for one week.  .  It really works, when you are trying to save money or live on a budget.

Be smart with your money. Try these tips.   Don’t worry about the pretend Jones’s. They  live in a huge house that does not have furniture in it, their refrigerator is empty and they live miserable lives. The real ones already use these tips. They live in modest homes and drive sensible cars. 

Last smart thought of the day.  Never go out with the guy driving the flashy car, look for the  guy who drives a Hoop-dee.   The flashy car guy has a ride, a high insurance premium and a car payment, the other one has a ride with lower insurance premiums.  They will arrive at the same place at the same time, but the Hoop-dee guy can pay your way.