Wednesday Wealth Part 2

The definition of wealth has several meanings; 1. A great quantity or store of money, valuable possessions, property, or other riches: the wealth of a city. 2. An abundance or profusion of anything; plentiful amount: a wealth of imagery. 3. In economics - All things that have a monetary or exchange value or anything that has utility and is capable of being appropriated or exchanged. 4. Rich or valuable contents or produce: the wealth of the soil. 5. The state of being rich; prosperity; affluence: persons of wealth and standing.

The bottom line is wealth is valuable. What you consider to be wealth may not be the same for your neighbors, or friends. Wealth is anything that you, yourself consider to be valuable. Wealth will also change over your lifetime. What you may consider to be wealth today may be completely different ten years from now.

This week’s Wednesday Wealth is all about building monetary wealth. How you can save more money without sacrificing your daily living. There are literally thousands of ways to save more money, some quicker than others.

1. Using coupons. Now this sounds like a no-brainer, but in order to save the money, you need to take this one step further. Take the dollar amount that you save in the grocery or drug store, and place it into a savings account. Then, don’t touch it again. Have a dollar amount goal in mind. Once you reach your goal, say enough to open a money market CD, or your own IRA account. This is one reason why I like doing my banking online. I can log on to my bank when I get home from shopping, take a look at my receipt, and put the exact dollar amount that I saved from using coupons right into a savings account. Potential money put into your savings account: $1000 per year more if you are an avid coupon user!( by using just $19.00 a week in coupons)

2. Skip the lunch menu. By taking your lunch to work or school just four days a week, you can save as much as $30.00 each week. That’s $120.00 per month or $1440 per year! Again, instead of just saying you saved that much, take the amount you saved, and put it into a savings account.

3. Skip the morning coffee line. By doing this four days each week, you could potentially add an additional $35.00 each month or $420 per year to your savings account.

4. Do you go to the salon every 6 weeks? Try to hold off an additional week or even two. By going to the salon just two times less each year, you could save as much as $200 per year.

5. Can’t seem to grab good deals on cleaning supplies? There are thousands of websites dedicated to supplying information on using items you already have in your kitchen cabinets to use for effectively cleaning your house. Potential Savings: $250 per year.

6. Stop buying cola, sugary drinks, or bottled water. News Flash, Clean water comes right out of the majority of US households faucets. Potential savings of a household that buys just 1 – 12 pack of cola, 1 64 oz bottle of juice, and 1 – 24 pack of bottled water each week: $388 per year.

7. Don’t purchase an item just because it’s on sale, and you have a coupon. There are ways to shop with coupons and ways’ not to shop with coupons. It’s one thing to purchase an item because you want to try it, it’s a whole other story if you purchase something you know you are never going to use. It’s even another story to purchase items for free or close to free if you intend on donating the items. If you choose the later, make sure to get a receipt from your local food bank, or donate shop. Come tax time, this could add additional money back from Uncle Sam.

8. Avoid late fees, and charges on your credit cards, or monthly bills. Sounds easy enough, however sometimes, the days of the month just seem to escape you. If you are not a habitual offender of this, you could call the company who has charged you the fee, and plead your case. You may just find that they remove the charge. Potential savings: $25.00 - $50.00 yearly.

9. Paying for movie channels through your local cable TV company? Take a look at just how often or how little you actually use those channels. DO you think your life would fall apart if you didn’t have those channels any longer? Potential savings of removing 2 movie channels from your monthly bill: $200 per year.

10. Perform a Home Energy Audit in your home. There are so many ways your home can lose energy causing you to pay more on your utilities each month. I was shocked to learn a few things in my own home when we did this. We lowered our monthly bill by $10 per month. Savings of $120.00 per year.

There’s 10 ways to save almost $4000 per year. How do you save more money?