Smells Like Happy

The Credit Crunch has come and gone in the last year. America, Europe and the United Kingdom have acknowledged that their economic indicators have confirmed that they are now in a recession. Japan the second largest economy in the world has confirmed they are now in recession. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimates that our economy will shrink by 1.7% in 2009; unemployment could peak at 2.9 million and they feel that recovery from this recession is still a “long way off”

With this in mind we need to ensure that we tighten our belts and rein in our wasteful spending. We can all disconnect our non-essential appliances (like televisions, radios, mobile chargers, shavers that are left on standby) turn off our lights at night and turn down our thermostats by 1 to 2 degrees in order to save money and yes these are important money saving tips that we should all be doing anyway. It just needs us to get the whole family involved.

Here is one of the most profound money saving tips that will change your whole way of thinking and your attitude towards how you spend money. Start by leaving your credit cards and debit cards at home and spend a month paying for all your shopping with money that you draw out from the bank. Pay for everything with cash. You will start to really think about what you are buying and when you start handing over real money for you’re shopping at the check-out tills. You will find yourself becoming possessive about how much you are spending and how much things cost.

I recently spoke with a client that went on a Debt Management Plan. Both he and his wife said that the biggest eye opener they had was when they went to the supermarket shopping with £60 in cash. The first time they tried to add up their shopping as they went along and when they got to the tills they had over spent by £30. Feeling embarrassed in front of the cashier and the other people in the check-out queue they started to put things back until they arrived at less than £60. When they arrived home they discovered that in their embarrassment they had put back most of the essential items that they needed.

My client said that normally they would do a weekly shop and pay for it by credit card. They admitted this gave them no reality of how much they were spending. They said that they would normally pay what ever was requested by the check-out lady. Now they find themselves paying cash and thinking as they handed over their cash that it was half of the wife’s weekly income. This couple now have a real sense of reality when it comes to how much they are paying and how long the wife has worked just to feed them that week. Scary!

Today my clients go shopping with a calculator and they have also started shopping in Aldi, Lidl and at Asda. They now look for value for money and they want their money to stretch as far as possible. You see they have finally found out that they are working for the money they spend and it is no longer courteous of their flexible friend to be paid at a later date. Start paying for everything with cash.

You do not need to have massive debts to benefit from this amazing money saving tip which could change the way that you think about the money that you spend. It’s all about taking ownership of your money.

Mark Aucamp
http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/the-greatest-money-saving-tips-ever-726725.html