BE WISE WITH YOUR MONEY

INSTRUCTION

 

Things You'll Need:

• determination

1. Step 1
   Foreclosures aren't happening just because home prices have gone down. They're happening because people aren't saving, they have too much debt, and they don't have a back-up plan for when something goes wrong. You should know by now that eventually, something will go wrong. So plan for it.
   
   Plan for retirement starting NOW. Did you know that if you made a one-time investment of $2,000 in a mutual fund (a good mutual fund averages 12% a year according to Dave Ramsey*) at age 16, you would have about $516,000 by the time you retire at age 65? Don't we all wish we'd done that? In contrast, if you wait until you turn 50, when many people start thinking about retirement, and you put in your $2,000, it would only be about $11,000 by age 65. That's the amazing power of compound interest! This illustrates the importance of starting to save early. (By the way, in my opinion, the stock market is on sale right now. I think it's a good time to invest). If you think you don't make enough money to be able to save, then you need to take a look at what you are choosing to afford:
   
2. Step 2
   
   
    
   Your Home. Could you live in a smaller apartment or house? If you're single, could you get a roommate or two? Do you feel like you need a lot of space to store all of your stuff? Get rid of it! If you haven't used it in six months, you probably don't need it, but maybe someone else does. Try selling some of it. Once you move into a smaller house, whenever you think about buying something, you will have to decide if it will fit into your house or if you have to get rid of something else to make room for it. I learned this principle when I moved into a 936 square foot house with my husband. We don't plan to always live in this home. We'll move up in house someday, and we'll be able to do that because we've worked hard paying down this one.
   
3. Step 3
   
   
    
   Your Eating Habits. I hope you realize how expensive eating out versus eating at home is. Have you ever added up what you're spending each month eating out in restaurants or in the office cafeteria? Writing down what you spend in any area is helpful. Knowing where your money goes can motivate you to get your priorities straight. Instead of eating fast food every day, bring your lunch. An easy way to do this is to make extra food for dinner the night before and have the leftovers for lunch. Not only is it economical, it's healthy too.
   
4. Step 4
   
   
    
   Your Car. I don't care what my car looks like as long it gets me there. I realize many people aren't like that. Having a nice, new car is important to many of us, but is it because you don't like driving an old car or because you want other people to be impressed with your shiny car? It's easy for me to drive an old paid-for car and not pine for a new one when there's nothing wrong with mine, after all, it is only transportation. Cars last much longer and are much more reliable than they used to be. I should know, my 16 year old Saturn works great!
   
5. Step 5
   
   
    
   Your Entertainment. TV, radio, internet, phones and movies. I'm getting down to the smaller budget items now, but if you can avoid spending $50 here and $20 there it really can make a difference in your budget. I don't watch much TV, so it's hard for me to imagine paying for cable or satellite each month, when we get all the channels we need for free. If TV is important to you, then it is my personal opinion that need to go outside more, read more, and get a hobby. Some people "just have to" watch their favorite teams play, but wouldn't you get more out of going outside and playing your sport with your kids, neighbors or friends? Then again, I never was a sports fan, and I'm willing to admit that just maybe there's something about it I don't understand.
   
   The same goes for radio. I can't see paying for radio when you can get it for free.
   
   The internet. I would probably be a lot more productive if I didn't have the internet here to waste my time. Of course it's good for a lot of things too. On the other hand, if everyone in your household that needs the internet is working in an environment where they have access, and their boss doesn't mind them checking their email, bank balance, etc., then maybe you don't need to be paying for internet at home. For myself, I'm not at work every day and I'm not ready to give it up.
   
   If everyone in your household has cell phones, then consider dumping your home phone. C'mon, everybody's doin' it.
   
   Rather than renting movies, try checking them out at the library.
   

Supplementing Your Income

Whether seeking a supplemental income or a full-time income, many folks have undertaken the task to discover a viable home based business solution to meet their personal needs.

For most folks who contemplate a home business, a low-cost or no-cost solution is not only nice, but also very necessary. Many also seek to find a home business that will permit them to maintain their regular day job in order to protect their base income.

Taking the cautious approach to a home based business and keeping one's job during the start-up period is often a very good decision. By maintaining one's job, one can maintain the health of their personal finances while permitting their home business grow healthy and strong.

Fortunately, most home based businesses can be started with little or no cash, can be maintained on a hoestring budget, and can be operated successfully with only a part-time investment.

One day, the business will be strong enough to support itself and its owner. When that time comes, it will make good sense for the business owner to leave his or her outside job to dedicate more time to growing and maintaining their new thriving home based business. You will know when that time has finally arrived.

The nature of a home based business makes it easy and very realistic for most folks to take the plunge into home business ownership.

Yet, many folks put off starting their own home based business, because they have the misconception that they will have to risk thousands of their own hard-earned dollars at start-up. Then later, if their business fails, they fear they may be forced to take out a second mortgage on their house just to stay out of bankruptcy.

Are you one of these folks? Do you let your fears of failure keep you from reaching for your dreams?

If so, then allow me to introduce you to a few home business ideas that you can start for less than $100 and can be started and operated very profitably as a part-time business.

THE LIFEBLOOD OF ALL SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES

First of all, let me advise you to search out a business model that will deliver steady and repeat business. It is the one thing --- above all others --- that will assure that your company can survive the test of time.

HOME-BASED MAIL ORDER:
Home-based mail order is a good example of how one can quickly grow a home business income. Mail order is a low cost start-up business that can be launched for around $100 USD.

With proper planning, your home-based mail order business will not require up-front inventory purchases. In the mail order business, it is not uncommon to rely upon drop-shippers for product fulfillment services.

By utilizing drop-shippers, we can sell the products, collect the money and then purchase the products from the wholesale outlet. The wholesale outlet will then put a return address for your company on the product packaging and deliver the product directly to your customer.

Your primary expense in the mail-order business is advertising. Classified advertising tends to be a relatively inexpensive form of advertising with thousands of outlets available to the small business owner.

WHOLESALE BUSINESS:
Buy low --- sell high. You can acquire high quality, top-of-the-line merchandise for a fraction of the retail cost.

AUCTIONS:
Auctions can be an excellent source for buying cheap and selling high. Both government auctions and Internet auctions can lead to some excellent profit opportunities. Auctions are an excellent tool for both acquiring and selling merchandise.

MAKE AND SELL YOUR CRAFTS:
Crafts are a hot seller at country fairs, swap meets or anyplace where people gather. Make your own crafts and sell them for a tidy profit!

SELLING INFORMATION:
Selling information by mail is another good example of an inexpensive home based business start-up. One can gain the resale rights to information for usually about $50 USD. Other costs will include printer cartridges, paper and postage. There are plenty of free classifieds sites on the Internet, in which to successfully advertise your information.

WRITE INFORMATIONAL BOOKLETS:
Write and publish your own informational booklets; sell them at a high price! All you need is a little know-how, a printer, paper and stamps. This is a GREAT home business idea! You can also sell the resale rights to others, for extra profits. In this age of the Internet, you may also take advantage of the
fact that selling information is one of the most profitable endeavors one can pursue online.

OFFICE SERVICES:
Offer office services for hire in your local paper. You'll be surprised at the amount of regular office business that can be gleaned from one little classified ad. Word processing, typing, accounting, data entry, proofreading, transcription, promotional letters and newsletters. All these tasks can be accomplished
right from your own home office.

AVON REPRESENTATIVE:
Yes, Avon's been around for eternity, hasn't it? Then it's not such a bad prospect as a home based business, is it? I once knew a woman who did so much business as an Avon rep. that she had people calling her and knocking at her door wanting to order products at all hours of the day and night! Once you are an established Avon representative, you, too, will turn a good profit.

CONCLUSION:
On your search for the ideal home based business, try not to get caught up in any scams that will run off with your money. There are thousands of scam artists out there just waiting for the next sucker to come along. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Just use your good judgement and invest wisely in proven methods of earning extra income.
Yours in Austine