You don’t need to have a PhD in finance in order to have good financial management skill; all you need is some common sense and to practice it regularly. It may take some time to develop these financial management skills into habits but if you are persistent you can be financially free.
Most of us pay our bills first and then spend it on luxuries and what is remaining, we save. Most of the time there is nothing left for us to save. Remember you are more important then your creditors. Here is how you can do it, it requires discipline in order to implement.
First, open a separate account; do not apply any ATM cards because you are not supposed to withdraw out any money. Every month you deposit 20 % of your total earnings into this account (Do not include in your insurance savings plan that you are paying). Live with the 80% balance. “This is impossible! I have so much commitment, so many bills to pay.” You may say.
Yes you can. You can live with it, be a little creative, I am sure you will survive. Think of it this way, what if you are going through a recession and you are offer to keep your job with a 20 % pay cut or you will have to leave the company. Are you not going to take the offer? This is forced saving, think of how much money you are going to have in your bank account. It works and I have bought additional properties just by doing that.
If you really can’t squeeze out the 20%, try down sizing, start with your car. Either you change to a smaller or an older car. If you have more then one car then sell off the one that you service the largest loan. Don’t listen to what others will say, trust me, I have done it before and you will be a much happier person at the end of the day.
“The use of money is all the advantage there is in having money” - Benjamin Franklin
This is really a good advice!