Received the following in my email, and it got me to thinking..
I will be asking [person] questions on how to prosper financially when:
- Gas is over $4 per gallon.
- Real Estate and Stock Markets are down
- A recession appears eminent
Hey I have answers to all three of those questions for ya ;)
Take the money you would normally be investing in Real Estate and Stocks and invest in a home that is located within 3 miles of your place of work, invest in a scooter/motorcycle/bicycle, invest some money into a garden. Does not matter if you have 6 square feet, or 100, you can grow something.
Shut off your cable bill, stop buying movies and stream your television or movies across the Internet. Difference between 80 bucks a month and 10 bucks a month.
Change your eating habits. Make sure everyone in your household eats a variety of things to get full. Not one or two. Eat smaller portions of meat. Meat will kill your grocery bill if you are eating it until you get full. Cook it with other things. Don’t forget to eat staples with your meals. Eat three meals a day instead of one small one and then one big meal and you will spend less on food because you will have more energy. EAT FOOD THAT IS IN SEASON and grown within 100 miles. It will cost you less in the long run because you are not paying to have it shipped.
Stop sleeping more than 8 hours per day. Those extra 2-4 hours that you are wasting on sleep can be used to be more productive and either generate more income or work on projects that will make your life easier and simpler. Wake up and then take a nap later in the day if you must.
If you cannot move closer to your job, arrange to telecommute or sell your extra vehicles (because I know they all have more than one) and learn how to timeshare a vehicle and spend the money you are saving on a commuter pass.
Learn how to be comfortable in the summer in a 75 degree house. Wear lighter clothing at home. In the winter, learn how to be comfortable at 69 degrees. This will save you several hundred dollars a year.
Unplug all of your electronic device chargers. They are sucking elecricity. Get a lower powered computer. Smaller processor equals less energy consumption equals big savings on electricity each year. Unplug your large ticket items when not in use. Even better, watch less t.v. during the day. If you limit the television to being powered on to less than 4 hours per day instead of the usual 8 or more imagine the savings on your electricity bill.
Cut caffeine and soda out of your diet. This will save you anywhere from one hundred to two hundred a month. Maybe even more.
Go out to one of the many FREE events in your hometown. There are plenty of events in every city, especially during the summer that cost NOTHING to attend. Take the kids. Go to the park, read stories together.
VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLAR!
before you make a vote with your dollar, stop and ask yourself the following questions
- Is this enriching my life in any way? Be it intellectually, emotionally, physically or whatever. Or is it just harming me in the long run?
- How is my decision going to affect my family and close friends?
- How is my decision going to affect my community?
- Can I get this somewhere else for free?
- Can I provide it for myself with the resources I already have?
- Can a family member or friend or colleague provide it for me with the resources they already have, and can we negotiate a better trade for the both of us?
Hopefully these thoughts are enough to get the common man thinking and maybe you can share them with some of your colleagues ;)