Fight Stealth Costs
Below, you will find some suggestions on fighting stealth costs.
- Credit card interest, fees, and late charges; low insurance deductibles; “designer” coffee is an attitude, not nourishment; buy fewer books and use the library more; bring a water bottle with you instead of buying one at each stop; shop in less expensive stores; buy generic where quality is the same; eliminate cable stations you watch infrequently; turn off the light switch – maybe it will be small savings, but it heightens the “savings” and “conserving” attitude; lower your thermostat at night in winter a half hour before you go to sleep and raise it in summer and also don’t change it until you come home from work, and set it 1 to 2 degrees lower or higher than you normally would – wear a sweater if you are cold; and put in new washers to stop leaky faucets
- Reduce extended credit purchases. In many instances you will be making payments on some purchases long after your acquisitions are distant memories. Debt interest is very expensive andfrustrating. Debt requires current and future payments on past excess spending – think about that – it seems stupid. Actually, our federal government is doing this and look at the problems its debt has caused
- Watch spending – you can never get back a dollar that was foolishly spent. It’s the same as never getting back lost time. Suppose you went a year without any new clothing purchases – what ill would befall you?
- Pay down your mortgage. Many people believe that taking the largest mortgage possible is the best strategy to save taxes because the mortgage interest is tax deductible. They will save taxes that way, but the choice will be poorer in the long run since they will be paying more interest than they need to. Even if they are in a combined federal and state 40% tax bracket, 60% of the interest paid is still their money! A simple way to look at this is to examinewhether or not you are earning more in your investments than the interest rate you are paying. If not, you would be richer by paying down the mortgage
- Eat less, cut out between meal snacks and junk food. Save some money while improving your health – not a bad double header. It also doesnt hurt to weigh a few pounds less
- Get mad! Waste is an enemy! Waste dissipates energies and your future security and freedom. Attack waste and stealth costs!
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