Friday, January 6, 2017

A Money-Saving Mindset


I'd like to thank everyone who has "liked" and "followed" the "Finding the Pennies" FB page the last 24-hours.  Your joining my page has given me a little push to get on with sharing all of my money-saving ideas with you.  Whether you joined because you need help with managing your finances, are simply curious about what this money-saving mindset is all about or have already adopted a money-saving mindset and just want to add ideas and tips to your knowledge base, welcome.

So, what is this money-saving mindset all about?  It is about going through every-day life looking for opportunities to keep hold of the money you have, stretch the money you're about to spend and look for smart ways to save in order to have more - more control and more freedom... I know, they seem like opposites, right?  Let me explain with an example: perhaps you can relate. When I make the right decisions to workout and eat healthy foods, I feel better and fitter.  If I do this for a day, I feel good.  If I do this for a week, I feel great.  But what if I did this every day for the rest of my life?  I'D FEEL AMAZING!!!  So, by taking control of your finances - creating and adhering to a budget or spending plan - and finding ways to save money, you'll eventually feel amazing... free from the burden of stress and worry over your finances.

Let me just say that, like most things, it takes practice.  Although I've never been much of a "spender", I've also made A MILLION (at least!) unwise decisions and mistakes when it comes to money.  When I first created my budget years ago, I only paid attention to it some of the time; I only set it up some months and follow it for a few days.  Fast forward many years and I now set up my budget for the next month a day or two in advance and it's the first thing that gets my attention pretty much every day once my kids are in bed.  It takes less than 5 minutes every single evening to enter in the amounts from receipts from the day's shopping and ask my husband, Jeff, whether he's spent anything today, and if so, where and how much.  Simples.

It's also become quite the hobby of mine and my husband to find the cheapest way of completing a task and not wasting. I CANNOT WAIT to share more of these, so I will post at least one tonight or tomorrow.  I just find the more I find ways to save, the more we can dream and make progress towards fulfilling those dreams.

So, where did the idea for "Finding the Pennies" come from?  From years of talking with friends and realising there's a lot of misconceptions about what money is really about. Yeah, but Lauren, finances are really personal... so is sex and yet we talk about it!  Sex is everywhere!  Yeah, but Lauren, you can't tell me how to spend MY money.  I'm not.  I'm simply giving you ideas. Take it or leave it.  Yeah, but Lauren, a "money-saving mindset" isn't really positive.  It isn't?!  It is to me!  It's about winning with money and living the life you want to live without debt, stress and worry.

Oh, and let me please point out that I am still learning, I am not perfect, nor a trained professional and would love ideas and suggestions, even corrections! Please share them with me, too.

"Finding the Pennies" is simply small ideas that I'd love for you to incorporate into your life, that, overtime, will add up to a huge gain.  I am POSITIVE that once you begin to realise the money-saving potential in these ideas, you will share in my money-saving mindset.

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