Old school economics still the key to financial stability
Values have changed a lot throughout the generations and not for the better I hasten to add but there are some principles which do not change and many of these are concerned with finances and money management. Here is a list of financial principle which great grand dad and mum lived by;
If you don’t have the money, you don’t buy it!
The old timers lived within their means; if they did not have the money to buy something, they didn’t buy it! AS SIMPLE AS THAT!
These days (in the last 40 years), having no money is no barrier to purchasing whatever is pleasing to the eye; all one needs to do is just buy it on credit.
The crunch always comes when you have to pay it all back and some folk struggle to do that.
Greed and selfishness in a person manifests itself in their use of credit cards.
The amount of interest payable on this credit is often referred to as “dead money,” because there is nothing to show for the interest payable on debt.
Know the difference between a need and a want
Old timers knew what was needed and what was a want; something the younger generation seem to be unable to differentiate between.
There is one need which a lot of people do need and that is the need for budgeting/financial advice.
A need is something which is essential to sustaining our lifestyle; a want are basically grown up toys to play with.
Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses
Just because your neighbour has bought such and such is no reason for you to do likewise. Advertisers try to convince us that we need all of the latest whatever in order to be accepted by everyone else and you would be surprised at how many gullible people there are who fall for their sales talk. The old timers were more concerned at taking care of their families than with what their neighbours were doing.
Spend less than you earn
This one seems obvious, but if you cannot even master this skill then you are heading for financial problems. It all boils down to economics; if you are living beyond your means, you either increase your income or decrease your expenditure, preferably both.
Invest
Anyone can save money, providing of course they manage their money properly but investing is another thing altogether; there are few options available for those with a minimum amount to invest but one I recommend is Sharesies, where one can invest on a shoestring. One recent addition to sharesies is the option of purchasing shares in individual companies. It is a great way to learn how the sharemarket works. You can join sharesies below;