Protecting Your Seed
Here in Money Seeds chapter two we'll discuss the seed. The seed is your primary source of income that must be protected at all costs. Regardless of how much time it takes to generate, without the proper strategy it will be inept and eventually gone.
Stop Unnecessary Spending
Your income is your seed, with this you have the choice to cast it across the capitalistic landscape with little to no discretion or you can plant the seed with intent to prosper in the future. Use your new mental clarity to go through your spending habits with a fine tooth comb. Once you have determined your habits you can work on refining them to leave more of the money behind for yourself. At the same time you should come up with a savings plan that works to your benefit, but doesn’t over exhaust your finances. This process now trains the mind to consider saving first rather than spending first. By doing so, late payments, overdue balances and debt will soon become worries of the past.
Reduce Recurring Spending
Before you begin to save actively, you must take account of how much you spend. In most cases, chiseling off $5 here and there on each purchase you make will not only keep more of your money in house, it will also relieve yourself of the burden you would otherwise feel when putting money aside. To start this process you should first create a budget template for yourself that you can add to and monitor in real time. Create categories for recurring expenses like cellphone, gas, rent, etc. and leave room for line item incidentals such as: date night, weekend getaway and shopping spree (hopefully there aren’t too many of those.) Do this and monitor your habits for at least one month before making any changes.
After a month of so it should become clear which expenses you’ll need to pull back on and which expenses can be eliminated altogether. Now it’s time to change your habits or at the very least negotiate the best deal for your habits. Your “harmless” vices like smoking or drinking might cost be costing you an extra $200 a month and limiting your progress in more than one way. Once these incidentals are reigned in you’ll want to set your sights on the non negotiable monthly expenses like cell phone, internet etc…. While you won’t be able to eliminate these altogether you can most often change your plan to best suit your needs and your wallet.
Mental Clarity Leads To Financial Clarity
In the first chapter we discussed clearing your mind and your path of negative and otherwise obstructive elements. In this stage you must remove the obstructions from your expenses. Contrary to popular belief, limiting your spending does not limit the enjoyment one can have, but rather takes you to a higher level to where there are better pleasure to be had. With more of your income intact you begin to actively save and invest in your future, which is the next stage of growth for your money tree.
Learn more beyond what’s explored in Money Seeds chapter two in the next article.
