This chapter will probably not be long, since the title is self-explanatory. It's been shown that people who can wait achieve much more in life. I even wrote a blog post about this on my site, using as examples my former classmates and other acquaintances who chose easy (and at the time fairly good) money instead of a solid education and became independent early. I went to college for four years, then another four at university part-time. Although I was already working during university, my income was very low. But in the long run, who came out ahead? The answer is obvious. So you always need to weigh the pros and cons of easy money. Taking even a well-paid job right after school means spending time you could have invested in your education. Of course you can and should keep learning all your life, but the brain becomes less flexible with age and harder to reshape. And with age come other commitments: family, children, loans. So it's crucial to get into education as much as possible when you're young. Unfortunately, not everyone gets that.
Almost everyone has goals that involve money in some way — saving for a trip, a car, or a down payment (not all loans cover 100% of the cost, and you often need to have part of the sum already). How can you save toward your goal if you're prone to squandering and impulsive buying? You'll probably get there in the end, but you could do it much faster and more effectively. Some people, millennials for instance, might say you have to live life to the full right now. Everyone chooses their own lifestyle; I'm just stating the fact that squanderers find it much harder to save. If you're a squanderer and you know it, and you're open to trying to change at least a bit, here are a few tips on where and how to save:
- Start analysing your spending in more detail. Track it and see what you're spending on.
- Review your online subscriptions. Do you really need all of them?
- Don't buy things on impulse. Wait a while (at least a few days) to make sure the wish wasn't impulsive and you really need the item.
- Work on your self-esteem. Chasing fashion often leads to buying things you don't need. I have an article on this on my site too.
- Ideally, drop bad habits — smoking and alcohol can hit both your health and your wallet.
- Remember that the people around us have the strongest influence on us, so a radical step is to try to adjust your environment.
- Don't go shopping on an empty stomach.
- Go to the shop with a list made in advance.
- You can track sales and discounts, though I've never bothered myself.
This list could be extended, but these are the things that came to mind.
I want to end this chapter with one of the main ideas from "The Richest Man in Babylon": you should set aside 10% of your salary. Ideally not just save but invest in something profitable, but to begin with, saving under the mattress or in a bank account is more than enough. What's striking is that almost everyone living paycheck to paycheck will say "I can barely make ends meet and can't put anything aside". In fact that's not true. Absolutely everyone, however little they earn, can save 10% of their salary. People get used to living on whatever the employer offers. So if you earn $300 and someone else earns $270, they still live on $270. The $30 difference between your salaries is exactly the 10% you need to set aside. Just $30 a month over several years can, first, add up to a significant sum (especially if you save more than $30), and second, build a good saving habit. So I will never accept the answer "I can't save 10% of my salary". I'm not saying there can't be tough financial phases — a short-term loan, debts or the like. But over the long run it's always about the person and their willingness. If someone or a family doesn't know how to save, any spare money goes straight on nonsense. I urge you to be strict with your finances and always manage them sensibly. Make a habit of saving and, if you can, get rid of squandering and impulsivity in your spending.
